Los Angeles Museums & Cultural Attractions

Pros: Great cars in a good layout with a friendly staff
Cons: A somewhat limited number of displayed vehicles

Well, after living in L.A. for over a year, I suppose it's time to play tourist. Okay, so that's a little backwards but what the heck - it's L.A. You don't do things the way normal people would. So today I went to the Petersen Automobile Museum on ...

Pros: informative and interesting
Cons: short and not much detail

This tour is a good way to get a behind the scenes look at television production. I did not have any reservations but just arrived and went on the next tour. The day I was there, they had tours leaving every half hour.

I highly recommend...

Pros: Pick your own shows to watch
Cons: not mush else to do but watch TV and listen to Radio

Pick your own nostalgia trip. That is the best way to describe spending an afternoon in this Beverly Hills museum. All you baby boomers, myself included, can relive the black and white favorites from the 50’s and 60’s. They have old news broadcasts as...

Pros: interesting and informative
Cons: guide may not be very knowledgeable

Review Topic:  Sights & Attractions

Having been to Disney and Universal I wanted to try something different on this trip to Los Angeles so I decided to see the famed Paramount Studios. This is truly a working studio and not an...

Pros: lots of artifacts and very informative
Cons: none

200 tons of treasure buried in Kansas! Not anymore. In 1988-'89 Bob Hawley, his two sons and two friends, after three years of research, took on the daunting task of unearthing these treasures.

In 1856, on a hot, late August afternoon on...

Pros: wonderful educational and fun exhibits
Cons: many school groups

Review Topic:  Sights & Attractions

Located in the Exposition Park area of Downtown Los Angeles, the California Science Center is an amazing museum that features hand-on exhibits demonstrating a diversity of scientific...

Pros: Fossils
Cons: Not very big, won't take all that long to see

Now being a biologist (and having dabbled in Paleontology) and having a bit of free time over my spring break, I decided I wanted to see the Le Brea Tar Pits. I had heard about this place all my life--was real big into the dinosaur thing as a child. My ...

Pros: Rich in history and natural beauty. Amazing restorations. A place to spend one's childhood.
Cons: None.

When I was four or five years old, I had a love affair with hats - the most frivolous of all accessories. I have a vague recollection of my quirky obsession. Stronger evidence lies in my parents' old photo albums. Back then, my dad was the...

Pros: Extensive collection of very old and rare books and manuscripts; Beautiful gardens; Interesting art collection
Cons: Very hot in the summer. Most of the library is off limits to the public

There is an ineffable quality to antiques that appeals to almost everyone. We can't always express why an old, dusty item has more value than a new, shiny one, but we always seem to seek out old stuff.

My passion for old books...

Pros: Dramatic stories about the holocaust, Civil Rights Movement and other incidents
Cons: Words impact

A few months ago, I visited The Museum of Tolerance for the very first time. I could not resist participating in this trip organized by my colleagues. For a number of years, I had been reading about the Simon Wiesenthal Center, its lectures and ...

Pros: Great views, impressive architecture, pretty gardens.
Cons: Where are the antiquities?

My birthday tradition is the same every year: I visit a couple of close friends, wherever in the country they happen to live at the time, and we proceed to booze it up, gorge on greasy food, and shop until we drop. Parties are usually involved. But ...

Pros: More culture on one block than you can see in one day
Cons: More culture on one block than you can see in one day

Spanning the length of Wilshire from Fairfax to Hauser, Museum Row is one of the few dense spots of culture in Los Angeles. The well-loved dinosaur bones of the La Brea Tar Pits and the sweeping Frank Lloyd Wright edifices of The Los Angeles County...

Pros: Excellent temporary collections
Cons: somewhat difficult to get information and maps

I hope I found the right category...search is out again.

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has many excellent collections of art. I honestly don't know what's in the permanent collections, because every time I've gone, there's only...

Pros: Hands on crafts, beautiful presentations, history and helpful docents.
Cons: None

I made a point to visit the Museum on my last trip to Los Angeles on January 4, 2003, with my family, including my 10 year old daughter and 14 year old nephew. We arrived just after it opened (10 o'clock) and found parking for $3.50/all day in a...

Pros: 700 years of Western art, Some even older Eastern art
Cons: Pasadena gets very hot during the summer; Museum is very crowded when schools are out

A misanthrope, he called me! It's not that I don't like people-- you guys are wonderful as individuals or in small groups-- I simply hate crowds.

When we woke up on December 27, 2000, I told my husband that I wanted to spend the whole...