Captured Travel A century after Marilyn Monroe’s birth, Los Angeles is inviting travellers to rediscover the city through the life of one of its most enduring stars. Throughout June 2026, visitors can follow Monroe’s journey from aspiring model to global screen icon, exploring the hotels, restaurants, museums and neighbourhoods that shaped her story and continue to preserve her legacy.
Born in Los Angeles as Norma Jeane Mortenson, Monroe’s rise to fame remains one of Hollywood’s most compelling success stories. While her films continue to captivate new generations, the city where she lived, worked and dreamed offers a deeper connection to the woman behind the legend.
A new exhibition shines a light on Monroe’s influence
The centrepiece of the centenary celebrations is Marilyn Monroe: Hollywood Icon at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. Opening on 31 May 2026, the exhibition explores Monroe’s role not only as a performer but also as a savvy architect of her own public image.
Featuring hundreds of original objects, many displayed publicly for the first time, the exhibition includes costumes, letters, photographs, production materials and personal items. Among the highlights is the iconic pink dress worn in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. The museum will also screen 17 of Monroe’s most beloved films throughout June, including Some Like It Hot, How to Marry a Millionaire and The Seven Year Itch.
For visitors wanting a broader perspective on Hollywood history, the nearby Hollywood Museum offers another fascinating stop. Its extensive Monroe collection includes personal belongings, costumes, memorabilia and even the make-up rooms where she famously transformed into the platinum blonde persona that became known worldwide.
Following Marilyn’s footsteps across Hollywood
Many of Monroe’s favourite places remain woven into the fabric of Los Angeles.
Travellers can explore her world aboard a vintage Cadillac tour with Classic Experiences, visiting sites connected to her life, including her former Beverly Hills home, the Hotel Bel-Air and her Hollywood Walk of Fame star.
The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel offers one of the city’s most direct links to Monroe. She lived there during the early stages of her modelling career, and today guests can stay in the Marilyn Monroe Suite overlooking the historic Tropicana Pool, where some of her earliest professional photographs were taken.
A short walk away, visitors can stand where Monroe left her mark at the TCL Chinese Theatre. Her handprints and shoeprints, created alongside actress Jane Russell in 1953, remain among the most photographed attractions in Hollywood.
For those interested in Hollywood’s golden age, the Paramount Studio Tour provides another connection. While Monroe never filmed on the lot itself, local lore suggests that as a child she would gaze towards the studio from the Los Angeles Orphans Home Society and imagine a future in film.
Dining and staying where Hollywood history was made
Los Angeles’ dining scene also preserves traces of Monroe’s glamorous era.
At Musso & Frank Grill, Hollywood’s oldest restaurant, visitors can dine in the same venue frequented by Monroe and her contemporaries. The restaurant’s exclusive Back Room became a favourite gathering place for stars throughout the 1950s, and diners can still request Monroe’s preferred booth.
Nearby, the Formosa Café continues to celebrate its long association with Hollywood royalty. Once lined with signed photographs of famous patrons, the restored venue remains a nostalgic reminder of an era when film stars were regular guests.
The Beverly Hills Hotel offers another glimpse into Monroe’s world. Known as the “Pink Palace”, the hotel hosted the actress on several occasions during her career and remains one of Los Angeles’ most recognisable luxury landmarks.
For many admirers, a visit to Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park provides a more reflective experience. Monroe’s pink marble crypt has become a place of pilgrimage for fans from around the world, offering a quiet reminder of the extraordinary cultural impact she continues to have more than six decades after her death.
As Los Angeles marks Marilyn Monroe’s 100th birthday, the celebrations offer more than a tribute to a movie star. They provide a journey through the city’s cinematic history, revealing how one woman’s story became inseparable from the mythology of Hollywood itself.