Travel Town

Where: 5200 Zoo Drive, Los Angeles (only a couple miles from the zoo)
When: Monday-Friday: 10am-4pm
Sat & Sun: 10am-6pm
Price: FREE!

Website: http://www.traveltown.org/index.shtml

This is one of Tyler's favorite places! Not only is it close and convienient, but it costs nothing and during the week it is EMPTY. This is not an all day trip, so if you are driving out of your way to come to Travel Town, squeeze in a couple of the following with it: LA ZOO, Observatory, Gene Autry Museum, or the Pony Rides.

Don't come empty handed even though admission is free. Donations are always appreciated, and the cute little train ride that encompases the whole area twice is three dollars per person. Children under 19 months are free. A cute little old man dressed in a conducter's suit takes the train around every fifteen minutes so you can't miss it! There is also a penny press machine by the train ride if you're a collector as well. There are four coins to collect, and a penny album is sold at the gift shop.






The gift shop is very small but heavily packed with 90% of it's items being Thomas the train and VERY expensive. I usually go for the simple items: small toy train or a snow globe. You can never go wrong with a snow globe.

There are about six large trains still on the tracks that can be looked at and climbed on. Some are only open for tour dates, but they are just as beautiful to look at from the outside. There is a children's warehouse which isn't all that fun but does have some other locomotive and automobiles's placed inside. There's a train table and padded floor to tumble around on i guess, but Tyler never seems to be interested in it. The highlight of travel town really is fun little train ride and climbing up into the big trains.





There is also a large grass area to have a picnic. If you are plannning on staying long, bring food because there is nothing offered there except a drink vending machine. Travel Town is also great for birthday parties. My nephew had one of his parties here and it was a big hit! The grass area is great for the kids to run around on and there is nothing bad that kids can get into. There are available tables and shade. I'm not sure on the cost but if your child loves trains, this might be a good optiond instead of the park.