California Attractions & Museums: 36 Places to Visit
One of the best ways to feel at home is visiting the places locals treasure
36 places
LA
Griffith Observatory
Griffith Observatory has offered free public astronomy since it opened in 1935 on the south slope of Mount Hollywood in Griffith Park. Its domes house telescopes and a planetarium, and the terrace outside gives one of the best views of the Hollywood Sign and the Los Angeles skyline. Admission to the building and grounds is free, though planetarium shows require a ticket.
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Getty Center
The Getty Center opened in 1997 on a hilltop in Brentwood, designed by architect Richard Meier to house the J. Paul Getty Museum's collection of European paintings, drawings, and decorative arts. The complex includes a large central garden designed by artist Robert Irwin and a tram that carries visitors up from the parking area. General admission is free, though parking is charged.
View on mapPhoto: Jelson25 · Public domain
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art was founded in 1961 and is the largest art museum in the western United States, with a collection of more than 150,000 works spanning ancient to contemporary art. Its original 1965 campus was demolished in 2020 and replaced by the David Geffen Galleries, designed by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor, which opened in 2026 as a single building spanning Wilshire Boulevard next to the La Brea Tar Pits. Admission is charged for adults, with free entry on some weekday evenings for LA County residents.
View on mapPhoto: Gunnar Klack · CC BY-SA 4.0
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County opened in 1913 and is the oldest natural history museum in the western United States. Its exhibits include dinosaur fossils, gems and minerals, and displays on the region's ecology, housed in a Spanish Renaissance style building in Exposition Park. Admission is charged, with discounted rates for LA County residents on some days.
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Hollywood Sign
The Hollywood Sign was erected in 1923 as an advertisement reading "HOLLYWOODLAND" for a real estate development, and the last four letters were removed in 1949 when the city took over its upkeep. The current letters, each about 45 feet tall, were rebuilt in 1978 after the original sign had fallen into disrepair. It sits on Mount Lee in Griffith Park and is best viewed from a distance, since the area immediately around it is closed to the public.
View on mapPhoto: Jon Sullivan · Public domain
Santa Monica Pier
Santa Monica Pier opened in 1909 and is one of the oldest pleasure piers on the West Coast, marking the symbolic end of Route 66. It hosts Pacific Park, a small amusement park with a solar-powered Ferris wheel, along with a historic 1922 carousel and an aquarium. Walking onto the pier is free, though rides and some attractions charge separately.
View on mapPhoto: Cayambe · CC BY-SA 4.0
Olvera Street
Olvera Street is a pedestrian marketplace within El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument, the site where the city was founded by Spanish colonial settlers in 1781. The street was converted into a Mexican-style marketplace in 1930 and today lines its brick pathway with shops, food stalls, and mariachi musicians. Walking through the marketplace is free.
View on mapPhoto: Visitor7 · CC BY-SA 3.0
Venice Beach Boardwalk
Venice Beach Boardwalk runs along the sand in the neighborhood developer Abbot Kinney built in the early 1900s to resemble Venice, Italy, complete with canals. Today the boardwalk is known for street performers, muscle beach outdoor gym, skate parks, and murals painted on the surrounding storefronts. Walking the boardwalk is free.
View on mapPhoto: Steven Lek · CC BY-SA 4.0
Hollywood Bowl
The Hollywood Bowl has served as the summer home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic since it opened on July 11, 1922, in a natural amphitheater in the Hollywood Hills. Its distinctive band shell has been rebuilt several times, and the current version dates to 2004. The grounds and the free Hollywood Bowl Museum can be visited without a ticket, while concerts require separate admission.
View on mapPhoto: Royalsafira · CC BY-SA 4.0
The Broad
The Broad opened on September 20, 2015, in downtown Los Angeles as a contemporary art museum built and funded by philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad. Designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro around a porous outer 'veil' of more than 2,500 concrete panels, it holds close to 2,000 works, including the world's largest collection of Cindy Sherman photographs. General admission to the permanent collection galleries is free.
View on mapPhoto: Benoît Prieur · CC0 1.0
The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens
The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens was founded in 1919 by railroad magnate Henry E. Huntington and opened to the public in 1928. Its library holds more than 7 million manuscripts and over 400,000 rare books, including one of only eleven vellum copies of the Gutenberg Bible, while its roughly 120-acre botanical gardens include a Japanese Garden, a Desert Garden with thousands of species, and a Chinese Garden. Admission is charged for all visitors.
View on mapPhoto: Aaron Logan · CC BY 1.0
Grand Central Market
Grand Central Market opened in October 1917 on the ground floor of the Beaux-Arts Homer Laughlin Building in downtown Los Angeles and has operated as a public food market ever since. A 1985 restoration led by owner Ira Yellin uncovered the building's original architectural details, and the market was designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument in 2019. Entry is free, and visitors pay only for what they buy from the dozens of food vendors inside.
