Top Los Angeles Sights to Hit First
Sightseeing in Los Angeles
An Art Deco observatory, a hilltop modernist campus, and a Peter Zumthor-designed art museum that only opened its doors this spring: LA’s headline sights change faster than most cities’ postcards, so check the numbers before you build a day around them.
Griffith Observatory
Free to enter, free to explore, with lawn telescopes and Tesla coil demos included. Planetarium shows run $12 for adults, $8 for kids 5 to 12, sold same-day only at on-site kiosks. The building is closed Mondays and opens at noon on weekdays, 10am on weekends. Hilltop parking is not free: it’s a flat $10/hr, credit card only, pay-and-display, enforced Tuesday through Friday noon to 10pm and weekends 10am to 10pm. Skip the fee entirely by parking at the Greek Theatre lot on non-concert nights and taking the 50-cent DASH Observatory shuttle up, per griffithobservatory.org . Book a Griffith Observatory stargazing tour if you want a guide pointing out constellations.
The Getty Center
Free admission with a mandatory timed reservation through getty.edu . Parking runs $25 standard, dropping to $15 after 3pm and $10 after 6pm, with free parking Saturdays after 6pm. Hold onto your receipt: the “Pay Once, Visit Both” coupon, requested at the Museum Information Desk, gets you free same-day parking at the Getty Villa too. Open Tuesday through Sunday, closed Mondays.
LACMA’s David Geffen Galleries
The original Wilshire buildings are gone. Peter Zumthor’s 347,000-square-foot David Geffen Galleries opened to the public on May 4, 2026, after a members-only preview in April. General admission runs $28 for adults, $13 for youth 3 to 17, and it’s free for LA County residents on weekdays after 3pm, confirmed against lacma.org . Chris Burden’s Urban Light, 202 restored cast-iron lamp posts on Wilshire Boulevard, stays free and open 24/7 whether or not the museum is.
The Broad and MOCA
The Broad releases free timed tickets on the last Wednesday of every month, and its standby line for general admission moves quickly. Down the block, the Museum of Contemporary Art has been 100% free for general admission since a 2020 policy change, across both its Grand Avenue and Geffen Contemporary locations. Book a downtown art and architecture walk to string these two together with Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Santa Monica Pier and Hollywood Boulevard
Santa Monica Pier is free to walk, open daily; Pacific Park’s rides are pay-per-ride at $8 to $15, or an unlimited wristband for $40 to $50. Down in Hollywood, the Walk of Fame and TCL Chinese Theatre forecourt are both free sidewalks, while a 30-minute interior theater tour runs $18 for adults.
Sightseeing across both Bunker Hill and the Pacific Coast in one day means budgeting 60 to 90 minutes of transit either way, so pick one side of the basin per morning. For the on-foot version of the Downtown stretch, see the walking tours guide .