Hollywood Boulevard: Real Tips for a Street That Mostly Disappoints

Be honest with yourself before you go: Hollywood Boulevard is not the glamorous movie-land of your imagination. The sidewalk is often grimy. The Walk of Fame runs past pawnshops, souvenir stores, and people in dirty character costumes who expect a dollar for a photograph. The TCL Chinese Theatre is impressive and genuinely historic; everything immediately around it is chaotic. With calibrated expectations, the boulevard is an interesting 90-minute stop. As a day’s destination, it will frustrate you.

That said, there are things here worth seeing, and a couple of nearby spots are genuinely excellent.

The Walk of Fame

There are over 2,700 stars on the Walk of Fame, spread across 18 blocks on Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street. The stars are maintained by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and new ones are added at a rate of around 25 per year (inductees must contribute approximately $50,000 toward installation and maintenance, which should tell you something about how the process works).

The stars run from La Brea Avenue east to Gower Street on Hollywood Boulevard, and from Yucca Street to Sunset Boulevard on Vine. Finding a specific person’s star requires looking at the map at walkoffame.com before you go, or using the app. Many people spend time craning their necks at the pavement looking for their favourite star’s name; many go home without finding it.

TCL Chinese Theatre

The 1927 Sid Grauman-designed theatre at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard is worth a proper look. The forecourt with celebrity hand and footprints in cement blocks is the famous part: Marilyn Monroe, Humphrey Bogart, Fred Astaire, and about 200 others have pressed their hands (and in some cases, noses and ears and wands) into concrete here since 1927. The theatre still operates as a first-run cinema. Seeing a film in the original auditorium, particularly in IMAX, is a worthwhile experience. Regular tickets cost $16-22.

Guided tours of the interior run daily at $15 per person. They’re 30 minutes and cover the architecture and history reasonably well.

Hollywood Museum at 1660 N. Highland Avenue is consistently underrated. The four floors of authentic Hollywood memorabilia - Hannibal Lecter’s cell from Silence of the Lambs, Elvis Presley’s wardrobe, Judy Garland’s dress - are housed in the original Max Factor building. Entry $20. Allow 90 minutes. Far more interesting than most of the boulevard’s tourist fare.

Dolby Theatre (6801 Hollywood Blvd) is where the Academy Awards are held. When no event is on, guided tours of the interior run daily at $25 per adult. You can stand on the stage. This is either meaningful or irrelevant depending entirely on how much you care about the Oscars.

Hollywood Sign

You cannot get close to the Hollywood Sign from the boulevard itself. The sign is 3 km north in the Santa Monica Mountains. The best hiking access is from Griffith Park: the Wisdom Tree trailhead off Canyon Drive gives a 3 km trail to a ridge with good views. The Lake Hollywood Reservoir trail is longer (around 5 km loop) but gets you beneath the sign. Both routes require car access or an Uber to the trailhead; there’s no easy public transit option.

Griffith Observatory, 5 km from the boulevard, is worth half a day. Free entry to the exterior and observation deck. The planetarium shows cost $10. Views of downtown LA and the Hollywood sign in the same panorama.

Where to Eat (Leave the Boulevard)

Musso and Frank Grill at 6667 Hollywood Blvd is the one exception: a restaurant actually on the boulevard that’s worth entering. Operating since 1919 and barely changed since, it’s famous for its martinis, its flannel cakes (a thick sourdough pancake), and its old-school service by waiters who’ve been there for decades. Raymond Chandler wrote here. Mains $25-45.

Petit Trois on Highland Avenue, 10 minutes walk south, is a cramped, counter-only French bistro doing reliably excellent cassoulet, steak frites, and omelettes. No reservations. Worth the wait. Mains $20-30.

Jaffa on Cahuenga makes Israeli/Mediterranean food - hummus, sabich, very good fish dishes - at prices that make sense. Mains $15-25.

For a proper meal in Hollywood proper, Petit Ermitage in the hotel of the same name on Sunset is a rooftop restaurant open only to hotel guests and their invited guests. If you’re staying there, go.

Where to Stay

Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel at 7000 Hollywood Blvd is the historic choice. The 1927 hotel hosted the first Academy Awards ceremony. The pool and common areas are well-maintained and the location is genuinely central. Rooms from around $250.

Dream Hollywood on Selma Avenue is a newer boutique option with a rooftop pool. Rooms from $200.

If you have a car and flexibility, staying in Los Feliz or Silver Lake (10 minutes east by car) gives better access to genuinely good restaurants and a more residential neighbourhood feel at lower prices.

Getting There

The Metro B Line (Red Line) stops at Hollywood/Highland station, one minute from TCL Chinese Theatre. Single fare $1.75, day pass $5. Taking the subway from downtown LA takes about 20 minutes and avoids the parking nightmare entirely.

Parking on the boulevard is expensive and the lots near the Walk of Fame charge $15-25 for a few hours during peak tourist times. If driving, the easiest approach is to use Hollywood/Highland garage (metered with validation possible at some shops) and base yourself there.