Fun in LA

Walking distance from the UCLA campus:

Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden (on campus)
Franklin D. Murphy Sculpture Garden (on campus)
The Fowler Museum - art and culture primarily from Africa, Asia and the Pacific, and the Americas (on campus)
The Hammer Museum - free contemporary art museum with varying exhibitions (in Westwood Village)
"Tehrangeles" - Persian neighborhood on Westwood Blvd. between Wilshire and Olympic (1.5 - 2.5 miles south of UCLA) - try for example the Saffron & Rose ice cream shop

The Getty Museum - free art museum with gardens and a panoramic view of the city (2.5 miles north east of UCLA; accessible by LA Metro bus #234)
The Nuart Theatre - art house movie theater built in 1929; accessible by Big Blue Bus #1
Sawtelle - Japanese neighborhood on Sawtelle Blvd., between La Grange Ave. and Olympic Ave., with many Asian restaurants (3 miles south of UCLA; you can take the green Culver City Bus #6 to Sepulveda and La Grange, then walk)
Beverly Hills (3 miles west of UCLA) - including Rodeo Drive, with fancy shops

Santa Monica Promenade (3rd Street) - lively area with shops and restaurants, close to the beach; accessible from UCLA by Big Blue Bus #1 or 2
Santa Monica Farmers Market - on the Promenade, on Wednesday and Saturday morning;
Santa Monica Pier - on Colorado Ave., near the Promenade; includes a small amusement park;
Venice - another lively area close to the beach, accessible by Bus #1
Beaches: from Santa Monica to Venice; you can swim, surf / take surfing lessons, exercise outdoors (at Muscle Beach), or rent bikes (there is a bike route along the beach)
Bergamot Station: a place with many art galleries, accessible from UCLA by taking Big Blue Bus Rapid 12 to Westwood & Exposition Blvd., then the light rail Metro)
Hiking in the Santa Monica Mountains (e.g. Will Rogers State Historic Park)

Culver City near Venice Blvd. and Overland Ave: area with several Indian restaurants (Annapurna, Mayura, Govinda's, Samosa House); accessible by Big Blue Bus Rapid 12
The Museum of Jurassic Technology - a quirky museum that defies description, open Thu-Fri-Sat-Sun afternoons

LA County Museum of Art (LACMA)
La Brea Tar Pits (where you can see natural asphalt seeping up from the ground);
the Grove, an area with shops and restaurants

Broad Museum
- the Musuem of Contemporary Art (MOCA),
- the Walt Disney Concert Hall,
- the OUE Skyspace LA (observatory on top of the US Bank Tower)
- Natural History Museum, including a butterfly house in summer 2017 - at Exposition Park, near USC

the Boulevard of the Stars (with the stars' names on the ground),
Grauman's Egyptian Theatre (built in 1922, now hosting the American Cinematheque),
Grauman's Chinese Theatre and the Madame Toussauds Wax Museum (all at Hollywood and Highland);
and the Hollywood Farmers Market on Sunday morning