Los Angeles works for families who pick a neighborhood or two per day and ignore the urge to see everything. You get big beaches, a few excellent free attractions, real studio tours, and cheap, good food. You also get traffic that can eat half your day if you plan badly.
Family Trip
4–5 Days
Car or Metro + Rideshare
Prices and hours below were last checked in [Month Year]. They change often, so confirm on each official site before you book.
Four or five days covers the essentials: a beach day, a Hollywood and studio day, a downtown museums-and-food day, and one big anchor such as a theme park or a coastal drive. Summers on the coast are mild, with highs in the 70s°F, and winters rarely get cold. Neighborhoods are often 30 to 60 minutes apart by car, and the I-405, I-10, and US-101 slow to a crawl around 7–9 AM and 4–7 PM. Sort your days by area and you’ll spend more time out of the car.
Which Days Suit Which Kids
The same itinerary lands very differently depending on ages, so here is how I’d adjust it.
Under 6: Keep it to the beach and short outings. Santa Monica Pier, the sand, and La Brea Tar Pits are the easy wins. Skip the long studio tours, the Brush Canyon trail, and anything that needs more than an hour of standing in line. Plan a nap break or a hotel pool break in the middle of each day.
Ages 6–11: This is the sweet spot for Warner Bros. and the Universal Studios tram, the Griffith Observatory, and the Tar Pits. Kids this age will usually tolerate one museum a day if there’s a beach or park afterward.
Tweens and teens: Universal’s bigger rides, the Venice Boardwalk, El Matador’s sea caves, and the street art in the Arts District hold their attention. Let them pick one stop a day. It buys a lot of goodwill for the stops they didn’t choose.
What Makes LA Worth It for Families
The beaches are the easiest reason to come. Santa Monica Pier has a Ferris wheel, carousel, and arcade, and the beach itself is free. Venice Beach is more chaotic: street performers, Muscle Beach, murals, and a boardwalk that is better for tweens than toddlers. The Venice Canals, a few blocks inland, are quiet and good for a stroller walk. Farther up the coast, El Matador State Beach has sea caves and rock arches, but you reach it by a steep path and stairs, so leave the stroller in the car. Zuma Beach has plenty of room if Santa Monica feels packed.
Several of the best museums are free or close to it. The Getty Center has no admission fee, though parking costs around $20, and the hilltop gardens and views keep kids busy longer than the art does. The Broad downtown is free with timed tickets, which you should book online ahead of time, especially for weekends and school breaks. The Kusama Infinity Mirrored Rooms need a separate reservation. Griffith Observatory is free to enter, with planetarium shows at a small extra charge. La Brea Tar Pits sits next to LACMA, and the live fossil lab is the part kids actually remember.
For film, Warner Bros. is the more interesting tour because you see working sets and soundstages. Universal Studios Hollywood is a full theme park with a studio tram attached, so treat it as a whole day. Hollywood Boulevard and the TCL Chinese Theatre are fine for 45 minutes in the morning. The boulevard gets crowded, with costumed characters who will ask for tips and a lot of souvenir shops, and it is less pleasant after dark. Skip it after sundown with young kids.
Costs and Traffic: What to Plan For
Parking is the hidden budget item. Expect roughly $40–$60 a night at hotels and about $20–$40 at major attractions, with more at popular beach lots. Universal tickets are priced by date and vary widely, so check the official site for your dates. The Express upgrade tends to pay off on weekends and holidays and rarely on quiet weekdays. Food is where you can save: taco trucks and small counters often charge a few dollars per taco, and casual sit-down meals commonly run $15–$25 a person.
On traffic, a 15-mile trip can take an hour at rush hour. Santa Monica to the Getty is an easy drive. Malibu in the morning and downtown in the afternoon is not, because you’ll lose most of the middle of the day to the freeway. If your plan has two stops that are far apart, cut one.
The Best Family Attractions, Area by Area
Santa Monica and Venice: The Beach Day
This is the easiest full-day plan with kids. Start at the pier, walk or bike the beach path, and have lunch near Third Street Promenade. Move to Venice in the afternoon for the boardwalk and canals, then come back to the pier for sunset. The beach path suits strollers and bikes. Bring sunscreen and a hat, since there’s little shade on the sand. Public restrooms are at the pier and along the beach, but lines get long on weekends.
