California · United States
Los Angeles Sports Travel Guide
Los Angeles hosts more major sport than any other American city and is about to host the Olympics for a third time. The catch is geography: venues are scattered across roughly 50 miles of county, and the difference between a good trip and a bad one is almost always where you chose to sleep.
Major teams
Clubs we cover in Los Angeles, each with its own matchday guide.
Major venues
Venues with a full guide link through to transit, hotel areas, and practical tips.
- SoFi Stadium, InglewoodVenue guide
- Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Exposition Park
- Crypto.com Arena, DowntownVenue guide
- Intuit Dome, Inglewood
- Dodger Stadium, Elysian ParkVenue guide
- Rose Bowl, Pasadena
Major events in Los Angeles
Events we track that bring visiting fans to this city.
Getting around
Airports
LAX is the main gateway and sits close to Inglewood venues but far from Downtown and Pasadena. Burbank (BUR) is smaller, far easier to move through, and better for anyone basing in Pasadena or the Valley. Long Beach (LGB) and John Wayne (SNA) are useful for southern venue clusters.
Local transit
Metro rail covers Downtown, Long Beach, Santa Monica, and Pasadena, and the K Line now reaches the Inglewood area. It does not connect every venue, and coverage gaps are large. Plan on a mix of rail and rideshare, and treat any cross-county trip during rush hour as a 90 minute exercise.
Where to stay, eat and drink
Best areas to stay
- Downtown LA (best transit access, closest to Crypto.com Arena)
- Santa Monica (beach base, poor for Inglewood venues)
- El Segundo / Manhattan Beach (closest practical base for SoFi and Intuit Dome)
- Pasadena (only sensible base for Rose Bowl events)
- Koreatown (value option on the Metro B and D lines)
Nightlife areas
- Downtown Arts District
- West Hollywood
- Silver Lake
- Highland Park
- Abbot Kinney, Venice
Sports bar neighbourhoods
- Downtown near Crypto.com Arena
- Santa Monica
- Hermosa Beach
- Studio City
A sports weekend in Los Angeles
A worked example, not a fixed schedule. Adapt it to whatever is actually on.
- 1
Friday
Land at LAX or Burbank and base yourself inside one venue cluster. Downtown if your event is at Crypto.com Arena, El Segundo or Manhattan Beach if it is SoFi or the Intuit Dome. Eat in the Arts District or on Main Street in El Segundo and do not attempt to cross the county after 15:00.
- 2
Saturday
Take the Metro rather than driving if your venue is downtown. If it is Inglewood, leave two hours before you think you need to. Fill the morning at the Coliseum and Exposition Park, which are on the E Line and genuinely walkable.
- 3
Sunday
Dodger Stadium or the Rose Bowl if either has a fixture, otherwise Santa Monica and Abbot Kinney for a slower day. Fly out of Burbank if you can, it is a fraction of the hassle of LAX.
Practical travel tips
Planning Los Angeles
- Pick a venue cluster before booking accommodation. Trying to base centrally and reach everything is the most common and most expensive planning mistake in LA.
- SoFi Stadium and Intuit Dome are in Inglewood, not Los Angeles proper. Downtown is a 30 to 60 minute trip depending on traffic.
- Traffic peaks are longer than most cities: roughly 7 to 10am and 3 to 7pm on weekdays. Event-day surges stack on top of that.
- Rideshare pickup at large LA venues is staged in dedicated lots that can be a 10 to 15 minute walk from your seat. Factor it into departure timing.
Watch parties
Where fans watch in Los Angeles
Bars and venues listed by city, reviewed before publishing.
Related team guides
Plan a trip around a specific club
Los Angeles Lakers travel guide
Basketball · National Basketball Association
Downtown arena, the one LA venue you can reach on rail
Open guideLos Angeles Rams travel guide
NFL · National Football League
The most expensive stadium ever built, and it is not in Los Angeles
Open guideLos Angeles Dodgers travel guide
Baseball · Major League Baseball
The third-oldest ballpark in baseball, and the hardest to park at
Open guideRelated venue guides
Transit, hotels, and what is walkable at each venue
SoFi Stadium guide
Stadium · NFL, Soccer
The Metro K Line reaches the Inglewood area, but there is no station directly at the stadium and the final leg is a shuttle or a long walk. Most attendees drive or use rideshare. Rideshare pickup is staged in dedicated lots that can be a 10 to 15 minute walk from your seat. LAX is unusually close, roughly four miles away.