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Golden Gate Bridge
The Golden Gate Bridge opened in 1937, spanning the strait between San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean, and was the longest suspension bridge in the world at the time. Its Art Deco towers and international orange color have made it one of the most photographed bridges anywhere. Walking or biking across is free, though vehicles pay a toll.
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Alcatraz Island
Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay served as a United States military prison before becoming a federal penitentiary from 1934 to 1963, holding notorious inmates such as Al Capone. It has been managed by the National Park Service since 1972 and is now one of the most visited sites in the Bay Area, reachable only by ferry. Tickets for the ferry and tour are required and must be reserved in advance.
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Palace of Fine Arts
The Palace of Fine Arts was built for the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition and designed by architect Bernard Maybeck in a classical style meant to evoke a Roman ruin. The original structure was made of temporary plaster and wood, and was rebuilt in permanent concrete between the 1960s and 1970s after falling into disrepair. It sits beside a lagoon in the Marina District and its grounds are free to visit.
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Pier 39
Pier 39 opened in 1978 on San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf as a shopping and entertainment complex built on a former cargo pier. It became famous after California sea lions began hauling out on its docks in large numbers in 1989, and they remain a major draw today. Entry to the pier is free, while individual shops, restaurants, and attractions charge separately.
View on mapPhoto: Dllu · CC BY-SA 4.0
Exploratorium
The Exploratorium was founded in 1969 by physicist Frank Oppenheimer as a hands-on science museum, one of the first of its kind, and has since inspired similar interactive museums worldwide. It moved to its current location on Pier 15 along the Embarcadero in 2013. Admission is charged, with free entry on the first Wednesday evening of most months.
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California Academy of Sciences
The California Academy of Sciences was founded in 1853, making it the oldest scientific institution in the western United States. Its current building in Golden Gate Park, designed by architect Renzo Piano and opened in 2008, combines an aquarium, planetarium, and natural history museum under a living roof planted with native species. Admission is charged for all visitors.
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de Young Museum
The de Young Museum traces its origin to 1895 and is one of the city's two Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, focused on American art, textiles, and art from Africa, Oceania, and the Americas. Its current copper-clad building in Golden Gate Park, designed by architects Herzog and de Meuron, opened in 2005 and includes an observation tower open to the public. Admission is charged, with free entry on the first Tuesday of most months.
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San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art was founded in 1935 as the first museum on the West Coast dedicated solely to modern and contemporary art. Its downtown building underwent a major expansion designed by Snøhetta that reopened in 2016, roughly tripling the gallery space. Admission is charged, though visitors 18 and under enter free.
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Golden Gate Park
Golden Gate Park opened on April 4, 1870, and was shaped over the following decades by engineer William Hammond Hall and his successor John McLaren, who together turned 1,017 acres of sand dunes into one of the largest urban parks in the country. After the 1906 earthquake, the U.S. Army sheltered about 20,000 people in encampments across its grounds. The park itself is free and open year-round, though some attractions inside it, including the de Young Museum and the California Academy of Sciences, charge separate admission.
View on mapPhoto: Fastily · CC BY-SA 4.0
Coit Tower
Coit Tower was completed in 1932 and dedicated in 1933, built with money left in the will of Lillie Hitchcock Coit for beautifying the city, and designed by architects Arthur Brown Jr. and Henry Temple Howard atop Telegraph Hill. Its ground floor is covered in Depression-era murals painted in 1934 by 22 artists under the Public Works of Art Project, a precursor to the WPA. The murals can be viewed free of charge, while riding the elevator to the observation deck requires a paid ticket.
View on mapPhoto: Chris6d · CC BY-SA 4.0
San Francisco Cable Car Museum
The San Francisco Cable Car Museum opened in 1974 inside the still-active cable car powerhouse and car barn at 1201 Mason Street on Nob Hill. Visitors can watch the massive winding wheels that pull cables beneath the streets and see historic cars, including grip car No. 8, the only surviving car from the original 1873 Clay Street Hill Railroad. Admission is free.
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Lombard Street
The famous switchback block of Lombard Street was built in 1922 to reduce the hill's original 27 percent grade, creating eight hairpin turns over one block between Hyde and Leavenworth streets on Russian Hill. It is often called the crookedest street in the world, and its red-brick pavement and flower beds draw roughly two million visitors a year. Walking the block is free, though car traffic can be heavy at busy times.
