Off the Beaten Path in UCLA

Free Off the Beaten Path in UCLA with Roamee Pro

Roamee Pro, also known as Roamee, offers a free off-the-beaten-path walking tour route in UCLA. The audio walking tour can include stops such as Royce Hall — Completed in 1929 and designed by architect George W. Kelham, this Lombard Romanesque building is UCLA's most iconic structure, modeled directly after the sixth-century Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio in Milan. Its twin bell towers, arched loggia, and terra-cotta ornamental details make it one of the finest examples of Italian Romanesque architecture in California. The 1,800-seat performance hall inside hosts major concerts, lectures, and cultural events, and has featured artists from Ella Fitzgerald to the Dalai Lama., Janss Steps — This grand 87-step concrete staircase, built in 1929 and named for the Janss brothers who sold the Westwood land to UCLA, connects the upper Dickson Plaza to the lower campus. The steps are a UCLA rite of passage: freshmen traditionally walk up on their first day and seniors walk down at graduation. The wide landing at the top offers a sweeping view of the Westwood skyline, Century City towers, and on clear days the Pacific Ocean., Franklin D. Murphy Sculpture Garden — Established in 1967 and spanning five landscaped acres on UCLA's north campus, this outdoor museum contains over 70 sculptures by major twentieth-century artists including Auguste Rodin, Henri Matisse, Alexander Calder, Barbara Hepworth, Jacques Lipchitz, and Isamu Noguchi. The works are set among jacaranda trees, winding paths, and rolling lawns, creating an open-air gallery that UCLA students use as study space, picnic grounds, and a shortcut between classes., plus hidden gems like Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden — Tucked into a steep seven-and-a-half-acre canyon on the southeast edge of campus, this subtropical garden contains over 5,000 species from around the world, including rare Hawaiian, Australian, and South African plants. Founded in 1929 as an outdoor laboratory, its sheltered canyon creates a microclimate several degrees warmer than surrounding areas, allowing tropical species to thrive. Free admission makes it one of LA's best-kept botanical secrets..

Use this page as a starting point for a UCLA walking tour, a free route, or the Roamee app for UCLA. Roamee Pro keeps the route flexible so you can follow the stops, skip ahead, or explore nearby streets at your own pace.

• •Royce Hall — Completed in 1929 and designed by architect George W. Kelham, this Lombard Romanesque building is UCLA's most iconic structure, modeled directly after the sixth-century Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio in Milan. Its twin bell towers, arched loggia, and terra-cotta ornamental details make it one of the finest examples of Italian Romanesque architecture in California. The 1,800-seat performance hall inside hosts major concerts, lectures, and cultural events, and has featured artists from Ella Fitzgerald to the Dalai Lama.
• •Janss Steps — This grand 87-step concrete staircase, built in 1929 and named for the Janss brothers who sold the Westwood land to UCLA, connects the upper Dickson Plaza to the lower campus. The steps are a UCLA rite of passage: freshmen traditionally walk up on their first day and seniors walk down at graduation. The wide landing at the top offers a sweeping view of the Westwood skyline, Century City towers, and on clear days the Pacific Ocean.
• •Franklin D. Murphy Sculpture Garden — Established in 1967 and spanning five landscaped acres on UCLA's north campus, this outdoor museum contains over 70 sculptures by major twentieth-century artists including Auguste Rodin, Henri Matisse, Alexander Calder, Barbara Hepworth, Jacques Lipchitz, and Isamu Noguchi. The works are set among jacaranda trees, winding paths, and rolling lawns, creating an open-air gallery that UCLA students use as study space, picnic grounds, and a shortcut between classes.
• •Powell Library — Completed in 1929 as the campus's original library, designed by George W. Kelham in Romanesque Revival style with arched windows, coffered ceilings, and hand-painted murals depicting the history of knowledge. The main reading room features ornate chandeliers and Byzantine-inspired ceiling details. Now serving as the undergraduate library, its lower levels were renovated to include a 24-hour study space, but the upper reading rooms retain their original 1920s grandeur.

• •Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden — Tucked into a steep seven-and-a-half-acre canyon on the southeast edge of campus, this subtropical garden contains over 5,000 species from around the world, including rare Hawaiian, Australian, and South African plants. Founded in 1929 as an outdoor laboratory, its sheltered canyon creates a microclimate several degrees warmer than surrounding areas, allowing tropical species to thrive. Free admission makes it one of LA's best-kept botanical secrets.

• ›Walk one neighborhood over from the famous one. The crowds rarely cross a bridge, a hill, or a busy road — and that's exactly where local life resumes.
• ›Go on a weekday morning. Residential districts are at their most genuine when people are running errands, not performing for visitors.
• ›Use a spot like Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden as a foothold, then follow the streets where the shops sell to residents — hardware, bakeries, laundromats — not souvenirs.
• ›Eat where the menu is in one language and the room is full of regulars. If you can't read it, point at what looks good on the next table.
• ›Learn three phrases — hello, thank you, the bill please. A little effort flips how people treat you almost everywhere.