The Getty Center
1200 Getty Center Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90049
Free — but timed entry required
Parking is $20 — arrive before 11 AM or after 3 PM to avoid the worst of it. The tram from the parking structure is part of the experience.
The Getty closes at 5:30 PM every day except Saturday. August 1 is also the only day you have a car, a free morning, and each other — and it sits fifteen minutes from the hotel. This is the only joint-compatible Getty slot on the trip.
How to use 2.75 hours: ride the tram up. Central Garden first — Robert Irwin's living sculpture, the maze, the bougainvillea arbors. It is best in morning light and everyone else goes straight to the galleries. Then the South Pavilion for decorative arts and the West Pavilion terrace for the ocean-to-downtown view.
Do not try to see all four pavilions. Meier's travertine and Irwin's garden are the experience.
Parts of the Center are undergoing modernization; some galleries may be closed. Parking $25.