My wife and I had been meaning to go to the Getty Villa for a while now. I must admit, the fact that you have to make a reservation to go kind of put us off, for some reason. It seems a bit snobby. We finally went with kids in tow, of course, and found it to be a surprisingly enriched experience.

Tucked away in a narrow ravine in the hills looming over the Pacific Coast Highway is the Getty Villa which is a meticulous and vibrant recreation of a Greco-Roman Villa served up as one part museum, one part archaeological dig and one part villa inspired from the ancient Roman Villa of Papyri which houses the private antiquities collection of oil mogul J. Paul Getty.

To set the mood for the experience, I recommend seeing the 12 minute introductory movie just inside the theater and then upon exiting I would sign up for one of the many guided tours offered. We did the Architecture and Gardens Tour and even though we did not last the full 45 minutes (actually the boys didn’t) we found the whole thing very fascinating. The guided tours are done with headsets and receivers that are linked the Tour Guide’s microphone which is nice because this allowed us to linger in the back of the group with the kids but still hear everything he was saying.

Depending on how old your kids are I would also recommend the Art Odyssey (ages 5+) where you can get a guided tour for your family or group or sign up for the Art Quest where kids and parents get to make jewelry inspired by the Greco-Roman styles (this is in the main courtyard). There is also a set of Art Detective cards in the family room which allow kids to identify certain pieces throughout the grounds (the Brentwood Getty Museum has the same kind of thing). The Family Room which is located right off the main peristyle is a great place to take a breather and let the little ones play in the shadow hall (their shadow is projected along-side over-sized Greco-Roman Soldier motifs you would find on the vessels and pottery of the time) or do some coloring.

**PARENT TIPS: You can only enter the Villa from the north-bound side of the PCH and the entrance is just before Coastline Drive (you can not enter it from Coastline so keep a sharp eye). If you are approaching it from the south-bound side go just beyond it (about a quarter mile) and do a U-turn at the intersection of Porto Marina.

The museum is free but the parking is $8 dollars. If you are going with kids (+ stroller) park on the top level of the parking facility since everything leading up to the main area is uphill when you arrive it will mean one less elevator to wait for.

Also, consider packing a lunch. There is a very nice shady picnic area next to the gift shop where you can find vending machines (the prices in these machines are surprisingly normal) and plenty of tables.

Related Links;
Parentography Review
The Getty Museum
Wikipedia - The Getty Villa