Los Angeles Museum Tickets: LACMA, La Brea Tar Pits and More Compared

Los Angeles museum tickets are not one-size-fits-all. Trying to plan a day on the Miracle Mile can feel messy fast. You end up asking the same questions over and over. Does one museum ask for a time slot? Is another free after a set hour? And then there is the surprise when you look it up and find it is not open right now.

Wilshire has six big museums packed into about a ten minute walk. That kind of setup is hard to find in an American city. It also comes with a catch. Costs, posted hours, and even whether a place is open can change from week to week. In 2026, it seems even more unsettled than usual.

So let’s go museum by museum.

The Quick Answer

LACMA runs $25 to $30 for adults depending on residency, is closed Wednesdays, and is currently the star of the block thanks to its new David Geffen Galleries. The museum at La Brea Tar Pits is closed until 2028 — the outdoor pits remain free to walk through, and there’s a behind-the-scenes tour you can still book.

The Academy Museum, Petersen and Natural History Museum all land somewhere between $18 and $25 for adults. Griffith Observatory is free. And if the Getty is on your list, note it closes in March 2027.

LACMA: What You’re Actually Paying For

LACMA just had its biggest moment in decades. The David Geffen Galleries — a single-level building spanning Wilshire Boulevard, designed by Pritzker winner Peter Zumthor — opened in April 2026 and now houses the permanent collection. If your last visit was pre-2020, this is a genuinely different museum, and reason enough to go back on its own.

Pricing runs on a resident and non-resident scale:

• Adults: $25 for L.A. County residents with valid ID, $30 for everyone else
• Seniors (65+) and students (18+ with ID): $21 resident, $26 non-resident
• Teens 13–17 and children 12 and under: free for L.A. County residents, $15 for non-residents
• Members: always free

Two small perks people miss. First, L.A. County residents can enter for free on weekdays after 3 p.m. if they show valid ID. Second, free entry applies to everyone on the second Tuesday of each month.

Still, check these details on LACMA’s current visitor page first, especially if you plan your whole day around it. Museums change free hours quickly when a big new show lands.

LACMA is located at 5905 Wilshire Blvd. The museum does not open on Wednesdays. Regular hours are from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. On Saturdays and Sundays it stays open longer.

For parking, use the Pritzker Garage near 6th Street. Costs usually land around $17 to $25, based on when you arrive.

If you are coming by public transit, ride the Metro D Line to Wilshire/Western. From there, take a quick bus or a rideshare to go west.

La Brea Tar Pits: Read This Before You Book Anything

Some of the online guides are not current. So we will state this clearly.

The museum stopped taking visitors on 6 July 2026. It will not open again until 2028. This will be the first big renovation since George C. Page Museum opened back in 1977. It is part one of a larger plan for the 13-acre site. The full project is set at about $240 million.

Weiss/Manfredi designed the work. The schedule aims to have the campus ready for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

What that means for a visit right now:

• Closed: indoor exhibits, the Ice Age fossil displays, the fossil lab viewing and the 3D theatre
• Open and free: the outdoor tar pits including the Lake Pit with its mammoth sculptures, and the surrounding Hancock Park
• Still happening: active excavation, visible from outside. Science continues at the Samuel Oschin Global Center for Ice Age Research
• Still bookable: the La Brea Tar Pits Insider Tour, a premium educator-led, behind-the-scenes look at how excavators are working the site. This is the one ticketed experience during the closure and the best way to actually get close to the science
• Touring: a Mobile Museum visiting schools and community events across

L.A. County

So if you wanted the Tar Pits mainly for the walk-through grounds and that unmistakable smell, you’re fine, and it costs nothing. If you came for the fossil halls, either book the Insider Tour, wait for 2028, or head to the Natural History Museum in Exposition Park — the same parent organisation, and currently carrying more of the Ice Age storytelling.

Find it at 5801 Wilshire Blvd, next door to LACMA. Grounds are open daily. On-site parking off Curson Avenue runs around $20, card only, and street parking along Wilshire is restricted and enforced during weekday rush hours. Budget for the lot or walk over from LACMA’s garage.

The Rest of the Miracle Mile

The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is at 6067 Wilshire Blvd. Part of it sits in a restored 1939 building. Another part is the spherical theatre fans often call the Death Star. Tickets are about $25 for adults. Seniors and students pay less. Kids under 18 can go free. There is also a discount later in the day. It stays closed on Tuesdays.

Petersen Automotive Museum, 6060 Wilshire Blvd — roughly $21 general admission, with the below-ground Vault and its collection of additional cars ticketed separately. If film-famous cars are your thing, this earns its reputation. On-site parking is around $18 for the first two hours.

Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 900 Exposition Blvd — around $18 for adults with the usual concessions. A particularly good pick right now given what La Brea can’t offer indoors. Closed the first Tuesday of the month. Parking $15 to $18, and the Expo Park/USC Metro station is a short walk.

Griffith Observatory, 2800 E Observatory Rd — general admission free and always has been. Planetarium shows are ticketed separately. Closed Mondays. Weekend parking fills early, so arrive before 11 a.m. or take the DASH shuttle from the Vermont/Sunset Metro stop.

The Getty Center — worth flagging even though it’s across town. It stays open until 15 March 2027, then closes for a refresh of the Welcome Hall, galleries and tram, reopening in spring 2028. If it’s on your list, the window is now rather than later.

Compared at a Glance

Treat this as a planning baseline rather than gospel — prices move with special exhibitions and seasonal promotions, and the figures for Academy, Petersen, NHM and the Griffith planetarium in particular are worth confirming on each museum’s own page before you commit.

Buying Without the Guesswork

For anything running timed entry — LACMA on weekends especially, or the Academy Museum during a new exhibition — book online ahead through TickYourList rather than risking a walk-up line. Reserving a slot costs nothing extra and beats standing on Wilshire working out a plan B.

The one thing to be careful about: don’t buy general admission to La Brea Tar Pits from anyone. There isn’t anything to sell right now. If a listing offers it, that listing is out of date. Book the Insider Tour if you want inside access, or just walk the grounds for free.

With this much in flux on Museum Row, checking current details before you commit to a date is the single best habit to build into your planning.

FAQs

What museums are free in LA?

A number of museums and sites in Los Angeles have free entry, or at least free sections. Griffith Observatory does not charge, every day of the year. The Getty Center also allows free admission.

At the La Brea Tar Pits, the outdoor grounds are free when the museum is closed. Still, admission rules can change, so it is smart to confirm details ahead of time.

How to get free museum tickets?

Check the policy for each location right now. Also note any dates or times when entry is free. At LACMA, Los Angeles County residents can get in for free on weekdays after 3 p.m. The museum also offers free entry to everyone on the second Tuesday of every month.

What museums are in Los Angeles?

In Los Angeles, you can see several well known museums. LACMA is one. La Brea Tar Pits is another. The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is there too. You may also stop by the Petersen Automotive Museum.

The Natural History Museum is worth a visit. Griffith Observatory is nearby for views. The Getty Center is another option. Many of these spots are close to Miracle Mile, so you can do a few in the same outing.

How much does a museum ticket cost?

Ticket prices in Los Angeles change depending on the place. At LACMA, adults in Los Angeles County pay $25. Adults from outside the county pay $30. The Academy Museum ticket is close to $25. The Petersen costs about $21. For the Natural History Museum, general admission is roughly $18.

Can I buy 9/11 museum tickets at the museum?

The 9/11 Memorial and Museum is in New York City, not in Los Angeles. If you are planning a museum day in Los Angeles, you might visit LACMA, the La Brea Tar Pits, the Petersen, the Academy Museum, and a few other places.

What Los Angeles museums are open on Monday?

LACMA stays open on Mondays, but it is closed on Wednesdays. La Brea keeps its outdoor areas open every day. The museum part does not open again until 2028. At Griffith Observatory, Mondays are closed. The Academy Museum is shut on Tuesdays.

Are Los Angeles museums free?

Some Los Angeles museums do not charge a fee, but not all of them are free. Griffith Observatory lets people in for free for general admission. The Getty Center also offers free admission. La Brea Tar Pits has free access to the outdoor area. LACMA usually charges for admission, like many other big museums. A few places do offer free entry sometimes.

What do the Los Angeles museum tickets cost per hour?

In Los Angeles, most museums do not bill you by the hour. Instead, you usually pay one entry price for the whole visit. Take LACMA as an example. They set a set fee that depends on where you live, not on how long you stay.

What do the Los Angeles museum tickets cost near me?

Los Angeles museum ticket costs vary a lot by place. At LACMA, adults usually pay about $25 to $30. The Academy Museum is roughly $25 for tickets. The Petersen charges around $21. For the Natural History Museum, you can expect about $18 for admission.

Are Los Angeles museum tickets expensive?

Museum tickets in Los Angeles vary in price. A handful of sites are cheaper than the rest. A few do not charge at all. Griffith Observatory and the Getty Center are free to enter. Other museums ask for an adult ticket fee, and those costs differ. This includes LACMA, the Academy Museum, the Petersen Museum, and the Natural History Museum.