I'm planning a roadtrip to Los Angeles for next Winter when hopefully travel be easier.

This is my (museum-heavy) day-by-day itinerary so far:

Day 1: The Getty Villa, The Getty Center and evening at Santa Monica pier.

Day 2: LACMA & Hollywood Boulevard (including Hollywood Museum)

Day 3: Universal Studios

Day 4: Norton Simon Museum & Huntington Gardens

Day 5: Griffith Observatory & The Broad (Is there anything else to do see or do downtown?)


Is this reasonable? Can the Getty Villa and Getty Center be done together in one day? Does LACMA need an entire day or is a half day fine?

It's reasonable, but the days could be quite full depending on how you like to explore museums. I can easily spend well over half a day in all the museums you mention, esp. LACMA which is the largest encyclopedic museum in the western U.S. Driving times between points, esp. if it's raining, and shorter daylight hours in winter will impact how much time you actually have at each institution.

Other museums worth mentioning:
Peterson (near LACMA)
Nethercutt (S.F. Valley)
Hammer (Westwood near Getty Center)
Grammy (downtown L.A.)
Japanese American (downtown L.A.)
Gamble House (Pasadena)

Tickets for the Broad can be hard to get for the exact day you want, so you may have to plan your days after you've nailed those down. I think you can still book the two Gettys as a same-day combo.

For day 1, you might want to do Getty Center in the morning, the Villa in the afternoon, followed by dinner in Santa Monica. Since Getty Villa is located in Pacific Palisades, which is adjacent to Santa Monica.

As for downtown LA, if you like music, I second the Grammy Museum which is next to the Microsoft Theater and the Staples center. And has plenty of places to walk and eat, including the restaurant at the Fig Hotel, Flemings, the Palm, the downtown El Cholo to name a few.

So glad to see you’ve got the Huntington on your list! The gardens and museums (there are several on the grounds) are wonderful.

If you are interested in history and architecture, you could visit the Olvera St area downlown, which is where the city started. The oldest house in LA is there.
https://www.discoverlosangeles.com/t...de-los-angeles

There are some other historical centers and historical houses described on that link. There is a Chinese American musem near there, and Italian American and the Museum of Social Justice.

https://www.museumofsocialjustice.org/

Surfergirl beat me to it, do Getty Villa last since it is close to Santa Monica. Check opening days, one is closed on Monday and the other on Tuesday (or was in the past). Also I am not sure about the Center, but you need reservations for Getty Villa since the parking is very limited.

I'd skip Universal unless you like theme parks (personally I hate the simulator rides they have) and visit Warner Bros or maybe Paramount which are real working studios and you can visit various sets the prop house, Foley studio, etc. and are small group tours. The Universal tour, unless you spend big bucks for the VIP tour, are large trams that hold 100-200 peeps.

Second the vote for Petersen Automotive, real close to LACMA.

I love theme parks, and on my 3 or 4 previous trips to LA, I never had the chance to make it to Universal Studios (I've done Disney twice, Magic Mountain once). If I had a couple extra days I probably would add in another non-Universal studio tour. I've good things about both the Paramount and WB ones.

Okay, I will make sure to do the Getty Villa last for the day. Thanks for the heads-up about making reservations. I forgot about it until now, but I believe that was the reason I was never able go there on my previous visits to LA either.

Despite owning a car, I'm not very interested in them actually. Is the Petersen museum still enjoyable even if you're not a car person?

ooooo, the Museum of Social Justice looks really interesting. Okay, I'll keep these in mind. Thank you!

You might want to visit the LaBrea Tar Pits (5801 Wilshire Blvd.) Also known as Hancock Park.

With any luck, Universal Studios will be open again in winter, but surely will be at a reduced number of park patrons. It is currently open (like Disneyland) for a "taste" of Universal. Don't know if that's like Disney where tickets sold out straight away. I'm not sure why people would spend the money to walk around the park and eat park food, and not go on any rides, but that's me.

Here is my tip, though, for Universal. Keep going to the site, because once they decide to open, there's going to be a mad rush for tickets. Maybe even sign up for emails from them, and you'll be first to be notified. Also, before the pandemic, I'd always advise if this is your first trip, go for the VIP pass, it's worth it to get in front of the lines. This may not be necessary if there's going to be reduced # of people allowed to enter. But something to consider.

Here are a couple of write-ups I've done on the Huntington. We live nearby, so we go often (actually visited yesterday). As of now, only the gardens are open and you need to make an advance online reservation. Hopefully, that will change soon. Be sure to check out the newly renovated Chinese Garden.

https://travelswithmaitaitom.com/hun...on-san-marino/

https://travelswithmaitaitom.com/hun...on-san-marino/

Looks like Disneyland will reopen April 1 with reduced (15%) capacity. Also heard on local TV station KTLA that folks will also be able to go to the Dodgers home opener and they will also be opening outdoor concerts (Hollywood Bowl again at reduced capacity.

If you like theme parks, check out Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, real close to Disneyland for a combination of coasters and other rides as well as their old Western area with gunfights, stage coach, Calico Mine ride, steam train and lots of other cool stuff. Be sure and have a meal at Mrs. Knott's Fried Chicken Dinner restaurants and buy or eat some boysenberry jam.

I really like the Petersen and am a 70 year old female. Not particularly a "car person" but some of those cars are real works of art.

With any luck, Universal Studios will be open again in winter, but surely will be at a reduced number of park patrons. It is currently open (like Disneyland) for a "taste" of Universal. Don't know if that's like Disney where tickets sold out straight away. I'm not sure why people would spend the money to walk around the park and eat park food, and not go on any rides, but that's me.

Here is my tip, though, for Universal. Keep going to the site, because once they decide to open, there's going to be a mad rush for tickets. Maybe even sign up for emails from them, and you'll be first to be notified. Also, before the pandemic, I'd always advise if this is your first trip, go for the VIP pass, it's worth it to get in front of the lines. This may not be necessary if there's going to be reduced # of people allowed to enter. But something to consider.

Griffith is an easy hop from Universal, and is open until 10pm, so you could visit on the same day if you wished. Universal is maybe a 10am to 5:00pm kind of park, unless you have kids with you and they REALLY enjoy those 3D-animation type rides.