View on mapPhoto: Jon Sullivan · Public domain
San Diego
Balboa Park
Balboa Park was established in 1868, making it one of the oldest sites in the United States dedicated to public recreation, and today covers about 1,200 acres. Many of its Spanish Colonial Revival buildings were constructed for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition and now house museums, theaters, and gardens, along with the San Diego Zoo. Walking through the park is free, though individual museums charge admission.
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USS Midway Museum
The USS Midway was commissioned in 1945 and served as an active aircraft carrier for 47 years, longer than any other US Navy carrier of the 20th century, before being decommissioned in 1992. It opened as a museum in San Diego Bay in 2004, letting visitors walk its flight deck and below-decks spaces alongside restored aircraft. Admission is charged for all visitors.
View on mapPhoto: Shawnnielsen · CC BY-SA 3.0
San Diego Natural History Museum
The San Diego Natural History Museum, known locally as "The Nat," was founded in 1874 and is the oldest scientific institution in Southern California. It occupies a building in Balboa Park and focuses on the natural history of the Californias, including fossils, regional wildlife, and earthquake exhibits. Admission is charged for all visitors.
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San Diego Zoo
The San Diego Zoo opened in 1916 and has grown into one of the largest and best known zoos in the world, housing over 12,000 animals across more than 100 acres in Balboa Park. It has played a leading role in conservation research and captive breeding programs for endangered species. Admission is charged for all visitors.
View on mapPhoto: EditorASC · CC BY 3.0
Old Town San Diego State Historic Park
Old Town San Diego State Historic Park preserves the site of the city's original town, settled by Mexican and early American residents from the 1820s through the 1870s before the population shifted toward the modern downtown. Restored adobe buildings, a historic plaza, and living history demonstrations recreate daily life from that era. Walking through the park is free.
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Hotel del Coronado
The Hotel del Coronado opened in 1888 on Coronado Beach and remains one of the largest wooden buildings in the United States, built in a Victorian beach resort style with its distinctive red turrets. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1977 and has hosted numerous US presidents and film productions over the years. The hotel grounds and beach are open to the public at no charge, though staying at the hotel is not free.
View on mapPhoto: Ctorbann · CC BY-SA 3.0
San Diego Air and Space Museum
The San Diego Air and Space Museum is housed in the Ford Building in Balboa Park, originally built for the 1935 California Pacific International Exposition. Its galleries trace the history of flight from early gliders to space exploration, and it maintains the International Aerospace Hall of Fame honoring pioneers of aviation. Admission is charged for all visitors.
View on mapPhoto: JA Harrison · CC BY-SA 3.0
Reuben H. Fleet Science Center
The Reuben H. Fleet Science Center opened in 1973 in Balboa Park as the world's first science museum to combine hands-on exhibits with a domed IMAX-style theater. It has since undergone several renovations and expansions while keeping its focus on interactive science exhibits for families. Admission is charged for all visitors.
View on mapPhoto: GualdimG · CC BY-SA 4.0
Cabrillo National Monument
Cabrillo National Monument was designated in 1913 to commemorate Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo's arrival at San Diego Bay on September 28, 1542, the first landing of a European expedition on what later became the West Coast of the United States. Perched at the tip of Point Loma, the park includes the Old Point Loma Lighthouse, built in 1855, along with tide pools and the Whale Overlook, established in 1950 as the world's first public whale-watching lookout point. It is managed by the National Park Service, and admission is charged per vehicle.
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La Jolla Cove
La Jolla Cove sits within the San Diego-La Jolla Underwater Park, an ecological reserve where fishing and collecting marine life are prohibited, which helps keep its waters rich with California sea lions and orange Garibaldi fish. The small beach is a popular spot for snorkeling and diving and hosts the La Jolla Cove Rough Water Swim each September, one of the oldest ocean swims in the world. The cove is free and open to the public, though nearby street parking is limited.
View on mapPhoto: Mollymcc · CC0 1.0
Maritime Museum of San Diego
The Maritime Museum of San Diego was established in 1948 along the Embarcadero on San Diego Bay and is built around the Star of India, an 1863 iron barque that is the oldest ship still sailing regularly anywhere in the world. Its fleet also includes the 1898 ferryboat Berkeley, the World War era steam yacht Medea, and the San Salvador, a replica galleon launched in 2015 that represents the ship Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo sailed into San Diego Bay in 1542. Admission is charged, and most vessels can be boarded with the same ticket.
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Birch Aquarium at Scripps
Birch Aquarium at Scripps traces back to 1903, when the Marine Biological Association of San Diego opened a small aquarium that grew into the public outreach arm of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego. Its current hilltop building in La Jolla opened in 1992 and includes a kelp forest tank holding about 70,000 gallons of seawater, alongside tide pool and seahorse exhibits drawn from real oceanographic research. Admission is charged for all visitors.
View on mapPhoto: Beyond My Ken · CC BY-SA 4.0