25 Hollywood tourist attractions you shouldn’t miss

This gorgeous outdoor amphitheatre has been hosting concerts since the LA Philharmonic first played here in 1922. Since then, it’s welcomed everyone from the Beatles to Madonna to John Williams. Nestled in an aesthetically blessed fold in the Hollywood Hills, the 18,000-seat venue can bring out the romantic even in the terminally cynical. It’s the summer home of the LA Phil (and boozy picnics); as long as there’s no performance, it also doubles as a public park.

Time Out tip: While you can bring your own alcohol for LA Phil–presented shows, it’s not allowed for lease events, so check the guidelines for your concert before you head out. And don’t try driving to a show: There are fewer parking spots now, so you’ll want to opt for a shuttle instead.

Fly high on a Hollywood helicopter tour.

The forecourt of this iconic movie theater, filled with hand- and footprints of Hollywood icons, is kind of a tourist-choked hot mess. Most people flock here to measure their own extremities against the likes of John Wayne’s and Judy Garland’s. But if you can get past that, it’s an entirely different story. You can avoid the crowds by catching a flick inside, where the auditorium is as stunning as the IMAX screen’s laser projection quality (perhaps the best in town).

Time Out tip: The historic theater is attached to a six-screen multiplex in Ovation Hollywood; you’ll want to ignore those and splurge on the main theater (listed online as Auditorium 7), which typically shows a single blockbuster at a time. 

Take a Hollywood and Beverly Hills minibus tour.

Originally created in 1923, the then-“Hollywoodland” sign was supposed to be up for only a year and a half, yet here it is over a century later. Getting close to the Hollywood Sign, though, is an often-contentious issue, thanks to pressure from local homeowners. You can catch a dead-on glimpse of the sign on Beachwood Drive, or farther up the hill near Lake Hollywood Park.

Time Out tip: Looking to get even closer? Go horseback riding at Sunset Ranch or—if you’re all right with a view from behind—lace up for a trek along the otherwise off-limits road on Mt. Lee Drive. You’ll end up directly above the Hollywood Sign, where you can experience a 360-degree view of the cityscape.

Book a horseback ride tour near the Hollywood Sign.

This 1927 landmark, a beautiful example of Spanish Colonial Revival design, once welcomed A-listers—from Marilyn Monroe to Clark Gable—who frequented it during Hollywood’s heyday. It’s worth walking into the Hollywood Roosevelt just to explore its dramatic downstairs lobby—or to bowl a few frames inside swanky bar the Spare Room.

If you can stomach the suspect superheroes, claustrophobia-inducing crowds and never-ending line of gift shops, tattoo parlors and lingerie stores, there’s actually a lot of old Hollywood history to discover along the Walk of Fame. The immortalized names on those famous five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars run from the Walk’s western extreme at the Hollywood and La Brea Gateway, past the Dolby Theatre and over to the W Hollywood hotel and Pantages Theatre at Gower, with additional stars on Vine from Yucca down to Sunset, near where the original movie studios sprang up a century ago.

Time Out tip: A new batch of honorees receive stars every year. If one of your favorite celebs is among them, you can join the audience at the star ceremony, which are free and always begin at 11:30am. Check for upcoming ceremonies here.

For a Hollywood Boulevard Walking Tour, click here. 

This 160-acre park at the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains has one main loop, plus a bevy of dirt hiking trails. The sea of buff trainers and their sleek, sweaty clients can get to be too much during the busy morning and weekend workout traffic, but you’ll be rewarded with some of the best views of the city (and, if you’re lucky, a chance to gawk at power-walking celebs). 

Time Out tip: The southern entrance of the canyon is at the end of Fuller Avenue in Hollywood, but if you want to cut out most of the hiking and just beeline it to the top, use the northern entrance off the 7300 block of Mulholland Drive.

