Best Beaches, Neighbourhoods and Experiences Near SoFi Stadium

Los Angeles doesn’t have a city centre in the conventional sense — it’s a collection of distinct neighbourhoods spread across a basin that stretches from the mountains to the Pacific. For World Cup visitors arriving for matches at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, that sprawl is actually part of the appeal. You can spend a morning at the beach, an afternoon in a gallery on a hillside with views across the entire city, and an evening eating your way through a food market in Downtown — and none of it feels rushed.

SoFi Stadium hosts eight matches including the USMNT’s opening game on 12 June, plus a quarterfinal. Here’s what to do with the time in between.

1. Santa Monica Beach and the Pier

Santa Monica is the easiest beach day from most parts of LA and the natural starting point if you’ve never been. The pier is a working amusement park on the water — Pacific Park’s solar-powered Ferris wheel is the postcard image, but the pier itself extends over the ocean and has a genuinely good fish-and-chips shop at its tip. Rent a bike or an e-scooter at the bottom of the pier and ride the Marvin Braude Bike Trail south to Venice — the path runs along the beach for 22 miles and is one of the best free things to do in the city. Come back via Abbot Kinney Boulevard for coffee and food.

2. Venice Beach and Abbot Kinney Boulevard

Venice is wilder and more eclectic than Santa Monica, which is part of its appeal. The boardwalk is a full sensory experience: street performers, outdoor weight pits, food stalls, painted murals, and a persistent smell of sunscreen. Muscle Beach — the original outdoor gym that spawned fitness culture — is still operating near the south end of the boardwalk. A few blocks inland, Abbot Kinney Boulevard is one of LA’s best eating and shopping streets, with independent restaurants (Gjelina remains a reliable choice for wood-fired vegetables and pastas), boutiques, and several good coffee spots. The area gets crowded on weekends; weekday afternoons are calmer.

3. Griffith Observatory

Perched on the south face of Mount Hollywood in Griffith Park, the observatory is free to enter and offers the best views of Los Angeles available without a helicopter. On a clear day — and in June and July, it usually is — you can see from downtown to the Pacific. The building itself is a 1930s Art Deco landmark, and the astronomy exhibits inside are surprisingly engaging. The hike from the Greek Theatre parking area takes about 30 minutes. Alternatively, the DASH Observatory shuttle runs from Los Feliz on weekends. Go around 6pm for golden-hour light on the city below.

4. The Getty Center

Free to visit (a timed entry reservation is all that’s required), the Getty Center sits on a ridge in the Santa Monica Mountains and combines world-class art with architecture by Richard Meier and views that extend to the Pacific. The permanent collection covers European paintings, drawings, illuminated manuscripts, and decorative arts — Van Gogh’s Irises is the most famous piece, but the photography collection is exceptional. The gardens below the main building are a good place to spend an hour if the galleries get full. Take the free tram up from the car park — it’s part of the experience.

5. Grand Central Market, Downtown LA

Open since 1917 and still one of the best places to eat in the city, Grand Central Market on Broadway in Downtown LA is a covered food hall with around 40 vendors. Egg Slut (the egg-and-potato sandwich that became an Instagram fixture before the restaurant expanded everywhere) started here. Eggslut aside, the market does excellent tacos, pupusas, Thai food, pastrami, fresh juice, and Thai iced tea — often all within a few metres of each other. It’s in the middle of the Broadway Historic Theatre District and worth pairing with a walk to The Broad contemporary art museum two blocks away.

6. The Broad

Donald Broad’s contemporary art museum on Grand Avenue is free (timed entry, booked in advance) and houses one of the strongest collections of post-war and contemporary American art. Jeff Koons’ Balloon Dog sculptures, Cindy Sherman’s photographs, and a significant body of work by Jean-Michel Basquiat are all here, along with an installation by Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirrored Room, which requires a separate timed ticket. The building’s punctured concrete skin — called “the veil and the vault” — filters light into the galleries in a way that’s distinctive and actually useful for viewing the work.

7. Drive Pacific Coast Highway Through Malibu

Rent a car for a day and drive PCH north from Santa Monica toward Malibu. The road clings to the coast, with the ocean on your left and the Santa Monica Mountains on your right, and it is one of the great drives in the country. Stop at El Matador State Beach — reached via a steep staircase, and worth every step — for sea stacks and kelp-green water. Malibu itself has good seafood at Malibu Seafood (cash only, plastic chairs, excellent) and a Chumash heritage site at the Adamson House, which has a public beach.

8. The Arts District, Downtown LA

East of the LA River and south of the 101 freeway, the Arts District is dense with murals, independent galleries, coffee roasters, and restaurants. Bestia on Industrial Street is one of the city’s most-loved Italian restaurants — book well in advance. Zinc Café & Market is a good daytime spot. Walk east along 6th Street and you’ll find a concentration of streetwear shops, a few smaller contemporary galleries, and street art that rivals anything in the city. The neighbourhood has a lived-in quality that’s different from the polished finish of West Hollywood or Santa Monica.

9. Koreatown

Koreatown, centred on Wilshire and Western Avenues, has the best late-night food in Los Angeles. Korean BBQ restaurants run until 2am or later — Jongro BBQ and Quarters Korean BBQ are both consistently recommended. Beyond BBQ, the neighbourhood has excellent Korean fried chicken, budae jjigae (army stew), and soju bars. It’s also centrally located and easy to reach by Metro from both Downtown and Hollywood. On match days, it’s a useful base given its proximity to the Expo Line, which connects to the Metro transit network used for stadium shuttles.

10. The FIFA Fan Festival at the LA Memorial Coliseum

The official World Cup fan hub for Los Angeles runs at the historic LA Memorial Coliseum in Exposition Park, just south of Downtown — the same venue that hosted the 1984 Olympics opening ceremony and is now home to USC Trojans football. Match screenings, live music, and food vendors are scheduled throughout the tournament period. Exposition Park also contains the California Science Center (free), the Natural History Museum of LA County, and the African American Museum — worth a few hours if you arrive early.

If you’re heading straight from LAX before checking in, or want to drop your bags before a long day exploring the city, Stasher has luggage storage locations across Los Angeles, including spots near Union Station, Hollywood Boulevard, Santa Monica Pier, and The Grove. Book online and go hands-free for the day.

Luggage storage in Los Angeles

Getting to SoFi Stadium from the airport or from a hotel in a different part of the city means a bit of planning — LA is big, and check-out times don’t always align with match schedules. Stasher has luggage storage across Los Angeles, with locations convenient to the main areas visitors tend to be based. Drop your bags, spend the day at the beach or in a gallery, and collect them when you’re ready to move on.