The Getty Center: Los Angeles's Hilltop Museum, Free to All
Updated: 21 hours ago
By Giovanna Salas
This article is part of Free in Los Angeles, Heart of Hollywood Magazine's series on the museums across the region that open their doors at no charge.
Few places in Los Angeles offer so much for so little. Admission to the Getty Center is free, and the only ticket a visitor needs is a free timed entry reservation. From its hilltop above the 405, the museum looks out across the city to the Pacific, and it has done so since it opened on December 16, 1997.
A Campus Built From Stone and Light
The Getty was made possible by the bequest of the oil executive and collector J. Paul Getty, who died in 1976. The architect Richard Meier designed the 24-acre campus, clad in travertine quarried at Bagni di Tivoli, near Rome. According to the Getty, some 16,000 tons of the stone were used. Visitors arrive by tram from the parking area at the foot of the hill, and in its first 25 years the Center welcomed more than 20 million people.
At the heart of the site lies the Central Garden by the artist Robert Irwin, who conceived it, in the Getty's words, as a sculpture. It is a place to linger between galleries.
On View This Season
Charles Ross: Spectrum 14 fills the Museum's rotunda with prisms that cast luminous color, through November 29, 2026.
Instante/revelación: Moments in Mexican Photography presents works by 13 photographers across a century of Mexican visual culture, through January 3, 2027.
A Light in the Dark: Joseph Wright of Derby opens November 24, 2026, and runs through March 14, 2027.
The Getty notes that several galleries in the South, East and North Pavilions are closed for renovation, so some parts of the collection may be off view.
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Plan Your Visit
Admission: Free. A timed-entry reservation is required, online or by phone at (310) 440-7300.
Hours: Tuesday to Friday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Closed Mondays, and on New Year's Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Address: 1200 Getty Center Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90049.
Parking: $25 per car; $15 after 3 p.m.; $10 after 6 p.m.; free on Saturdays after 6 p.m.
Transit: Metro bus 761 stops at Getty Center Drive and Sepulveda Boulevard.
Website: https://www.getty.edu/visit/center/
Details were checked against the museum's official website in September 2026. Hours, admission policies and exhibition dates are set by each museum and may change, so please confirm on the official website before you go.
Sources
Getty Center, visitor information: https://www.getty.edu/visit/center/
Getty, Current and Upcoming Exhibitions: https://www.getty.edu/news/exhibitions-look-ahead-press/
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