The Getty Villa, Malibu

Free , but must reserve tickets online. Worth the drive. Parking $15, or $10 after a certain time (3 or 4pm ?). Beautiful museum art art. Absolutely love the Greek statues. Went on Percy Jackson Day, best time ever and took self guided auditory Percy Jackson tour w/free earphone checkout . Try to go on a day where you have a special event. Great museum pieces and garden is breathtaking. Make time to see the beach sunset or get in some rays.

Been wanting to visit the Getty Villa for a while (despite what I had heard) and brought out-of-town family on a weekday afternoon. It's free, but you need to make a reservation and pay for parking, $10 if I remember correctly. The museum building itself is nice and the grounds are beautifully kept. Some of the design does border on "suburban Italian restaurant" though. The collection, let's face it, is of neither historical nor artistic significance. There isn't a single item attributed to an artist. The collection pieces are basically the garden gnomes of ancient Rome and Greek. Just because something is old doesn't mean it is of artistic value. Then there are the Googly-Eye bronze statues. I don't know what they are supposed to be, but they are creepy to say the least. Maybe I was expecting too much from the Getty Villa. I thought it would be something inspired, along the lines of the Cloisters in NYC. I was way off.

If you’ve been to the big Getty museum, imagine a smaller one overlooking the Pacific Ocean and this is it! You need tickets in advance - free, print then home and just pay the parking fee. There is a cafe with the expected cafeteria flavor (just okay) and $$ so just grab a quick snack or coffee and head out to any of Malibu’s restaurants by the ocean. The view of the ocean is stunning and the collections although limited are still good. Your parking fee is good for both Getty museums on the same day.

So much world history here. And a gorgeous place to spend the day. I can't believe I hadn't heard of this place before but I'm so glad my friend suggested it. You don't have to pay for entry, just for parking. They have a small cafe if you want to hang out and get a drink or bite to eat. And they have an amphitheatre but they didn't show anything while we visited.

The Getty Villa is a beautiful museum dedicated to the arts and culture of Greece, Rome and Etruria. The Villa itself is mirrored after after the Villa of the Papyri and is absolutely stunning. The tickets are free but you will have to pay to park, when you pay for parking at the Getty Center or Getty Villa you get to go to the other for free, make sure to keep your ticket. The exhibits are interesting and have a lot of antiquities to check out, however due to the size of the Villa it's unlikely that you would spend all day there. Breakfast and lunch are options here as they have a restaurant and food cart, I suggest to get there at opening for breakfast as they tend to sell out of food quickly. Overall the place is a must if your coming into L.A, the campus is very photogenic and I suggest to read up on Getty himself as its a pretty interesting story in itself.