Getty Center Museum

Address: 1200 Getty Center Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90049, USA

Website: https://www.getty.edu/

Hours: Tue-Sun 10am-5:30pm, closed Mondays

Admission: Museum admission free; parking fee applies (currently $20 per vehicle - check site for current parking fees)

The Getty Center is a hilltop cultural complex in Los Angeles that houses the J. Paul Getty Museum’s collections alongside research institutes and conservation facilities. Designed by Richard Meier and opened to the public in the late 1990s, the Center is noted for its modernist architecture, gardens and city views.

Collection displays span European paintings, drawings, sculpture, illuminated manuscripts, decorative arts and photographs, arranged across multiple pavilions and exhibition spaces. The site also includes conservation laboratories, research libraries and a distinctive planted Central Garden that functions as both artwork and landscape.

The Getty Center was developed to house the Getty Museum’s collections and support scholarly work in art history and conservation; it consolidated collections and facilities on a single campus and has since been a major cultural destination in Southern California.

The campus sits on a landscaped hill in the Brentwood area of Los Angeles, north of the Getty Villa and west of UCLA, with vehicular access and a short automated tram from a lower-level parking arrival area.

• Admission and access: Admission to the galleries is free but a parking fee is charged for on-site parking; a tram carries visitors from the parking area to the museum plateau.
• Best time for views: The hilltop complex offers panoramic views across Los Angeles, making late afternoon and sunset popular times for photography.

What to See#

• Museum Galleries: Holds the museum’s permanent and temporary art collections across paintings, sculpture, decorative arts and photographs, organised in multiple interconnected pavilions.
• Central Garden: A planted central courtyard garden conceived by a contemporary artist that organizes visitor circulation and offers varied plantings and water features.

The Getty Center sits above the I‑405 on Getty Center Drive in the Brentwood/Westside area of Los Angeles. Most visitors drive via the I‑405 and follow signs for Getty Center Drive to the parking structure; a free automated tram runs from the parking area up to the museum entrance. Public buses and shuttles also serve the Getty from nearby Westside neighborhoods-check Metro/Big Blue Bus schedules for current routes.

• Arrive right at opening to see popular galleries and the Central Garden with far fewer people; the Getty's architecture and gardens are highlights as much as the art.
• Use the museum's parking garage and take the tram up to the complex-this is the standard visitor route and saves walking up the hill; plan for the required parking fee so you're not surprised.
• Don't miss the Central Garden and the hilltop terraces for city views; many visitors concentrate on the galleries and skip the designed landscape, which is compact but integral to the experience.