Parks, Gardens and Museums in Los Angeles
♦ Routes (free): Detailed travel itineraries in USA
Los Angeles offers a large variety of museums of all types and sizes. Some of the museums are located within parks that also feature other attractions. The city also has a zoo and an aquarium.
Recommended hotels in a central location in Los Angeles:
Best Western PLUS Hollywood Hills – A 3-star hotel located a 4-minute drive from the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The hotel has 86 spacious and well-equipped rooms including a microwave and refrigerator. The hotel features a diner restaurant and a swimming pool. Free internet. Private parking for an additional fee.
Holiday Inn Express Hollywood Walk of Fame - A 3-star hotel located an 8-minute walk from the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The hotel has 94 spacious rooms, each with a small refrigerator. The hotel has a swimming pool and a gym. Free internet and free breakfast. Private parking for an additional fee.
Residence Inn by Marriott Beverly Hills – A suite hotel in Beverly Hills less than a kilometer from Rodeo Drive. The hotel has 186 suites ranging from double studio apartments to two-bedroom suites with a living room for 5 people. Each suite has a neat and equipped kitchen. Free internet and free breakfast. The hotel has a jacuzzi and a gym. Private parking for an additional fee.
Hilton Los Angeles-Universal City – A high-quality 4-star hotel located a 2-minute walk from Universal Studios. The hotel has 495 rooms. The hotel features a restaurant, business center, gym, swimming pool, and jacuzzi. Each room has a small refrigerator. Rooms offer views of the theme park or the city. Internet and parking for an additional fee.
Book guided tours in Los Angeles from GetYourGuide.com:
Exposition Park
Several museums are located in this park. The park is bordered by the following streets: Exposition Blvd, Figueroa, Menlo Ave, and Martin Luther King Blvd. The park serves as a civic, cultural, and entertainment center and includes a rose garden and a large stadium in addition to the museums.
Two museums in the park that are recommended for a visit are:
California Science Center
The center features displays on mathematics, environment, health, earthquakes, and a separate wing dedicated to space and aviation (The Air and Space Gallery). Most exhibits are hands-on and interactive, to the joy of children. The facility also houses a 5-story high IMAX theater, which screens 3D films on space, distant lands, and more. Watching the film requires a separate fee. Highly recommended for family visits. Note: It will be closed between May 9, 2017, and October 10, 2017, for the installation of an IMAX with a new laser system.
The museum is open daily from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Closed on Christmas, Thanksgiving, and January 1st. Admission to the museum is free, but some attractions require payment: high wire bicycle riding, simulator, and climbing wall. Parking is paid. Museum address: 700 State Dr.
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
The museum features excellent displays of habitats for mammals from Africa, North America, and other exotic mammals. Additionally, there are displays of birds, insects, and marine life. As with any self-respecting natural history museum, dinosaurs are also represented here. Other displays include minerals and Native American culture. The facility also houses a discovery center with interactive exhibits and an insect zoo. Open Monday through Friday from 9:30 AM to 5:00 PM and on weekends from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Closed on Independence Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and January 1st. Admission is paid. Free entry on the first Tuesday of every month. Address: 900 Exposition Blvd.
♦ Admission tickets to amusement parks and attractions in Los Angeles:
Griffith Park
This is the largest municipal park in the US. It contains museums, a zoo, a planetarium, a natural amphitheater, hiking trails, etc. You can rent bicycles or ride ponies there. The park is open daily from 5:00 AM to 10:30 PM. Hiking trails close at sunset. Information on the many activities taking place in the park can be obtained at the park's visitor center. Address: 4730 Crystal Springs Dr.
Los Angeles Zoo
Located in Griffith Park, near the intersection of I-5 and SR-134. It is home to more than 1,200 mammals, birds, and reptiles, including rare species and many types under threat of extinction. Most animals are kept in open areas that resemble their natural environments. The park features a "Safari Shuttle" bus that circles the park (for an additional fee). The facility also holds bird and sea lion shows, as well as a children's zoo where visitors can get close to the animals and even touch and feed them. This is a large and recommended zoo, but if you plan to visit San Diego as well, save the zoo visit for that city as it is even larger and more impressive. The zoo is open daily from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Closed on Christmas. Admission is paid, parking is free.
