Photography Tour in UCLA

Free Photography Tour in UCLA with Roamee Pro

Roamee Pro, also known as Roamee, offers a free photography tour route in UCLA. The audio walking tour can include stops such as 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., 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. and Inverted Fountain — Located near the Court of Sciences, this distinctive 1969 sculpture-fountain by Francis de Erdely flows inward and downward rather than spraying upward, creating a sunken vortex of water that spirals into the ground. Students have long debated whether the inward flow represents the intake of knowledge or the draining of tuition money. Its circular design and the sound of rushing water make it a surprisingly meditative spot amid the busy engineering buildings..

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.

• •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.

• •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.
• •Inverted Fountain — Located near the Court of Sciences, this distinctive 1969 sculpture-fountain by Francis de Erdely flows inward and downward rather than spraying upward, creating a sunken vortex of water that spirals into the ground. Students have long debated whether the inward flow represents the intake of knowledge or the draining of tuition money. Its circular design and the sound of rushing water make it a surprisingly meditative spot amid the busy engineering buildings.

• ›Work the edges of the day. The hour after sunrise and the hour before sunset (plus the blue hour just after) give warm, low, directional light that flat midday can't.
• ›Shoot Janss Steps wide for the establishing frame, then hunt the details — a doorway, a sign, a texture — that tell the same story up close.
• ›Chase reflections after rain: puddles, wet cobbles, and glass turn an ordinary street into a symmetrical frame.
• ›Turn around. The best shot is often behind you — and quieter spots like Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden give you angles no one else is posting.
• ›Photograph people with respect: a nod or a smile first, and skip anyone who clearly doesn't want the lens. Better photos, fewer problems.