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Gene Autry Museum is located off Interstate 5, south of Highway 134 in Griffith Park. This museum features artifacts from the American West. Exhibits include firearms, cowboy memorabilia, indian basketry, Mexican Bandido photographs and more. The museum also promotes cultural concerts in Griffith Park.
Autry Museum of Western Heritage
4700 Western Heritage Way
Los Angeles, CA 90027
(323) 667-2000
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Ronald Reagan Presidential Library is located off Highways 23 and 118 in Simi Valley. Visit the library and burial place of one of America's favorite presidents. After a successful career in the motion picture industry, Ronald Reagan had an even more successful career serving two terms as President of the United States of America. He passed away in 2004 after a long battle with alsheimerse disease and was laid to rest in this, his favorite place. Exhibits include an F-14 fighter jet and the Boeing 747 known as 'Airforce 1' that was used by Reagan during his presidency.
Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum
40 Presidential Drive
Simi Valley, California 93065
(800) 410-8354
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Griffith Observatory is located between Interstate 5 and Highway 101, in the hills northeast of Hollywood. Situated on a peak within Griffith Park, this working observatory is open to the public and offers a planetarium, theater, astronomy exhibits, state-of-the-art sundial, cafe, gift shop, superb views of Hollywood and the L.A. basin and more. Closed Mondays.
TIP: The Observatory shares the same roads with the Greek Theatre which can be quite a traffic jam on concert nights. Be sure to check the theatre website to make sure there are no concerts when you plan to visit.
Griffith Observatory
2800 E. Observatory Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90027
(323) 660-7827
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Getty Villa is situated off PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) north of Santa Monica and south of the Malibu Pier. The Villa was built to resemble an Italian Villa that was unearthed from ancient times. The grounds include an herb garden, courtyards filled with native plants, fountains and statues, a Roman theatre, museum and more. The museum displays antiquities from the Greek, Roman and Etruscan era. Tickets must be obtained ahead of arrival through their website. Tickets are free other than a nominal fee for parking.
TIP: The entrance is only accessible approaching from the south off PCH. Watch for the turn on your right shortly after Sunset Boulevard.
Getty Villa
17985 Pacific Coast Highway
Malibu, CA 90265
(310) 440-7300
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Natural History Museum is located off Interstate 110 south of the 10. It is situated in Exposition Park with the Memorial Coliseum and California Science Center. This history museum houses one of the world's most extensive collections of natural and cultural history. Exhibits include reconstructed dinosaur bones, African wildlife in displays similar to their natural habitat, artifacts from the Aztec, Maya and Inca civilizations, rare gem and mineral displays and much more.
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
900 Exposition Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90007
(213) 763-3466
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California Science Center is located off Interstate 110 south of the 10. It is situated in Exposition Park with the Memorial Coliseum and the Natural History Museum. The Science Center features examples of mathematics, physics, biology in a primarily hands-on environment. Learn the physics behind bridge construction, how our body consumes and uses energy, space exploration, kelp forests and much, much more.
California Science Center
700 Exposition Park Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90037
(323) 724-3623
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Huntington Library is located between Interstates 10 and 210 near South Pasadena. This museum is as much about the gardens as it is the about the art. Originally opened to the public in 1928 by railroad and real estate tycoon Henry Huntington, the Huntington Library now contains magnificent collections of paintings, sculptures, rare books, manuscripts, and decorative arts. Gardens include a 14-acre cactus garden, camelia garden, and a Japanese garden that seems to have emerged from a Monet painting complete with a small red bridge. Recently added to the Library is a large atrium that serves as a conservatory for botanical science. Huge palms, ferns and other tropical plants fill the glass dome along with ponds and hands-on exhibits.
TIP: Reservations are recommended for The Rose Garden Tea Room that overlooks 3-acres of roses.
The Huntington Library, Art & Gardens
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
(626) 405-2100
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Norton Simon is located at the intersection of Highway 134 and Interstate 210 in Pasadena. The Norton Simon contains one of California's most prestigious collections of European and Asian art. Artists like Picasso, Monet, Rembrandt, Botticelli, Goya, Renoir, Manet, Warhol and much more are on display. The museum garden was inspired my Monet's Giverny.
Norton Simon Museum
411 W. Colorado Boulevard
Pasadena, California 91105
(626) 449-6840
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Gamble House is located off Interstate 210 in Pasadena. This home was built in 1908 by renowned architects Charles and Henry Greene for David and Mary Gamble of the Proctor and Gamble Company. It is an outstanding example of American Arts and Crafts style architecture with a strong asian influence. Mahogany, maple and oak are brought together with scarf and mortise & tenon joints. Stained glass doors and fixtures exude warm color throughout the house. An outdoor pond overlooks foothills and the Arroyo below. Currently maintained by the USC Architectural Preservation program, one hour tours are held Thursday through Sunday from 12-3 p.m.
TIP: You might recognize this as the professor's house in the original 'Back to the Future' movie starring Michael J. Fox. The car (time machine) was kept in the garage, what is currently the bookstore.
Gamble House
4 Westmoreland Place
Pasadena, California 91103
(626) 793-3334
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John Paul Getty Museum is located directly off the 405 freeway in the Santa Monica Mountains. It has an extensive collection of artifacts including paintings, sculpture and furniture mostly from the renaissance period to present. The museum offers astounding views of the entire L.A. basin and the Pacific Ocean. Parking is plentiful in a parking structure at the bottom of the hill. A short ride aboard the Getty tram places you at the museum entrance. The cafeteria-style restaurant offers views of the gardens and Santa Monica.
TIP: Refer to the museum map to locate fossils embedded in the travertine walls of the museum. The museum structure and architecture is a work of art in itself.
The Getty Center
1200 Getty Center Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90049
(310) 440-7300
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La Brea Tarpits / Page Museum is an active achaeological museum located in the heart of Los Angeles. It's hard to believe that the Los Angeles basin was once marsh and estuary that whooly mammoth, sabertoothed tiger and grizzley bear once roamed, but it was. This museum is built on top of an ancient tar pit that many of these animals stumbled into up to 40,000 years ago.
TIP: The Los Angeles County Museum of Art is right next door. Also, the ever popular Hollywood & Highland is just a short drive north.
Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits
5801 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, California 90036
(323) 934-PAGE
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Maritime Museum is located at the end of Interstate 110 in San Pedro. This two story museum offers a multitude of naval artifacts and a resident tug boat moored out back.
Berth 84, 6th Street
San Pedro, California 90731
(310) 548-7618
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Long Beach Museum of Art is located near interstates 405 and 710 along Ocean Boulevard in Long Beach. The museum resides in a historic oceanfront home built in 1912. Exhibits include furniture, abstract & modernism paintings, ceramics and more.
TIP: The museum offers panaramic views of the Long Beach coastline. Claire's Cafe is part of the museum and has a deck to dine while overlooking the bluffs to the Long Beach seascape.
Long Beach Museum of Art
2300 East Ocean Boulevard
Long Beach, California 90803
(562) 439-2119
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Museum of Latin American Art is located in Long Beach and features paintings, sculptures, carvings and more by Latino artists from around the world. An exterior garden mixes cacti and botanicals with modern, larger-than-life sculptures.
Museum of Latin American Art
628 Alamitos Avenue
Long Beach, California 90802
(562) 437-1689
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