Angels Flight, the

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The Standard Downtown LA

Omni Los Angeles at California Plaza

Angels Flight was built in 1901, and is called the “Shortest railway in the world”. Just a short distance from its original location, Angels Flight is at 351 South Hill Street. Parts of Downtown Los Angeles are very steep, and Angel’s Flight was built to transport people from one fashionable area to another, without having to climb the steep hill. At the time, downtown was the center of the city, as the city hadn’t built out toward the beach yet, and Beverly Hills was mostly orange groves.

For 25 cents, you can ride this short railway and relive Los Angeles history, one of the only survivors of what L.A. was once like. In fact, local businesspeople use this rail for their commute between downtown and Bunker Hill (after all, the hill is still steep). Angels Flight operates daily from 6:45 a.m. to 10 p.m., and is particularly helpful for those wanting to get from some of the downtown hotels like The Standard and the Bonaventure, to MOCA and Disney Hall.

Kids will love riding this historic railway; it’s a fantastic family outing. Pair it with other downtown sights: touring Disney Hall or Our Lady of Angels Cathedral, or even Olvera Street, which fills out a full visit to downtown Los Angeles. If you’re staying at the Omni, Angels Flight is a very useful mode of transport, making the area more convenient (like walking to restaurants) Or, do what the locals once did, and simply use it to get up that hill.

— Lesley Bracker