Every year while watching the Rose Parade, when the bands march by that square brown building, many finally succumb to curiosity and make a plan to check out the Norton Simon Museum. LA's best collection of works from master artists awaits.

Away from the hustle and bustle of the city, the Norton Simon is the place to spend some quality time alone with the masters. One of LA's best-kept secrets, this quiet and relatively little-visited museum houses some of the best-known works of some of the world's greatest artists including Raphael, Botticelli, Rubens, Rembrandt, Goya, Renoir, Gauguin, Monet, Degas, Picasso and Van Gogh. The abundance of 19th-century ballet dancers, Tahitian women and swirling French landscapes will make art lovers think they've died and gone to a museum in Europe. (There's Rodin's "The Thinker," modestly doing his thing out front to make the illusion complete.) The interiors have been updated by another master, Frank Gehry, who conjured no wild, shiny metal forms—just an elegant, well-lit showcase for the impressive collection.