19 Best Things To Do In Hollywood, California

If you are starstruck person, the idea of spotting Hollywood stars will take you on Rodeo Drive, haute couture boutiques, the exclusive Beverly Hills, Bel Air and Franklin Village in Hollywood is all your piece of cake. A larger-than-life symbol of the  Hollywood beckons tourists entertainment business with landmarks like TCL Chinese Theatre and highlights to include , Historic music venues and paramount pictures like the Hollywood Bowl, and Dolby Theatre, home of the Oscars. Scenesters can choose from improv comedy clubs, retro-cool bars, and velvet-roped nightclubs. Locals frequent eateries in nearby Thai Town. The marvelous attraction Hollywood is the Walk of Fame on Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street, lined with star plaques honoring prominent Hollywood star personalities. The J. Paul Getty Museum, the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and the Hollywood Bowl are top attractions.

So if you want to explore Hollywood to the fullest here is the list of things to do in Hollywood to make your trip to California, once in a lifetime experience.

Hollywood Sign

•  Hollywood Sign is the popular American landmark and cultural icon commanding Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. Which is located on Mount Lee, in the Hollywood Hills area of the Santa Monica Mountains. This historic signature “HOLLYWOOD” is 45-foot-tall written with white capital letters and is 350 feet long.
• The best place to see the Hollywood Sign is at Griffith Park as it is located in Griffith Park, you can get close to the Hollywood Sign via a short hike, although access to the sign is very strictly off limits and punishable by a $1,000 fine. There are versatile hiking trails on Mt. Hollywood is leading as the back corner of the Observatory parking.
• Talking about the main Griffith Observatory hike which leads to a worthwhile spot that enables you to view the sign-in succour. This is not surprising that the iconic sign is created as a real-estate advertisement.
• Built by the 1923 Los Angeles Times publisher Harry Chandler who chose to invest in an upscale real-estate development called Hollywoodland, which benefited on the expanding acknowledgement of Hollywood as a movie-industry mecca. With the time it has become popular and loved worldwide as cultural point of interest.

Warner Brother’s Studio Tour

• Warner Bros. Studio Tour is a federal attraction established inside Warner Bros. Studio is just close to Hollywood and serves as the part of Los Angeles area. It offers you the chance to get the scenic glimpse behind the scenes of one the oldest and most popular film studios in the world.
•  Warner Bros holds it’s worth around $5 billion. In the year 2017, the company celebrated its best year with earnings of more than $5.12 billion worldwide receipts. Till now, Warner Bros is the only studio to cross one billion marks for 17 years continuously.
• The tour will lead visitors through some of the film lots and studios where classics like Casablanca and Batman were filmed, along with more modern hits like The Big Bang Theory and Gilmore Girls. You can relish the beauty of the Central Perk set from Friends and try on the sorting hat in the Great Hall from Harry Potter.
• Tickets: Depending on which tour you take, the cost will run between $69 – $79 per adult or $59 – $69 per child, though there is a deluxe tour for $295/person. There are currently three tours you can take, each with a different focus.
• Duration:  A standard tour with Warner Brother’s Studios lasts approximately 3 hours, but a deluxe tour can also be booked, which lasts 6 hours and offers an even closer look into more studios and soundstages.

Walk of Fame

• The Hollywood Walk of Fame comprises more than 2,600 brass stars and five-pointed terrazzo embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California in July 1978, the City of Los Angeles assigned the Hollywood Walk of Fame to the Los Angeles.
• The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a public space that is open for you 24/7, and there are habitually many celebrity and character impersonators in the area so that you can have their picture taken with Elvis, the Hulk, or Captain Jack Sparrow to memorialize their visit.
• It’s an absolute iconic slice of American cultural history and features the names of some of the greatest artists in the history of visual media.

