Los Angeles might have terrible public transportation, but we are rocking it on places to take your budding engineer. Here are 5 best places all over Southern California to have some locomotive fun with your kiddos!
Open every day of the year, except for Christmas Day, the Griffith Park Train Rides are one of Los Angeles's most fun and affordable family attractions. At Travel Town Railroad, you travel around the Travel Town Museum two times. After riding the miniature train, you can explore dozens of old-time railroad locomotives and cars. There is no admission fee, and train rides are only $1.
Keep the train running by heading over to the Griffith Park & Southern Railroad in Los Feliz. Here, it’s strictly about riding trains (or ponies) so be sure to read the schedule before you head out, and make sure you’re not heading over during an off hour like lunch. Ticket prices are $4.00 for adults, and $3.00 for children, and the train loops around a pretty extensive track two times. Tickets are available for purchase in-person.
Experience your own La La Land on the 117-year-old funicular at California Plaza or South Hill Street in Downtown Los Angeles. Quite literally remove the uphill battle with your children as you ride between Hill Street and Grand Avenue on Bunker Hill! Originally opened in 1901, Angels Flight — the world’s shortest railway — has given more than 100 million rides on its hillside track.
Angel's Flight Railway is open every day of the year from 6:45 am till 10:00 pm.
The fare is $1.00 each way, and you can purchase a souvenir round-trip ticket for $2.00 to take a piece of history home with you. A $0.50 Metro fare discount is available for TAP Card users with Stored Value for a one-way trip. You will need to tap your valid TAP Card on the validator located at the Angels Flight® Station House to be granted the discount.
800 N. Alameda St.
Los Angeles, CA
Heralded as one of the last great train stations, Union Station in Downtown Los Angeles is a working train station since 1939, and the largest railroad passenger terminal in the West! Union Station is open every day from 4 am to 1 am. You can also visit every Thursday from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm for a Farmer’s Market at the station.
Union Station is more than a bustling transportation hub in the heart of the city. It's a true cultural hub connecting the infinitely varied and wonderful elements of one of the world’s great cities... a gateway to the best of Los Angeles.
2201 S. A Street
Perris, CA 92570
First begun in the 1950s for Trolley preservation by the Electric Railway Historical Association of Southern California, the Southern California Railway Museum in Perris, California has now become a place to view historical engines of all kinds!
The Museum is home to a vast collection of historical locomotives, railcars, trolleys, 3-foot gauge, model trains and so much more. The Museum hosts a number of events throughout the year. Train and Trolley operate every weekend; tickets are available in the Gift Store.
