[TourKorea = Reporter Seongran Jo] With Marilyn Monroe’s 100th birthday arriving on June 1, 2026, eleven Los Angeles sites that map her legacy are capturing renewed interest.
The Los Angeles Tourism Board has curated a collection of places where visitors can step into the life and story of the global Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe.
Featuring the hotels she lived in, the restaurants she loved, and the exhibition spaces that celebrate her, this route offers more than sightseeing — it’s a narrative-driven journey that traces one woman’s rise to legend.
Opens May 31… Academy Museum Unveils major 'Marilyn Monroe' exhibition
First on the must-see list is the Academy Museum. The exhibition Marilyn Monroe: Hollywood Icon, opening May 31, puts her image and influence as both an actress and a cultural touchstone under a focused spotlight.
The show presents hundreds of items — posters, photographs, production documents, and personal letters — many appearing publicly for the first time. It’s a rare chance to see how she actively shaped her image within classic Hollywood’s machinery.
16-week limited immersive exhibition: 'Marilyn: The Immersive Experience'
Also catching attention is Marilyn: The Immersive Experience, a roughly 16-week run kicking off in May.
Co-created with fans, this interactive show invites visitors to follow Monroe’s life in an immersive format. Unreleased photos and footage, personal artifacts, and recreated iconic scenes heighten the sense of stepping into her world.
From her first photo shoot to legendary restaurants
You can still find real traces of Marilyn Monroe across the city.
The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel housed her for about two years as she launched her modeling career, and she shot her first professional magazine spread at the Tropicana pool. Today, the roughly 70㎡ (about 753 sq ft) Marilyn Monroe Suite re-creates that era’s ambiance.
Musso & Frank Grill, opened in 1919, is a storied dining room where stars like Monroe, Joe DiMaggio, and Elizabeth Taylor dined. It remains a touchstone of Hollywood history.
The Formosa Cafe — another hangout for the film set crowd — reopened in 2019 after roughly 3.2 billion KRW in renovations (about 2.4 million USD), restoring its classic allure.
Her marks across Hollywood… from the Walk of Fame to museums
At the Hollywood Museum, among more than 10,000 artifacts, you’ll find a concentrated Marilyn Monroe display. Standouts include the Max Factor makeup room that helped create her iconic blonde image, stage costumes, and personal belongings.
Perhaps the most emblematic piece is the “Million Dollar Dress” she wore during her 1954 visit to Korea.
You can also see her handprints and footprints preserved at the TCL Chinese Theatre, and her star sits near 6774 Hollywood Boulevard on the Walk of Fame.
Even her final traces… gravesite and tours remain popular
The trail also includes sites connected to her final days.
Her crypt is at Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park, where tales persist that ex-husband Joe DiMaggio sent roses three times a week for 20 years.
For a cinematic spin on the city, the Marilyn Monroe LA Tour — driven in a 1970s Cadillac convertible — remains a popular way to trace her life and visit the places she made famous.
She stopped at 36, but her name turned 100
Marilyn Monroe died at 36, yet she endures as one of pop culture’s most influential icons.
In her centennial year of 2026, Los Angeles is amplifying her story across the city with new tourism offerings. These narrative-led experiences — which go beyond ticking off landmarks — are emerging as a fresh travel trend.
