United States
Los Angeles
A Gehry concert hall, a hilltop museum that costs nothing and an amphitheatre under the stars
The only city here where a world-class museum is free, the concert hall is a sculpture and the best summer venue has room for seventeen thousand picnics.
Los Angeles solved the museum question with money. The Getty put its collection on a hilltop in travertine, charged nothing to get in and made the parking fee the only toll; the Broad did the same downtown with contemporary art and a reservation system. Between them and LACMA, the city gives away more art than any other American metropolis.
Its great performance space is outdoors. The Hollywood Bowl seats seventeen thousand under the sky, hosts the Los Angeles Philharmonic in summer, and permits picnics and wine in a way no European hall would consider. Frank Gehry's Walt Disney Concert Hall provides the indoor counterpart and is the rare landmark building with acoustics to justify the photographs.
The catch is geography. Nothing is next to anything, the public transport is improving but incomplete, and an ambitious day means two hours in a car. Cluster your plans: downtown in one day, the Westside in another, the hills at night.
The day
Los Angeles hour by hour
When things open, when they fill and when the city changes shift.
- 10:00Getty and LACMA open. Parking is the only thing you pay for at the Getty.
- 14:00Gallery row in Culver City and the arts district downtown, free and rarely busy.
- 18:30Picnic hour at the Hollywood Bowl, where bringing your own dinner and wine is the tradition.
- 20:00Curtain downtown at the Music Center and Disney Hall.
- 22:30Live rooms on Sunset and in Echo Park play the late set.
The quarters
Where to walk
Four districts that between them cover most of what matters.
Downtown
Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Broad and MOCA within four blocks, which in this city counts as a miracle.
Getty Center and Brentwood
A travertine hilltop with a tram, a garden, a Van Gogh and no admission charge.
Miracle Mile
LACMA, the tar pits and the film museum, all on one stretch of Wilshire.
Hollywood and the hills
The Bowl, the Egyptian and the venues that made the city's reputation in the first place.
The venues
7 rooms in Los Angeles
Museums
MuseumFreeLos Angeles · Brentwood
The Getty Center
A travertine acropolis above the freeway, free to enter, reached by its own tram
MuseumFreeLos Angeles · Downtown
The Broad
A honeycomb veil over a concrete vault, holding two thousand works, free to enter
MuseumLos Angeles · Miracle Mile
LACMA
The largest museum in the western United States, with a field of street lamps out front
Live Rooms and Clubs
Arenas and Big Shows
Plan it
Forty-eight hours in Los Angeles
Friday evening to Sunday afternoon, built from the venues above.
Questions
Is the Getty really free?
Yes, both sites. Parking is charged once per day and covers the Center and the Villa. Timed reservations are needed for the Villa.
What should I know about the Hollywood Bowl?
You may bring your own food and wine to most concerts. Take the shuttle rather than driving, bring a jacket, and arrive an hour early for the picnic.
Is downtown walkable?
The four blocks between Disney Hall, the Broad, MOCA and Grand Central Market are, and that is the densest culture walk in the city. Everything else needs a car.
Next
Other cities
86Germany
Berlin
Three opera houses, five museums on one island and a club that never asks the time
85United Kingdom
London
The greatest free collections on earth and the most expensive tickets in Europe
82France
Paris
The museum as a state religion, and an opera house built to be looked at
85United States
New York
Broadway, the Met and a downtown that reinvents the rules every decade