Hollywood and Studio Tours: The Film Day
Book Warner Bros. in advance and check the minimum age for the tour you choose. It is aimed at school-age kids and up. Do the Walk of Fame in the first hour, before the heat and crowds. For the Hollywood Sign, Griffith Observatory is the easy option. The Brush Canyon Trail to the sign is a long hike, roughly 6 miles round trip with little shade, and it is best for teens or experienced young hikers who start early.
Downtown LA: Museums and Food Halls
The Broad has works by Koons, Basquiat, and Warhol in a building that is interesting in itself. Across the street, Grand Central Market (open since 1917) lets everyone order something different, from egg sandwiches to tacos to Thai. Go before noon or after 2 PM to avoid the lunch rush, which is hard going with hungry kids. Little Tokyo and the Arts District are a short walk away for coffee and murals. Walt Disney Concert Hall is worth seeing from the outside.
Griffith Park: Hiking and Views
Griffith Park is one of the largest urban parks in the country. The observatory is the main draw, with city views and a look at the Hollywood Sign. Parking fills up early on weekends, so take the DASH shuttle from the Metro B Line (Red) Vermont/Sunset station instead. Runyon Canyon is a popular loop of roughly 3 miles, but it’s busy and exposed. Hike early, and bring more water than seems necessary.
Where to Stay
Santa Monica is the best base if beaches are the priority. It’s walkable, though you’ll still need a car or rideshare for most other sights. Hollywood is central for studio tours but gets noisy at night, so it suits older kids better. Silver Lake and Los Feliz are quieter, close to Griffith Park, and good for coffee and casual dinners. West Hollywood is a calmer middle ground. Ask about parking fees before booking, since they can add a few hundred dollars over a week.
Getting Around
A rental car makes the most sense for beaches, Malibu, and day trips. If you’d rather skip the car, base yourself near a Metro line and use rideshare for gaps. The B Line (Red) serves Hollywood and Universal City, the E Line (Expo) connects Santa Monica and downtown, and the D Line (Purple) runs along Wilshire toward the museums. Metro fares use a TAP card or contactless payment, with a daily cap that makes several rides cheap; check current fares on the Metro fares page. Rideshare for most cross-town trips costs roughly $15–$40, depending on time and demand. Don’t leave bags or valuables visible in a parked car, especially at beaches and trailheads, where break-ins are common.
A quick note: the links below are affiliate links. If you book through them, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. If you’d rather have someone else handle parking and navigation, a kid-friendly Los Angeles tour is the simplest option. A museum ticket and pass bundle only saves money if you plan several paid museums, and most of the best ones here are free. For Disneyland, Catalina, or Joshua Tree, a guided day trip removes the driving.
When to Go
Spring (March to May) and fall (September to November) are the most comfortable, with mild weather and smaller crowds than summer. The coast is often gray until midday from May into early July, a pattern locals call June Gloom, so don’t plan your main beach day for a morning then. Winter is cool and occasionally rainy but quiet. If rain hits, museums, food halls, and studio tours all still work, and our guide to rainy-day activities for families in Los Angeles has more ideas.
- Bring a refillable water bottle, sunscreen, and a light layer. The coast cools off fast after sunset.
- Plan one rest stop per half day for kids under 6, such as a playground, a food hall, or the hotel.
- Check stroller rules before you book any tour or attraction.
- Eat early. Popular spots fill up by 6:30 PM on weekends.
A Four-Day Family Plan
Day 1, Santa Monica and Venice: pier and beach in the morning, Venice Boardwalk and canals in the afternoon, sunset back at the pier. Day 2, Hollywood and Griffith Park: Walk of Fame early, observatory in the afternoon via the DASH shuttle, dinner in Los Feliz or Silver Lake. Day 3, Downtown: The Broad in the morning, lunch at Grand Central Market, Arts District or Little Tokyo after. Day 4, one big anchor: Universal Studios Hollywood if your kids are old enough for the rides, or a Malibu coast drive with a stop at the Getty Villa for a calmer day. Add Disneyland or Joshua Tree if you have a fifth or sixth day. For quieter options, see our guides to offbeat day trips near Los Angeles and seasonal getaways.
Sources
LA Metro fares. Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
Visit the Getty Center. J. Paul Getty Trust (admission and parking).
Visit The Broad. The Broad (timed ticketing).
Griffith Observatory. Griffith Observatory (admission, planetarium shows, shuttle).
Universal Studios Hollywood. Universal Studios Hollywood (ticket pricing and Express options).