Travel Town Museum
A museum for historical transportation vehicles, featuring a display of trains, horse-drawn carriages, old airplanes, etc. A miniature train circles the exhibits. Open daily except for Christmas. Monday through Friday the museum is open from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. On Saturdays and Sundays, the museum closes at 5:00 PM. Located at the northwestern corner of Griffith Park. Address: 5200 Zoo Dr.
Griffith Observatory and Planetarium
A great place to view the city lights and also the stars. It includes a science center with displays on our connections with the universe. Planetarium shows are also held in the museum (for an additional fee), accompanied by special effects and laser shows. Open daily except for Mondays, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Tuesday through Friday the observatory is open from 12:00 PM to 10:00 PM. On Saturdays and Sundays, the observatory opens at 10:00 AM. The observatory is also located in Griffith Park, Address: 2800 E. Observatory Rd.
The Page Museum
The museum is located at the Rancho La Brea Tar Pits in the center of Los Angeles. This area is considered one of the world's richest in fossils, with an impressive variety of plant and animal remains from the Stone Age. Visitors learn what Los Angeles looked like 10,000 to 40,000 years ago during the last ice age, when it was home to giant mammoths. Visitors can watch through laboratory windows as ancient fossil bones found in the field are cleaned and repaired. Outside the museum, in Hancock Park, life-size models of animals that lived in the area during the ice age are displayed. Address: 5801 Wilshire Blvd.
♦ Guided tours in Los Angeles from Viator:
Art Museums
Los Angeles has several art museums that most children would not find very interesting. However, there is one art museum that is nonetheless recommended:
The Getty Center
This center was previously located in Malibu and was moved in 1997 to the summit of one of the Santa Monica mountains. Address: 1200 Getty Center Dr. It is reached via Route I-405, south of Beverly Hills. The museum features an impressive collection of works including paintings, photographs, sculptures, furniture, and decorative art objects collected by J. Paul Getty, who was one of the world's wealthiest people. Next to the museum are designed gardens and a research institution. A spectacular view of the city is visible from there. It is not recommended to visit with small children as they will quickly lose patience. Order is strictly maintained and the art objects are zealously guarded. Using flash for photography inside the building is prohibited. The museum is open every day except for Mondays, between 10:00 AM and 5:30 PM. On Saturdays it is open until 9:00 PM. Closed on most American holidays. Admission to the museum is free, but parking is paid.
Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach
An impressive and extensive aquarium located in Long Beach Harbor. Address: 100 Aquarium Way, at the Shoreline Drive exit. It is one of the world's largest aquariums and houses over 12,000 marine animals of 550 different species. It features 17 displays including a giant 3-story tank for predators and thirty smaller aquariums. You can observe mysterious marine life from the depths of the ocean. The most exciting attraction in the aquarium is the Shark Lagoon, featuring more than 150 sharks and stingrays, some of which you can even touch. Open daily from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM, except for Christmas and the date of the Grand Prix race in Long Beach (in the spring, the exact date varies from year to year). Highly recommended for families!
A "Behind-the-Scenes" tour of the aquarium is held (for an additional fee), during which you reach fascinating places normally inaccessible and discover fascinating facts about the marine life there, including practical information such as how 12,000 animals are fed daily; you can even hand-feed some of the aquarium's animals. Additionally, (during summer months only), you can join a 90-minute cruise in Long Beach Harbor on a research vessel called Conqueror, during which you take an active part in searching for marine life. Intended for age 6 and up, adult supervision is required for children under 16.
Descanso Gardens
Botanical gardens located in a northern suburb of Los Angeles called La Cañada Flintridge. The gardens house over 100,000 camellias, which bloom from October to March. The gardens feature many types of roses that bloom between April and December and lilacs that bloom between March and April. Additionally, irises, aquatic flowers, and orchids bloom there. There is a nice tea house in the Japanese gardens. Many events and festivals are held at the site. A tour via a small train (which runs through the park several times a day, except for Mondays) can be taken (for a modest additional fee) through the gardens. Open daily from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM except for Christmas (entry to the gardens is allowed until 4:30 PM). Admission is paid. Parking is free. Address: 1418 Descanso Drive, La Cañada Flintridge, CA 91011.