10 Best museums in LA

Los Angeles is not just about the beach and the heat: there are many things to see and do in this city and among them are the incredible museums that the city offers to tourists and locals alike. In this wonderful Californian city you can find some incredible museums, dedicated to national origins, history, astronomy and also a lot of cinema.

We know you'll have to go to the beach and you'll want to party at night, but there are wonderful museums in Los Angeles that you can't miss for anything in the world. Join me in this article to learn about the 10 best museums in the city, so you can include them in your Los Angeles tours.

Los Angeles is the film capital of the world, so how could that not be reflected in the list of museums in the city? You may have organised a visit to Universal Studios, but in addition to that I recommend you don't miss the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. It is the museum of the Academy that organises the Oscars. It is a brand new museum, inaugurated in 2021 and whose building was designed by the renowned architect Renzo Piano.

Just going to this museum will be a delight for you, because of the novelty and the technology that is fully incorporated in its exhibits. There are more than 4,500 square metres of space, a large part of which is dedicated to exhibitions, but there is also a beautiful square and two theatres, so you can easily spend a whole afternoon here. In the theatres there are often presentations linked to the exhibitions and also film shows.

If you want to know about the history of the Oscars and Hollywood in general, this is the place to be. There is a separate space called the Oscars® Experience where you have to buy a separate ticket to get in, but if you are an Oscar fan, you should not miss it. The location is phenomenal as it is situated on the museum mile in Los Angeles and admission is around 25 euros.

Practical info

• Location: 6067 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California
• Price: Approximately 25 euros for general admission, 15 euros for reduced admission for university students and about 20 euros for seniors over 62. Minors are free.
• Hours: Sunday to Thursday from 10 am to 6 pm. Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Did you think the only Natural History Museum in the United States was the one in New York? That's because you haven't seen the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, which has a fantastic history as the first museum in the city, having opened in 1913. Its building is very classic and at the entrance you will see a huge whale skeleton that will dazzle you.

If you are looking for activities to do with kids in Los Angeles, this is definitely the place. Here you can see many dinosaur skeletons and extinct mammals, as well as different temporary and permanent exhibitions dedicated to the natural history of the American West Coast. This is accompanied by some truly amazing gardens where you can stroll and relax.

This museum is located in Exposition Park, so you can reach it using the Expo Park/USC or Expo/Vermont underground station. Opening hours are usually from 9:30am to 5pm and general admission costs around 15 euros for adults.

Practical information

• Location: Exposition Park, Los Angeles, California
• Price: about €15 for adults, €12 for seniors and students and about €7 for children between 3 and 12 years old. Children under the age of 3 are free. There are free admission times to the museum, but it depends on the type of customer.
• Opening hours: from 9:30 am to 5 pm.

The west coast of the United States is a place that until the 19th century was sparsely populated and most of its population were immigrants. Many of them were African-Americans who found a place free of slavery and with opportunities for the future in California. Some of this history is chronicled in the California African American History Museum, also located in Exposition Park in Los Angeles.

This museum is great because it is not too big and you can walk through it in a couple of hours. Most of the space is taken up by temporary exhibits that are constantly being renovated, so every visit to the museum is a unique opportunity. The range of exhibits varies between telling the story of the African origins of African Americans, but also all the achievements of black artists in the western United States. Best of all, admission to the museum is completely free.

Practical information

• Location: Exposition Park, Los Angeles, California
• Price: free admission
• Hours: 9:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Every city has several symbols. In Los Angeles, Venice Beach is one of them, but there is one sculpture that has gained renown in recent years and where hundreds of thousands of tourists have had their pictures taken: Chris Burden's Urban Light sculpture, made of old, restored streetlights. This fantastic sculpture is at the entrance of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and is one of the things to do in Los Angeles at night.

This museum is mainly dedicated to contemporary art, but with a strong historical focus. It usually features temporary exhibitions of classic American artists and many newer ones. But also in this museum you can learn a lot about the past of both Hispanic America and the United States. It's a multi-thematic museum that's expanding, so it won't stop growing.

Practical information

• Location: 5905 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, 90036
• Price: about €25 admission for non-resident adults. Seniors 65+ and students can get admission at about €21. Tickets for those aged 3 to 17 cost around €10 and children under 3 are free.
• Opening hours: 11 am to 6 pm on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. From 11 am to 8 pm on Fridays and from 10 am to 7 pm on Saturdays and Sundays. Closed on Wednesdays.

One of the best science centres in the United States is within your reach in Exposition Park next time you're in Los Angeles: the California Science Center. Until 1998 it was known as the California Museum of Science and Industry, but today it's much more than that. This museum is perfect for taking children to get close to science and also to space.

I say space because the California Science Center is home to the space shuttle Endeavour. It is truly incredible how impressive this spacecraft is, how big it is and how it works. This alone is worth a visit. The museum also has a module from the Apollo-Soyuz mission and other fantastic space capsules.

But don't stop there, because there are many temporary and permanent exhibitions, many of them focused on biology. That's because the California Science Center has ten ecosystems: galleries illustrating different types of habitats, such as the Kelp Forest, islands, deserts, poles, rivers and even the city of Los Angeles. It's well worth a visit, and the best thing is that the permanent exhibits are free.