Griffith Observatory

• A facility in Los Angeles, California, known as The Griffith Observatory is resting on the south-facing slope of Mount Hollywood in Los Angeles’ Griffith Park. Providing a view of the Los Angeles Basin, which includes Hollywood to the south, Downtown Los Angeles to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest.
• This observatory is Southern California’s gateway to the galaxy! You can look through telescopes, see live shows in the Samuel Oschin Planetarium, explore exhibits, and enjoy sensational views of Los Angeles and the Hollywood Sign.
• Daily and monthly programs are added in the Samuel Oschin Planetarium and Leonard Nimoy Event Horizon, The Observatory provide daily and monthly demonstrations of the various building exhibit, telescope viewing, daily local noon walks and talks, and a monthly Sunset.
• Upon the southern slope of Mount Hollywood sits Griffith Observatory, a popular Los Angeles attraction that offers a spectacular view of Los Angeles, including the famous Hollywood Sign. But the views don’t end there, because Griffith is also home to a planetarium, where guests can sit back and take a look into the infinite reaches of the Universe. You can also look through the observatory’s telescopes for a peek at the night sky or any other points of interest, and explore some of the educational exhibits within the observatory.
• Famous for: Griffith Observatory is well worth visiting simply for the unparalleled views over Los Angeles and Hollywood.
• Tickets: Admission to the building and grounds is always FREE. Moreover, it is worth paying that bit extra to get up to the observatory as the view is stunning.
• Duration: Enjoy the popular one hour or two-hour tour which will offer stellar views of Griffith Observatory, the Hollywood Sign, and downtown LA.

Barnsdall Art Park

• Barnsdall Art Park is a city park located in the East Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California on a campus that also includes Hollyhock House, the LA Municipal Art Gallery, and the Barnsdall Gallery Theater, among other things, Barnsdall Art Park offers art classes for both children and adults as well as events like wine tastings, art shows, and outdoor movie nights under the stars. Arts buildings and parking access is from Hollywood Boulevard on the park’s north side.
•   This beautiful and unique place aims to foster a love of art in its visitors, and it does so not only by showing art but also by offering some great opportunities to create it.
• The park of Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument facilitates the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.

Universal Studios Hollywood

• This Studios Hollywood is an amazing film studio and also a theme park in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles County, California. 70% of the studio stands within the unincorporated county island of Universal City while the remaining lies within the city limits of Los Angeles, California
• Universal Studios is filming studio as well as a theme park in Los Angeles, where guests can take a tour of the studio with virtual host Jimmy Fallon to get a behind the scenes look at movie sets as well as props and costumes from classic films like Jaws and Psycho.
• There’s The Walking Dead experience and you can meet those adorable yellow minions. There’s the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, where visitors can select a wand, fly with a hippogriff, and try butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks tavern.
• At the theme park, you can watch entertaining shows about special effects or featuring the famous animals who are often used in movies and have a thrilling and fun time on all the rides in the park.

Top Things to Do at Universal Studios Hollywood

• Springfield / The Simpsons Ride.
• The Walking Dead.
• Despicable Me Minion Mayhem / Super Silly Fun Land.
• Raptor Encounter.
• Transformers: TheRide-3D.
• WaterWorld—A Live Sea War Spectacular.
• Revenge of the Mummy- The Ride.
• Jurassic Park- The Ride.

Dolby Theatre

• The Dolby Theatre is a live-performance auditorium in the Hollywood and Highland Center shopping mall and entertainment complex, on Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue, in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles. Since its opening on November 9, 2001, it has been the venue of the annual Academy Awards ceremony.
• Dolby Theatre is known as the home of the Academy Awards which is recognized by most of the crowd, the biggest red carpet night in Hollywood. This ornate theater, with its grand staircase and massive stage crowned by a “tiara,” is a wonder in its own right.
• Tours: Dolby Theatre 7 days a week, with guides starting a tour every half hour between 10:30 am and 4:00 pm.
• Famous For: Besides being the venue for star-studded awards shows, the Dolby is also a world-class events venue, with a calendar of performers that is just as A-List as the people who walk the red carpet there each year.

What events happen at the Dolby Theater? Here are some examples of upcoming events.

• ESCAPE TO MARGARITAVILLE.
• MKeane.
• PaleyFest: Modern Family.
• PaleyFest: One Day At A Time.
• PaleyFest: Evening along with Dolly Parton & Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings.
• PaleyFest: NCIS – 400th Episode Celebration.
• PaleyFest: The Boys.
• PaleyFest: Star Trek: Picard.

Hollyhock House

• The Hollyhock House of Aline Barnsdall in the East Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, popularly designed by Frank Lloyd Wright formerly as a residence for oil heiress built between 1919 and 1921. The building is known as the centerpiece of the city’s Barnsdall Art Park.
• Hollyhock is not the Last Name of anybody. When it was not even designed, Barnsdall decided to name the house on the name of his favourite flower—hollyhock. Wright used the name as implementing and inspiring an abstract hollyhock motif throughout the house’s façade and interiors.
• You can explore the house and gardens to see the seamless combinations of indoor and outdoor space, the lovely rooftop terraces, and the incorporated hollyhock flowers from which the house gleaned its name.
• Visiting Hours: Hollyhock House is open for visitation Tuesday through Sunday, and docent-led tours are offered on Tuesdays and Wednesdays by reservation.

Hollywood – Behind the Scenes Walking Tour

• This hour-long walking tour will lead visitors to all the major sights of Tinseltown, from famous landmarks down to hole-in-the-wall theaters.
• Well-informed docents will make you explore architectural points of interest as well as cultural landmarks, all while offering fascinating stories of the famous people who had a hand in making Hollywood the place at present.
• Tour Hours: begin at 10 am, 12 pm, 2 pm, and 4 pm each day, and can be reserved online.

Tour list: Some of the stops on the tour include 

• Hollywood Walk of Fame,
• The original location of the Academy Awards, and a 1920s speakeasy bar from the Prohibition era.

 

Hollywood and Highland Center

• Hollywood and Highland is a major tourist destination, well known as the home of the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and it is also a major cultural center. High-end shopping mall at Hollywood and Highland, with shops, restaurants, hotels, and more.
• If that is not enough in the vicinity is the Dolby Theater, where the Academy Awards are held each year, Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum, and much more.
• There are always plenty of character impersonators at Hollywood and Highland, from Spiderman to Marilyn Monroe, which is available for amazing panoramas.

Hollywood Bowl

• The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheater in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in America by Rolling Stone magazine in 2018.
• The Hollywood Bowl is one of the most famous music venues in the world, an amphitheater set into the “bowl” of the hills that surround it.
• Known for the distinctive shell that envelops the stage, creating a visual and acoustic masterpiece, the Hollywood Bowl can seat up to 17,500 people, and its calendar of events features every type of music, from a full-orchestra classical concert band to popular hip hop artists.
• The Hollywood Bowl is the largest of its kind in the US and is also home to a park with picnic grounds. No matter what the agenda, Hollywood Bowl offers you a perfect night under the stars, every time.
• Tickets: Prices start as low as $1 on many nights for bench seats in the back and rise to upwards of $100 for box seats at the front of the house.

Hollywood Museum

• A museum in Hollywood, California,  which is also named Hollywood that houses a collection of memorabilia from the history of television, American motion pictures with amazing exhibits that include props, set elements, costumes and photos of some of the most beloved and classic films ever created.
• It is known as historic Max Factor Building designed by American architect Simeon Charles Lee on Highland Avenue.
• You can visit Hannibal Lector’s cell from Silence of the Lambs, see Marilyn Monroe’s Million Dollar Dress, and even see the personal bathrobe of the King of Rock and Roll himself.
• Famous For: The museum’s rotating displays and exhibits highlight certain film genres, illustrious individual actors and directors, and cultural trends in filmmaking, like the changing perception of LGBTQ individuals onscreen or the life of a child actor.
• Ticket: Hollywood Museum Admission Los Angeles Tickets – $5.00 at The Hollywood Museum.

Hollywood Wax Museum

• At the Hollywood Wax Museum, guests can get up close and personal with the likenesses of some of their favorite stars. The oldest and longest-running museum of wax figures in the US, the You get an opportunity to pose with and take photos with the wax figures, which also feature placards containing fun facts and trivia about the famous faces seen there.
• Hollywood Wax Museum contains lifelike models of stars and characters such as Samuel L. Jackson, James Bond, Marilyn Monroe, and George Clooney and many more.
• Tickets: Admission to the wax museum is $20 each and the all-access pass was $27 so for $7 you get to do Mirror Maze, house of chaos, and mini-golf. Do not have to do all at one time, tickets good for 2 days. The wax museum is good and includes lots of stars.
• Duration: It’s designed for an “at your own pace”, it would take it all in, probably about 3 hours. They have interactive games you can play and a lot of facts about each display. So if you take pictures of all, and interact at least 3 hours.

Museum of Death

• A museum on Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, Los Angeles, and New Orleans is named as Museum of death. Originated in June 1995 by J. D. Healy and Catherine Shultz with the museum’s stated goal “to make people happy to be alive” and succeeding in it.
• Despite the morbid name and subject matter, the ultimate aim of the Museum of Death is to make visitors appreciate life.
• Famous For: this unique museum has artwork done by serial killers, photos of infamous crime pictures, including those involving Charles Manson, collections of coffins and body bags, and historical execution devices. Exhibits focus on the art of the autopsy, death cults and serial killers, and much more.
• Visiting Hours: The macabre museum can be explored via a self-guided tour, which generally lasts about 1 hour, and although there is no age limit, visitors should be aware that the content of the museum is best viewed by mature audiences.

Lake Hollywood Park

• Lake Hollywood Park is home to the Hollywood Reservoir, a large manmade lake in the Santa Monica Mountains. Within the park, there are paved trails for cyclists, joggers, and those who wish to take a nice walk, as well as picnic areas and large grassy areas perfect for a game of frisbee or laying out on a blanket and reading a book.
• The park is dog-friendly and very scenic, with excellent views of the Hollywood Sign up on the hill above the park. Lake Hollywood Park is open daily from sunrise until sunset.

Stahl House

• A modernist-styled house crafted by architect Pierre Koenig in the Hollywood Hills section of Los Angeles, California, which is known as a frequent set location in American films has gained its popularity as Stahl House.
• In 1956, a man named Buck Stahl and his wife built their dream home, designed by Pierre Koenig. The end outcome was a modern structure with huge glass windows overlooking the lights of Los Angele.
• This house, which was officially declared a Historic-Cultural Landmark in 1999, became an icon of the modern architectural style.

Hollywood Roosevelt

• The Hollywood Roosevelt is a classic hotel that over the years has hosted stars like Charlie Chaplin, Marilyn Monroe, and Clark Gable, and which has served as a set location for countless films over the decades.
• The hotel is still in operation, with rooms that have a distinct Old Hollywood feel to them. If you want to enjoy each moment of Hollywood then it is a must stay spot for you.

Yamashiro Restaurant

• Yamashiro Restaurant is one of Los Angeles’ most iconic dining destinations, originally constructed in 1914 as a replica of a famed palace in Kyoto’s Yamashiro province.
• The gorgeous hilltop restaurant and estate, which is named for the Japanese word for “mountain palace,” has been one of the city’s top attractions for more than a century.
• This restaurant provides you with a unique experience throughout the year include a Hollywood Night Market event, which brings more than 30 food vendors to the restaurant’s grounds and showcases live music performances.
• Special diets: Its menus were recently overhauled, highlighting elegant dinner fares such as koshu-braised wagyu short ribs, sake-marinated lamb chops, and belly-on pork handle with Yama-hog sauce.

Grauman’s Chinese Theater

• A ChineseTheatre is a movie palace on the historic Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6925 Hollywood Blvd and named as Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood, California. Incipiently named and still recognized as Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, was renamed as Mann’s Chinese Theatre in 1973; the name lasted until 2001, after which it reverted to its original name as people were not able to recognize it
• At present, it’s well known as the location of many red carpet movie premieres as well as for being on the famous Hollywood Walk of Fame, where thousands of celebrities have their names, handprints, and footprints immortalized in the sidewalk.
• Famous For: Grauman’s Chinese Theater first opened in 1927, and the decades since it has established itself as an essential keystone in the world of Hollywood theater. The TCL Chinese Theatre has the biggest IMAX auditorium in the world. On September 20, 2013, the theatre debuted its new IMAX theatre with a 3D showing of The Wizard of Oz.

Conclusion

Hollywood is an amazing place to spend your fun-loving vacations. Most of the vacationists plan their tour to Hollywood to experience the glamour and excitement of Tinseltown while keeping a hopeful eye open for celebrity sightings, but you will also find a diversity of natural and cultural attractions and things to do, including hiking, horseback riding, and museums. It is filled with attractions that are larger than life and do not forget the core as it celebrates the entertainment industry and its persona, from behind-the-scenes tours at Universal Studios to high-end shopping and cherishing the Sunset Strip and Hollywood Boulevard. If you are willing to spend your amazing time at Hollywood and wondering what to do this article is the solution to all your second thoughts. So if Hollywood is not in your 2020 tour list make it your priority as its a once in lifetime tour which each individual should explore. Comment below and let us know when are you booking your ticket to Hollywood?