Basketball · National Basketball Association
Los Angeles Lakers Travel Guide
The Lakers play downtown at Crypto.com Arena, which shares the building with two other professional teams and sits next to a large entertainment complex. In a city where most venues are a drive, this is the exception: Metro rail reaches it, the surrounding blocks have somewhere to eat, and you are not committing to a fifty-mile round trip.
Home venue
Crypto.com ArenaCompetition
National Basketball Association
What a trip around Los Angeles Lakers looks like
Fan travel angle
This is the easiest major LA sporting event to build a trip around, precisely because it is downtown. Stay in DTLA or on a Metro line and you can skip the car entirely, which is not true of SoFi Stadium, the Rose Bowl, or Dodger Stadium. Ticket demand varies enormously by opponent.
Getting to Crypto.com Arena
The transit picture on a matchday, and what changes after full time.
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.
Full Crypto.com Arena venue guideOn a matchday
Where fans go before and after
- L.A. Live next to the arena, purpose-built for event crowds
- Downtown Arts District for better food and drink a short ride away
- Little Tokyo for a pre-game meal on the Metro line
- Historic Core and Broadway for bars within walking distance
Plan around this
- The arena is shared by multiple teams, so check which event your ticket is for and confirm the date. Consecutive-night events are routine.
- Metro B and D lines reach the downtown core, which makes this the rare LA venue that works without a car.
- Downtown parking on event nights is expensive and slow to clear. Rail or rideshare is usually the better call.
- Ticket pricing swings hard by opponent. A midweek game against a low-profile visitor is a fraction of a marquee matchup.
Where to stay in Los Angeles
Areas that work for this trip, from the Los Angeles city guide.
Best areas to base yourself
- 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)
Not travelling this time
Find somewhere showing the match
Bars and venues listed city by city, reviewed before publishing.
Related venues
Stadium and arena guides connected to this club
Related destinations
Everything else worth doing in the city
Related events
Major events this club or city connects to
NBA All-Star Weekend
February 2027 (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 guideLos 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 guideRelated competitions
How the leagues and championships behind this actually work
NBA 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 guideWhere to go next
Frequently asked questions
Can I get to a Lakers game without a car?+
Yes, and it is one of the few LA venues where that is true. Metro rail reaches the downtown core and the arena is a short walk from the station.
Where should I stay?+
Downtown LA puts you walking distance from the arena and on the Metro network. Anywhere on the B or D line also works without needing a car.
How much do tickets cost?+
It depends enormously on the opponent and the day. A midweek game against a low-profile visitor is a fraction of the price of a marquee weekend matchup.
Last updated August 17, 2026
Sources and verification
Fixture dates move for broadcast, ticket availability is often gated by membership, and tour access changes around fixtures. Confirm all three with the club before booking travel.
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