About Curious Los Angeles
The places, people, and things to do that make Los Angeles extraordinary™.
Los Angeles is a city of endless discovery. Curious LA is here to help you explore it.
What, Who & Why
Curious Los Angeles is a project of Michael Hanttula, the creative practice Hanttula, and the design & development studio Spark3.
We built this site to answer a question we kept hearing (and asking ourselves): “What should I do in LA?” Existing travel sites and directories often overwhelm with quantity or underwhelm with generic recommendations. We wanted something different, something akin to a Michelin Guide approach, but for destinations and experiences rather than just restaurants.
This site doesn’t include everything. Instead, we’ve created a curated, opinionated, and carefully considered guide to discovering Los Angeles. Rather than listing every possible destination, we focus on places that are unique, reliably spectacular, or unexpectedly interesting: the spots that make LA the city it is (and make millions of people fall in love with it).
It’s a beautiful, sprawling, surprising city. Explore it. Enjoy it.
Let us help you find the best of it.
What We’ve Built
Interactive Exploration
Browse our interactive maps to discover destinations across LA’s diverse neighborhoods. Filter by what you want to see, do, eat, drink, or shop. Then dive deeper into each location with detailed descriptions, photos, and practical information.
Quest-Based Discovery
Looking for a curated experience? Our quests guide you through themed collections of destinations. These are a fun way to explore LA through a specific point of view and include many destinations that are not listed in our official map & guide.
Events & Happenings
Stay up-to-date with what’s happening across the city. From art exhibitions to food festivals, we highlight events that bring LA’s creative energy to life.
Designed for Everyone
We’ve built Curious LA with accessibility and usability at the forefront. Whether you’re planning on a laptop or discovering on-the-go from your phone, the site adapts to how you explore.
Ad- & Subscription-free
As a long-time proponent of the Indie Web, Hanttula has a history of building sites, experiences, tools and entertainment that is free from the intrusion of advertising or the cost of subscriptions.
What We’re Working On
We’ve spent months building Curious Los Angeles: coding, designing, creating content, and refining the experience. Now that the core site is live, we’re focused on deepening what we offer while planning thoughtful expansion.
Profiles of LA People [Coming 2027*]
Los Angeles is defined by its people as much as its places. The creatives, entrepreneurs, artists, and curious minds who make this city extraordinary deserve to be celebrated alongside the destinations we feature. Our next phase will introduce profiles highlighting the people who make LA what it is.
Visitor Tools [Under Consideration]
We’re exploring features that would help you save destinations, track your explorations, and build your own LA journey. But we’re proceeding carefully—right now, we’re enjoying keeping the site free of logins, user accounts, and yet another password to remember. If we build these tools, they’ll be worth the trade-off.
*I really hope that this heading is updated before 2028. ;)
How to use Curious LA
Los Angeles rewards curiosity. There’s always something new to discover: a restaurant that just opened, a hidden trail with unexpected views, a gallery showing work that changes how you see the world. We built this site because we believe exploring LA should be joyful, accessible, and inspiring.
So go ahead: pick a neighborhood, follow a quest, or just start scrolling. Los Angeles is waiting.
Happy exploring.