Open guideCrypto.com Arena guide
Arena · Basketball, Combat Sports
Metro A and E line trains stop at Pico station, a short walk from the arena, and this is comfortably the easiest way in. Union Station connects to the wider regional rail network and is a few stops away. Downtown Los Angeles is walkable around LA Live and the convention centre, though the wider downtown grid is less pleasant on foot at night.
Open guideDodger Stadium guide
Ballpark · Baseball
There is no rail station at the ballpark, which is the central planning problem. The Dodger Stadium Express bus runs from Union Station and from the South Bay on game days and is free with a game ticket, which makes it the best option by a distance. Union Station itself connects Metro rail, Amtrak and regional services, so the realistic public transport route is rail to Union Station and then the shuttle.
Open guideRelated events
What brings visiting fans to this city
Los Angeles 2028
July 14 to July 30, 2028
The summer Olympic Games return to Los Angeles for a third time, using a venue plan built almost entirely around existing stadiums and arenas spread across the greater Los Angeles area.
Open guideSuper Bowl
Dates to be confirmed
The NFL championship game and the largest single-day sporting event in the United States. The host city rotates annually and the surrounding week carries a full festival of fan events, concerts, and media activity.
Open guideNBA All-Star Weekend
Dates to be confirmed
A three-day basketball showcase built around the All-Star Game, with the skills competitions, three-point contest, and dunk contest staged the night before, plus a rising stars event to open the weekend.
Open guideNorth America 2026
June 11 to July 19, 2026
The 48-team soccer tournament held across 16 host cities in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. It was the largest edition ever staged and the first spread across three countries.
Open guideRelated competitions
How the leagues and championships behind this actually work
NFL guide
NFL · League
Thirty-two clubs in two conferences play a 17-game regular season across 18 weeks, each club taking one bye. Fourteen teams reach the playoffs, seven per conference, in a single-elimination bracket. The Super Bowl is played at a neutral site chosen by the league years in advance, which is why the host city is known long before the teams are.
Open guideNBA guide
Basketball · League
Thirty teams play 82 regular-season games from October into April, split between two conferences. A play-in tournament decides the final playoff places in each conference, then four rounds of best-of-seven series lead to the Finals. An in-season tournament runs alongside the regular season in the autumn, with its games counting toward the regular-season record except for the final.
Open guideNBA Finals guide
Basketball · Series
A best-of-seven series between the conference champions. The team with the better regular-season record holds home-court advantage and hosts games one, two, five and seven, with the other team hosting three, four and six. Games five, six and seven are played only if the series needs them, which is the single biggest complication for anyone booking travel.
Open guideNCAA March Madness guide
Basketball · Tournament
Sixty-eight teams are selected on Selection Sunday and seeded into a single-elimination bracket. Four play-in games, the First Four, reduce the field to 64. First and second rounds are played across eight host sites over a Thursday-to-Sunday weekend, then regional rounds, then the Final Four and championship game at a single site.
Open guideMLB guide
Baseball · League
Thirty clubs play 162 games from late March or early April into September, in series of two to four games against the same opponent. Twelve teams reach the postseason, six per league, playing a wild card round, division series, league championship series and then the World Series. Spring training runs through February and March in Florida and Arizona.
Open guideWorld Series guide
Baseball · Series
A best-of-seven series between the American League and National League champions, played in a two-three-two home pattern: the club with home-field advantage hosts games one, two, six and seven, the other hosts three, four and five. Games five, six and seven are played only if required.
Open guideSummer Olympic Games guide
Olympics & Multi-Sport · Multi-sport
A multi-week programme across dozens of sports at venues spread throughout the host city and sometimes well beyond it. Tickets are sold by session rather than by day, so a single sport can have several sessions in one day at the same venue. Los Angeles hosts the 2028 Olympic Games from July 14 to 30, with the Paralympic Games from August 15 to 27. Brisbane hosts in 2032.
Open guideWhere to go next
Last updated August 17, 2026
Sources and verification
Transit networks, airport connections, and venue arrangements change. Confirm schedules, transit, and entry requirements with official sources before travelling.
FanForged is an independent sports travel and fan guide. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any event organiser, league, federation, team, venue, or rights holder. All trademarks belong to their respective owners.
Venue and neighbourhood recommendations are editorial and unpaid unless explicitly marked.