Museum Row Tour: The Fast & The Fossilized on Wilshire Blvd
Description
Discover the stories behind Wilshire Boulevard’s Miracle Mile on this engaging tour showcasing four remarkable museums. Your expert guide will lead you through their outdoor spaces, revealing the surprising connections between cars, art, film, and natural history in Los Angeles. We begin at the La Brea Tar Pits, where you’ll step back in time to see active fossil digs and remains of Ice Age giants like woolly mammoths and giant sloths. At LACMA, capture the perfect shot at “Urban Light,” LA’s most photographed landmark and learn about the largest art museum in the western United States. Then, marvel at the Petersen Automotive Museum’s stunning collection, from rare prototypes to legendary Batmobiles, a true car enthusiasts dream! Finally, we finish at the entrance of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, where you’ll get a taste of cinematic history and get to marvel at this historic Streamline Moderne landmark built in 1939 as a May Company department store.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Visit these historic tar pits where natural asphalt (tar) has seeped up from the ground for tens of thousands of years! These pits have trapped and preserved a remarkable amount of Ice Age fossils, including saber-toothed cats, mammoths, dire wolves, and many other animals.
LACMA is the largest art museum in the western United States and holds a vast collection of artworks spanning from ancient times to the present day. With exhibits ranging from paintings, sculptures, and decorative arts to photography, textiles, and contemporary art installations we'll explore some of the outside art installations.
Take a picture at the iconic "Urban Light" installation, featuring 202 Los Angeles restored vintage street lamps!
The Petersen Automotive Museum is a popular destination for automotive enthusiasts, historians, and visitors interested in exploring the evolution of transportation and its impact on society. It is one of the world's largest automotive museums and is renowned for its extensive collection of classic, vintage, and modern cars, motorcycles, and other vehicles.
The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles is the world’s premier institution dedicated to the art, history, and science of filmmaking. Opened in 2021 and operated by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (the organization behind the Oscars), the museum features immersive exhibitions, rare artifacts, iconic costumes, props, and interactive experiences that explore cinema’s past, present, and future. Housed in a stunning Renzo Piano–designed building with the distinctive glass-domed David Geffen Theater, it offers film screenings, special programs, and behind-the-scenes insights into Hollywood’s creative process.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Wheelchair accessible
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Transportation options are wheelchair accessible
- All areas and surfaces are wheelchair accessible
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Reviews(15)
Very informative and a great value. Gave us an oversight of the nearby museums and helped us focus on which ones we wanted to explore further. Our guide Angelica was very knowledgeable, professional and personable. We enjoyed our time together.
Mostly get an historical over view of the museums. Quick Look at the car museum & a little more time at the Academy of Museum of Motion Pictures
"Our guide was very knowledgeable, friendly, and engaging. The tour was fun and informative. Highly recommended!"
Our tour guide Paul was very professional and knowledgeable, especially about the La Brea tar pits better known as asphalt. After a good hour at the tar pit, we headed over to Lacma/Broad museums, which Paul gave us the rundown on some of the outdoor art. The tour does not include visiting inside of the museum. I would totally recommend buying a ticket or becoming a member to explore the three floors of diversified art, including South American, primitive art, Buddhist artifacts,Picasso‘s Andy Warhol and Lichtenstein. There is a wonderful German art exhibition. We then headed over to the car museum on the first floor. You’ll have to buy a ticket to go into the rest of the museum, but it was spectacular. A wonderful café to eat lunch. The next stop was at The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. If you’re a fan of movies and Academy Awards, it was very interesting and nostalgic. The tour includes this museum ticket and you could spend half a day watching and reading all about the different ways movies are made. We finished at the top of the sphere where you can look out over LA and the tar pits. We had a fabulous day exploring all the museums.
Chris was an awesome guide! The walking tour was a great introduction to the city and its history. We walked around the public outdoor exhibits of the LACMA/Peterson Automotive/La Brea Tar Pits, as well as inside the Academy Museum (ticket for that one is included with the tour). Even after the tour ended, I think the visits to the museums' exhibits were much more enriching because of the knowledge we went in with. also 10/10 title thanks Chris
Such valuable and interesting info about each of these stops.. I’m a native CA. and I couldn’t believe the unique info Chris presented . You should not miss this!
Outstanding tour. Our tour guide Chris provided a fascinating overview of the local area. Although we lived in the Los Angeles area a number of years ago and moved away we returned for a visit and decided to sign up for this tour to learn more about the area. The tour was very well organized, and Chris provided a lot of fascinating information. We highly recommend this tour and are looking forward to trying others.
From our 10 year old: The tour was so much fun! Chris taught us so much stuff and saved us from tar! We highly recommend going on this tour when you visit Los Angeles!
The amount of information shared and learned to make outdoor tour activity was interesting We felt like paparazzi photos being taken by our guide.. Best guide!
Chris was so excited to share information on the tour. That makes the difference when the tour guide is engaged and NOT just going thru the motions. Eager to show and guide you thru the tour.
Thank you so much for the kinds words! He is an excellent guide, no doubt. Best, Dara