Practical information

• Location: Exposition Park, Los Angeles, California
• Price: free for permanent exhibitions. Temporary exhibitions can range from €20. IMAX shows and simulator tours are also extra, although costs vary.
• Hours: 10 am to 5 pm

Traveller Tip
There are some space simulators that require additional admission. If you love the idea, don't miss the opportunity, but remember that there may be sudden movements.

You're in Los Angeles, one of the greatest cities in the world, so how about checking out a predominantly local museum? That's the Hammer Museum, which is affiliated with the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and focuses primarily on local and California artists, with a lot of contemporary art, photography and conceptual art in design. The museum is so named because it was founded by oil tycoon Armand Hammer.

Unlike other museums, the Hammer is more of a gallery, because although it maintains permanent collections, most of the space is taken up by travelling collections. It is also a cultural centre, where you can attend all kinds of artistic activities, such as openings, performances and recitals. Today, this museum is one of the alternative centres of Los Angeles and a favourite place for emerging art that can be enjoyed free of charge.

Practical information

• Location: 10899 Wilshire Boulevard Los Angeles, 90024; on the UCLA campus.
• Price: Admission to all exhibitions is completely free.
• Hours: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Closed Mondays

The history of California could not be understood without Japanese emigration. For generations, the Japanese and their descendants have built California and endowed it with a strong Asian influence on the West Coast of the United States. Exalting and recognising the contribution of Japanese-Americans is the work of the Japanese American National Museum; a beautiful place to visit on your next visit to Los Angeles.

Although the Japanese have contributed much, they have also been victims of much suffering in the United States and so much of their exhibits focus on the restrictions on their freedom in internment camps in World War II or the racial discrimination they have faced.

But this museum is also very cultural, and even deals with the current relationship between the United States and Japan. Themes such as anime, food or the restoration of ceramics are frequent, so history and the present are at your disposal.

Practical information

• Location: 100 North Central Avenue, Los Angeles, 90012.
• Price: about €15 for adults and €7 for students and seniors over 62. Children under the age of 5 are free. Certain touring exhibitions may require additional admission.
• Opening hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 11 am to 5 pm (last admission time: 4 pm). Thursdays from 12 noon to 8 p.m. (last admission: 7 p.m.). Closed on Mondays.

Although the United States seems like a country that has always existed, the truth is that the entire western part of the country was conquered and absorbed only in the 19th century, unlike much of the East Coast and Latin America. As a result, many of its migrants and native peoples have been forgotten. The Autry Museum of the American West is the ideal place to learn about the western half of the United States, its history and its present.

Located in Griffith Park, this museum was the brainchild of cowboy singer Gene Autry, one of the country and western aesthetics' biggest stars in the country. The museum maintains a good part of Autry's collection, but it has also dedicated itself to recognising the different indigenous tribes that inhabited the area and even the Spanish past. The Autry Museum also owns the Southwest Museum of the American Indian, located 13 km from Griffith Park, which is devoted entirely to Native Americans in the West.

Practical Information

• Location: 4700 Western Heritage Way Los Angeles, 90027-1462 in Griffith Park. The Southwest Museum of the American Indian is located at 234 Museum Drive, Los Angeles, 90065-5030.

• Price: about €14 for adults and approximately €10 for students and seniors over 62. Children between the ages of 3 and 12 have a ticket that costs about €6. Children under the age of two, active military and veterans are free.

• Opening hours: 10am to 4pm Tuesday to Friday. From 10 am to 5 pm on Saturdays and Sundays. Closed on Mondays.

The most important museum in the city is the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), an institution with at least three locations, the most important of which is on Grand Avenue, located in Downtown Los Angeles.

The most important is on Grand Avenue, located in Downtown L.A. The museum has housed over 5,000 works of art since its inception in 1940 and was especially prominent in the post-war period as different artistic trends resurfaced in California.

Here you'll see a little bit of everything from 20th century artists, from abstract paintings like Jackson Pollock to emerging local artists from all over the city. The Grand Avenue venue has a strong emphasis on permanent exhibitions, so when you go you'll be able to meet the greats of contemporary Californian art.

Practical info

• Location: 100 North Central Avenue, Los Angeles, 90012.

• Price: about €15 for adults and €7 for students and over 62s. Children under 5 are free. Certain touring exhibitions may require additional admission.

• Opening hours: Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 11 am to 5 pm. Saturday and Sunday from 11 am to 6 pm. Monday and Tuesday closed.

Since 1996, the Museum of Latin American Art (MOLAA) has been the most renowned art institution in Los Angeles for the influence of Latin American countries, particularly Mexico.

Incredibly, it is the only museum of its kind in the entire United States, so it is well worth a visit. It's located in Long Beach, so you're bound to pass by it on one of your sightseeing bus tours of Los Angeles.

But that's not the only modern thing about this space, because everything is pretty avant-garde. Generally, the museum has travelling exhibitions of Latin American artists in the United States, but they also have collections dedicated to each Latin American country. It is also a great place to celebrate different cultural manifestations, particularly the Mexican ones that are deeply rooted in California. Don't leave it out of your agenda.

Practical information

• Location: 628 Alamitos Avenue, Long Beach, 90802

• Price: around 15 € for adults and 10 € for students and senior citizens. Children under 12 get free admission.

• Hours: Wednesday to Sunday from 11am to 5pm. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays