After a morning bus tour of Hollywood we headed to the Getty Center. Their website tells you to arrive early since their parking garage often fills. But in mid-January in the middle of the week, we didn’t have any trouble getting a parking spot at lunch time. It costs $15 to park at the Getty but admission to the museum is free. You get a ticket upon entering the parking garage and you take your ticket with you when you leave your car. Before leaving the Getty and returning to your car, you use a pay station to pay your parking fee.
The parking garage is at the bottom of a hill and the museum is perched high on the top. A tram quickly transports you up the steep hill. We met my husband’s daughter waiting for us at the upper tram stop and the three of us made our way downstairs to their cafe which serves quick sandwiches, soups, salads, pizza, tacos, etc.
Eating at the Getty is not a cheap meal. Two half sandwiches, one small bag of chips and two small soft drinks came to a whopping $44. But as I said, the museum itself is free so it all sort of evens out. If you don’t have the extra cash though, drive through a Burger King or McDonalds and eat before you get there.
The architecture of the Getty is as much an attraction as the art collection. The Getty is filled with unique design elements. Beautiful gardens, open spaces, and spectacular views of Los Angeles steal the show. Daily tours of the architecture, the gardens, and the art collections are available throughout the day. We spent our afternoon wandering through the rooms housing the European art collection seeing Rembrandts, Ruebens, and my favorite of all, a stunning painting of Van Gogh’s Iris’s. The rooms themselves are beautifully painted and decorated to make works of art stand out. After three hours, we were developing “art overload.” Before leaving the museum however, we took a walk outside through the winter gardens, enjoying a clear view of the city.
Some of my favorite paintings in the Getty collection include:
