10 Museums to explore in Los Angeles County
Most populous county in the United States, with more than 10 million inhabitants as of 2018. It is the third-largest metropolitan economy in the world with a Nominal GDP of over $700 billion.
Dedicated to exploring an inclusive history of the American West. The museum presents a wide range of exhibitions and public programs, including lectures, film, theater, festivals, family events, and music, and performs scholarship, research, and educational outreach.
An art museum and cultural center known for its artist-centric and progressive array of exhibitions and public programs. Particularly important among the museum's critically acclaimed exhibitions are presentations of both historically over-looked and emerging contemporary artists.
Largest art museum in the western United States. It attracts nearly a million visitors annually. It holds more than 150,000 works spanning the history of art from ancient times to the present.
Largest natural and historical museum in the western United States. Its collections include nearly 35 million specimens and artifacts and cover 4.5 billion years of history.
One of the world's largest automotive museums with over 100 vehicles on display in its 25 galleries. The remaining half of the collection is kept in a vault, located on the basement level of the building. Age restrictions and an admission premium are in effect to view the vault collection.
A contemporary art museum with free general admission to its permanent collection galleries. Houses a nearly 2,000-piece collection of contemporary art, featuring 200 artists.
Well known for its architecture, gardens, and views overlooking Los Angeles. The Museum features pre-20th-century European paintings, drawings, illuminated manuscripts, sculpture, and decorative arts; and photographs from the 1830s through present day from all over the world. The Museum's collection includes outdoor sculpture displayed on terraces and in gardens.
Collections-based educational and research institution. In addition to the library, the institution houses an extensive art collection with a focus on 18th- and 19th-century European art and 17th- to mid-20th-century American art. The property also includes approximately 120 acres (49 ha) of specialized botanical landscaped gardens, most notably the "Japanese Garden", the "Desert Garden", and the "Chinese Garden".
A group of tar pits from where asphalt has seeped up from the ground for tens of thousands of years. Over many centuries, the tar preserved the bones of trapped animals. The Museum is dedicated to researching the tar pits and displaying specimens from the animals that died there.
A railway museum focusing on the history of railroad transportation in the western United States from 1880 to the 1930s, with an emphasis on railroading in Southern California and the Los Angeles area.
