Park Once, Walk
Explore · Easy · 100 points · 1–2 hrs
Park or get dropped once in LA and explore one neighbourhood entirely on foot.
The catch: No driving between blocks.
Bonus +50: Eat somewhere you passed on foot.
Free travel game
Side Quest
Turn Los Angeles into an adventure.
Tell us where you are. Pick your kind of adventure. We'll give you something unexpected to do. No account. No app. Just go.
Start a side questPlay anywhere · Complete quests · Earn points · Screenshot your wins · Challenge your friends
Step 1
Pick your place
Tell us what city you're exploring.
Step 2
Get your quest
Choose a category or let us surprise you.
Step 3
Complete + share
Finish the challenge, earn points and screenshot your achievement.
Where are you right now?
No location access needed — just tell us the city.
What kind of side quest?
How far do you want to go?
Your side quest score today
0 points
0 all-time
100 points to Explorer
Scores are saved in this browser on this device only. No account, no email, nothing sent anywhere. Clearing your browser data clears your score.
Side quests written for Los Angeles
These challenges only work here. Play them in any order — the game will mix them with quests that work anywhere in United States.
Taco Stand Rules
Food & Drink · Quick · 50 points · 20 min
Eat from a street taco stand, standing up, after dark.
The catch: No sit-down restaurants.
Bonus +25: Order a third with a different meat.
City Trail
Outdoors · Adventure · 200 points · 1–2 hrs
Hike a trail inside Los Angeles and get above the traffic.
The catch: Trail must be inside city limits.
Bonus +75: Go at sunrise instead of midday.
Mural Route
Local Culture · Easy · 100 points · 1 hr
Find five murals in one LA neighbourhood and photograph each.
The catch: No driving between them.
Bonus +50: Find one being painted right now.
The Other Beach
Hidden Gems · Easy · 100 points · 1–2 hrs
Watch an LA sunset from a beach that is not the famous one.
The catch: No famous piers.
Bonus +50: Get in the water, however cold.
Farmers Market Lunch
Food & Drink · Easy · 100 points · 1 hr
Build lunch entirely from an LA farmers market.
The catch: Nothing from a shop.
Bonus +50: Try a fruit variety you cannot buy at home.
Palms Against Sky
Photo Quest · Quick · 50 points · 20 min
Photograph palm trees against sky, five frames, no buildings.
The catch: No buildings in shot.
Bonus +25: Get the sun flaring through the fronds.
The Older City
Local Culture · Adventure · 200 points · 1–2 hrs
Find pre-1930s Los Angeles still standing and walk it.
The catch: No reconstructions or replicas.
Bonus +75: Find a building older than the film industry.
Ask The Counter
Local Culture · Bold · 300 points · 45 min
Ask three Angelenos where they eat, and go to one of them.
The catch: You must go.
Bonus +75: Go to a second one tomorrow.
Metro Only
Explore · Adventure · 200 points · 2 hrs
Cross Los Angeles by Metro rail and bus only, no car at all.
The catch: No ride-hailing at any point.
Bonus +75: Do the return trip a different way.
Free Admission Window
Museums · Easy · 100 points · 1–2 hrs
Use an LA museum's free admission window and see one collection.
The catch: No paid exhibitions.
Bonus +50: Find the object nobody is photographing.
Mountains To Sea
Must-Do · Epic · 500 points · 5 hrs
In one LA day, stand on a ridge trail and swim in the Pacific.
The catch: Both halves must happen the same day.
Bonus +150: Do the crossing by transit.
Share your Side Quest
Los Angeles Side Quest
Send Los Angeles side quests to whoever you're travelling with. The link opens this city ready to play.
https://buybeforeyoufly.com/side-quest/los-angeles
#BuyBeforeYouFly #SideQuestTravel #LosAngelesSideQuest
What is a travel side quest?
A side quest is a small, self-contained challenge you can complete wherever you happen to be standing. Side Quest is a free browser-based travel game from Buy Before You Fly: you tell it which city you are exploring, choose the kind of adventure you are in the mood for, and it hands you something unexpected to do. Every quest is built from an objective, a constraint that makes it interesting, and an optional bonus — so instead of another list of the same twenty attractions, you get a reason to walk down a different street, order something you cannot pronounce, or look at one painting for twenty minutes.
There is nothing to install and nothing to sign up for. It works on the phone in your pocket, in the gap between a late checkout and an evening flight, or on a full free day in a city you have never visited.
How Side Quest works
- Pick your place. Search for the city you are exploring. No location permission and no precise GPS required.
- Choose a category. Food, museums, landmarks, exploring, photography, culture, outdoors or hidden gems — or let the dice decide.
- Get your quest. Each one comes with a mission, a catch and a bonus objective worth extra points.
- Earn points. Quick quests are worth 50 points and epic ones 500, with bonuses from 25 to 100 on top.
- Screenshot and share. Completing a quest turns it into an achievement card built to fit a phone screenshot.
Side Quest ideas for travelers
Food & Drink
Markets, bakeries, street food and the dish locals order without looking at the menu.
Museums
One room, one object, one story — museum challenges that beat drifting past everything.
Must-Do
The landmark experiences, with a twist that stops them feeling like a checklist.
Explore
Neighbourhood walks, wrong turns on purpose and streets guidebooks skip.
Photo Quest
Small photo missions that train you to notice details other travellers walk past.
Local Culture
Language, music, craft, ritual and everyday life where you happen to be standing.
Outdoors
Parks, water, viewpoints and green detours between the busy bits.
Hidden Gems
The small, quiet, odd and overlooked corners of a city.
Play Side Quest with friends
Side Quest has no accounts, no friend lists and no leaderboards to join — which is exactly what makes it easy to play together. Everyone opens the page on their own phone, plays the same city, and compares screenshots at dinner. Agree on a target before you split up: first to 500 points, most quests completed before sunset, or one epic quest each. Points are kept in your own browser, so the only scoreboard is the one you keep between you.
- 100 — Explorer
- 500 — Wanderer
- 1,000 — Adventurer
- 2,500 — Globetrotter
- 5,000 — Side Quest Legend
Explore more with Buy Before You Fly
Side Quest is free and always will be. When you want the rest of the trip sorted, the same site covers it:
- Destination guides
Country-by-country guides, things to do and short itineraries.
- Airport guides
Arrivals, transport, wi-fi, food and connections for major hubs.
- Travel eSIMs
Mobile data in 200+ destinations, installed before you land.
- Personalized trip plans
A downloadable plan built around your pace, interests and budget.