11 Best Sights in Los Angeles, California

Don’t let its over-the-top marble facade turn you off: the Hollywood Museum, nestled at the busy intersection of Hollywood and Highland, is worth it, especially for film aficionados. A museum deserving of its name, it boasts an impressive collection of exhibits from the moviemaking world, spanning several film genres and eras. Start in its pink, original art deco lobby where the Max Factor exhibit pays tribute to the cosmetics company’s pivotal role in Hollywood, make your way to the dark basement, where the industry’s penchant for the macabre is on full display, and wrap up your visit by admiring Hollywood’s most famous costumes and set props on the top floor.

What was it like to grow up on a sugar plantation in Hawaii? How difficult was life for Japanese Americans interned in concentration camps during World War II? These questions are addressed by changing exhibitions at this museum in Little Tokyo that also include fun tributes to anime and Hello Kitty. Volunteer docents are on hand to share their own stories and experiences. The museum occupies its original site in a renovated 1925 Buddhist temple and an 85,000-square-foot adjacent pavilion.

Take the Metro and get $2 off general admission and a 10% discount at adjoining Chado Tea Room.

Because it's in El Pueblo Plaza, you might assume that this museum features Mexican American art, but it's actually the last surviving structure of L.A.'s original Chinatown. Three floors of exhibits reveal the different cultures that have called this area home, as well as how the original residents paved the way for what is now a vibrant and varied Chinatown. Rotating exhibits feature the work of Chinese American artists.

Looking like a prop street set up by a film studio, Heritage Square resembles a row of bright dollhouses in the modest Highland Park neighborhood. Five 19th-century residences, a train station, a church, a carriage barn, and a 1909 boxcar that was originally part of the Southern Pacific Railroad, all built between the Civil War and World War I, were moved to this small park from various locations in Southern California to save them from the wrecking ball. The latest addition, a re-creation of a World War I–era drugstore, has a vintage soda fountain and traditional products. Docents dressed in period costume lead visitors through the lavish homes, giving an informative picture of Los Angeles in the early 1900s. Don't miss the unique 1893 Octagon House, one of just a handful of its kind built in California.

This unassuming wooden building across from the Hollywood Bowl is a treasure trove of memorabilia from the earliest days of Hollywood filmmaking, including a thorough look back at Cecil B. DeMille's starry career and a recreation of his office. The building itself is the restored Lasky-DeMille Barn, the oldest studio and oldest building in Hollywood, designated a California State Historic Landmark in 1956. Models show the building's former location on the Paramount Studios lot. Changing exhibitions cover movie and film history.

The Holocaust Museum uses its extensive collections of photos and artifacts, along with audio tours and interactive tools, to evoke European Jewish life in the 20th century. The mission is to commemorate the lives of those who perished and those who survived the Holocaust. The building is itself a marvel, having won two awards from the American Institute of Architects.

This landmark, constructed in 1908, is noteworthy because its south wall bears an infamous mural. Famed Mexican muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros shocked his patrons in the 1930s by depicting an oppressed worker of Latin America being crucified on a cross topped by a menacing American eagle. The anti-imperialist mural was promptly whitewashed but was later restored by the Getty Museum. It can be seen on the Italian Hall building today. Today the site functions as a museum and has seven color-coded exhibits on the history of Italian Americans. The site is also home to Taste of Italy, an annual event that celebrates the Italian culinary history of Los Angeles.

This museum unflinchingly confronts bigotry and racism. One of its most affecting sections covers the Holocaust, with film footage of deportations and concentration camps. Upon entering, you are issued a "passport" bearing the name of a child whose life was dramatically changed by the Nazis; as you go through the exhibit, you learn the fate of that child. Another exhibit called Anne: The Life and Legacy of Anne Frank brings her story to life through immersive environments, multimedia presentations, and interesting artifacts, while Simon Wiesenthal's Vienna office is set exactly as the famous "Nazi hunter" had it while conducting his research that brought more than 1,000 war criminals to justice.

Interactive exhibits include The Forum where visitors can examine and debate solutions to controversial topics facing our nation today such as immigration, policing, homelessness, the pandemic, and bigotry; We the People, which looks at U.S. history from the 1600s up to the attack on the Capitol on January 6th, 2021, with an immense interactive wall; and the Point of View Experience, a four-sided glass cube that presents a different individual's perspective on a particular situation facing society. Plan to spend at least three hours touring the museum; making a reservation is especially recommended for Sunday and holiday visits.

The hot ticket at this Beaux Arts–style museum completed in 1913 is the Dinosaur Hall, whose more than 300 fossils include adult, juvenile, and baby skeletons of the fearsome Tyrannosaurus rex. The Discovery Center lets kids and curious grown-ups touch real animal pelts, and the Insect Zoo gets everyone up close and personal with the white-eyed assassin bug and other creepy crawlers. A massive hall displays dioramas of animals in their natural habitats. Also look for pre-Columbian artifacts and crafts from the South Pacific, or priceless stones in the Gem and Mineral Hall. Outdoors, the 3½-acre Nature Gardens shelter native plant and insect species and contain an expansive edible garden.

Don't miss out on the Dino lab, where you can watch paleontologists unearth and clean real fossils.

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum, located in Simi Valley north of Malibu, offers visitors a glimpse into the life and presidency of America's 40th president. History buffs, Reagan admirers, and those curious about American politics will all find something for them. Perched atop a hill with stunning views of the surrounding terrain, the library houses an impressive collection of interactive exhibits as well as original artifacts and documents that chronicle Reagan's journey from small-town Illinois to the Hollywood A-list and ultimately the White House. Highlights include a full-scale replica of the Oval Office, the actual Air Force One aircraft used during Reagan's presidency, and a piece of the Berlin Wall. The museum does a comprehensive (though somewhat partisan) job of contextualizing Reagan's era, covering major events like the end of the Cold War and the economic policies of the 1980s. The library's beautiful grounds, including Reagan's final resting place, offer a peaceful space for reflection. The cafeteria-style Gipper's Bar and Bistro serves up a variety of meal options and drinks, while another location in the Air Force One pavilion has quick-serve offerings. And naturally, a fully stocked museum store offers everything a fan could ever want.

Tucked into two hangars at the Van Nuys Airport is a kooky, fascinating, and somewhat chaotic archive of all things 818. Well, post-urbanization anyway. Clearly assembled by folks who take great pride in being from The Valley and constantly being added to, artifacts including retro neon signs from closed businesses, movie memorabilia, concert posters, vintage BMX bikes, cars like Spicoli's van, and postcards fill cases and shelves, cover the walls, sit on the floor, and hang from the ceiling. Exhibits on the history of the Burbank airport, which covers the role it played in World War II, and rhinestone suit designer-to-the-stars Nudie Cohn are not to be missed. There's a free-play arcade with pinball machines and games and a gift shop for souvenirs.