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Bucket list experience:

Last updated: 29 May, 2023
Expert travel writer: Luciana Bellini

Situated next door to LACMA, the visually striking Renzo Piano-designed museum has been years in the making and finally opened to much fanfare in September 2021, making it the largest in the world solely dedicated to the art of movie-making.

Spread across four floors of gallery space, including a 1,000-seat theatre space in its famous glassy dome, it’s filled with cinematic treasures, from Dorothy’s ruby red slippers and the Rosebud sled from Citizen Kane to the sole surviving shark from Jaws. There’s also an experience dedicated to the Oscars, where you get the chance to hold one of the coveted golden statuettes.

Don’t miss

Don’t miss the enormous painted Mount Rushmore backdrop from the climax of Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest, which requires a two-storey gallery in order to properly display it.

Price from: £22
Minimum age: Any
Age suitable: 8+
When: All year around

Getting there & doing it

The museum is located in the city’s Miracle Mile neighbourhood and is nestled between LACMA and the Peterson Automotive Museum, about a 15-minute drive from Hollywood Boulevard.

Timed tickets must be booked in advance via the museum’s website and includes admission to all of the current exhibitions, except for the immersive Oscars Experience installation (additional charge).

When to do it

The museum is open all year round, seven days a week.

Our writer’s picks of the best places to stay near this experience, closest first

Mr C Beverly Hills

Los Angeles, California, United States of America (USA)[3.6 miles]

Stylish, spacious and reasonably-priced rooms in this low-key hotel in Beverley Hills.

Official star rating:

Mondrian Hotel Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California, United States of America (USA)[3.7 miles]

Superbly-located West Hollywood hotel, right on Sunset Boulevard. One of LA’s sexiest hotels, with a hippest rooftop party scene.

Official star rating:

Chateau Marmont

Los Angeles, California, United States of America (USA)[3.9 miles]

Soak up Hollywood’s scandalous past, present and future at this wonderfully glamorous Sunset icon, where you’re bound to bump into an A-lister in the Gothic-chic drawing room or the outrageously raucous bar.

Official star rating:

West Hollywood Edition

Los Angeles, California, United States of America (USA)[4 miles]

The coolest recenthttps://www.editionhotels.com/weho/ addition to the Sunset Strip, the WeHo Edition is home to a buzzy rooftop pool and terrace, a destination restaurant, an underground nightclub and a gloriously zen spa.

Official star rating:

Destination guides including or relevant to this experience

Los Angeles

California, United States of America (USA)

The bright lights of Tinseltown are home to surfer-filled beaches, glorious mountain hikes, glitz and glamour in spades and year-round sunshine.

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Our writer’s recommendations of other bucket list experiences our writer says you must do in this destination, closest first

Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)

Los Angeles, California, United States of America (USA)[0.2 miles]

A 20-acre compound of galleries and pavilions housing more than 100,000 works, from ancient Mayan bowls inscribed with bat heads and Japanese sculptures dating from 3000 BC to paintings by Rubens, Cezanne and Degas.

Best for ages: 13+ | £17

Hollywood

Los Angeles, California, United States of America (USA)[4.3 miles]

The indomitable heart of the movie industry, where dreams are still made. See the star-studded Walk of Fame, Grauman’s Chinese Theater – where the biggest premieres still take place – and the Kodak Theater, home of the Academy Awards.

Best for ages: 8+ | Free

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Overview >

Griffith Observatory

Los Angeles, California, United States of America (USA)[8.3 miles]

The Art Deco observatory is one of LA’s most instantly-recognisable buildings, home to captivating exhibits, an out-of-this-world planetarium, and the site of some of the best views in Los Angeles.

Best for ages: 5+ | £6

Universal Studios Hollywood

Los Angeles, California, United States of America (USA)[8.4 miles]

The La La Land outpost of this movie-themed amusement park feels more grounded in actual Hollywood than the others, thanks to its popular tram tour that takes visitors behind the scenes of a real working studio.

Best for ages: 6+ | £85

Other worthwhile experiences near this experience if you have time or interest..

Life-size mammoth sculptures recreate Los Angeles prehistoric days at La Brea Tar Pits archaeological site in the Mid-Wilshire district of Los Angeles California.
Experience

La Brea Tar Pits

Los Angeles, California, United States of America (USA)[0.5 miles]

On Wilshire Boulevard, during the last Ice Age, asphalt bubbled from the ground, trapping sabre-toothed tigers, mammoths and giant sloths. Excavations continue to unearth new plants and animals and visitors can come to watch, or explore one of the world’s largest collections of fossils, on display in the museum.

Best for ages: 6+ | £12

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Farmers Market on Fairfax
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Farmers Market on Fairfax

Los Angeles, California, United States of America (USA)[1 miles]

This LA institution in West Hollywood first opened in 1934 and is home to over 100 food stalls and grocers, who specialise in everything from doughnuts and ice cream to beef jerky and gourmet pickles.

Best for ages: 13+ | Free

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Greystone Mansion’s Gardens
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Greystone Mansion’s Gardens

Los Angeles, California, United States of America (USA)[4.9 miles]

If this Tudor Revival mansion in Beverly Hills looks more than a little familiar it’s due to its stellar Hollywood lineage, having appeared in films including The Big Lebowski and X-Men. Come to explore its formal English gardens and elegant grounds.

Best for ages: 18+ | Free

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Hollywood Walk of Fame
Experience

Hollywood Walk of Fame

Los Angeles, California, United States of America (USA)[5.3 miles]

You know you’ve really made it in Tinseltown when you get your own star. Spread across both sides of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street, everyone from Marilyn Monroe and Walt Disney to Jennifer Aniston and John Travolta is immortalised here.

Best for ages: 4+ | Free

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