Any cemetery that houses the remains of such celluloid luminaries as Cecil B. DeMille, Jayne Mansfield, Rudolph Valentino and Mel Blanc was bound to become a tourist attraction. Aside from popular posthumous celebs, Hollywood Forever is also home to Cinespia’s excellent summer outdoor movie screenings, where picnicking Angelenos watch films projected onto the side of a mausoleum, as well as an annual Day of the Dead festival, art exhibitions and concerts both inside the property’s intimate Masonic Lodge and outside on the Fairbanks Lawn—it’s hands-down one of the coolest concert experiences in L.A.

Time Out tip: You can also practice open-air yoga on the lawn (or inside the lodge in the cooler seasons) every morning of the week. Offerings range from kundalini yoga to silent disco vinyasa. Classes are donation-based, and parking is free.

Visit famous Hollywood sites on a bike tour.

An extravagant century-old theater built by the same architect as the Chinese Theatre and home to the first Hollywood premiere, the Egyptian is back in action after a three-year restoration project. Now under the ownership of Netflix (the streamer holds special events and premieres there on weekdays), the venue and its temple-like architecture—complete with hieroglyphics, columns and sphinxes—look absolutely dazzling. The American Cinematheque, the not-for-profit that first revived the venue in the ’90s, continues to program screenings on weekends, with excellent cinematic picks and Q&As.

First known as the Kodak until its sponsorship swapped to Dolby in 2012, this 3,400-seat theater routinely hosts Broadway plays, high-profile screenings and the occasional concert or comedy show. But the main attraction here, of course, is the Academy Awards: The annual star-studded broadcast will continue to be hosted here for the foreseeable future, and the names of all the past Best Picture winners line the columns near the entrance, where A-listers walk the red carpet each year.

Time Out tip: Learn more about the venue’s architecture, history and glamour with a guided tour, where you can ogle an Oscar statuette up-close and hang out in the Dolby Lounge ($25), a celebrity hot spot during events.

Yearning to relive your childhood and indulge in a Disney flick? El Capitan’s your spot: The lavish 1926-built theater (which hosted the premiere of Orson Welles’s Citizen Kane back in the day) today screens Disney’s most current features along with classics in between new releases. Tickets are indeed pricier than what you’ll pay at other nearby cinemas, but then again, where else do you get to dine at a classic soda fountain (now operated by Ghirardelli) and see a 2,500-pipe Wurlitzer organ be played before the feature presentation?

Known fittingly as Hollywood & Highland when it first opened, this shopping center helped usher in a commercial renaissance along Hollywood Boulevard—well, for a while, at least. Like many American shopping malls, it eventually became a shell of its former self, but a recent makeover that’s renamed the complex Ovation has sought to add a bit of sparkle back to the block. Plus, the archway at Ovation Hollywood has a pretty decent view of the Hollywood Sign. The parking entrances are on Highland Avenue and Orange Drive, and several of the center’s retailers validate.

Time Out tip: Among Ovation’s dining options, Chado Tea Room offers modestly priced, delicious afternoon tea service, and The Win-Dow has opened a Hollywood location here, where it serves its popular smashburgers.

Split between multiple levels of Ovation Hollywood, Japan House’s L.A. outpost offers a multitiered dive into Japanese culture, shopping and food. Pop into the WAZA Shop on the second floor for a range of Japan-made scarves, ceramics, teas, knives and other products, then walk past it to find the gallery, which features free rotating art exhibitions focused on architecture, photography and beyond. And who would expect Ovation to be hiding a Michelin star? Japan House’s fifth-floor restaurant, Uka, was awarded the honor last year. Expect a traditional Japanese kaiseki in a serene dining room that feels miles away from the bustle of Hollywood Boulevard. 

Time Out tip: Also on the fifth floor is the Japan House Library, where you can browse more than 700 books—from travel guides to manga comics—use the free WiFi and sip complimentary green tea. 

Believe it or not, Paramount is the last major studio to keep its headquarters located in Hollywood itself—and the only one of any of the neighborhood’s studios to open its doors to the public. Inside the famous wrought-iron Bronson gate (made famous in Sunset Boulevard), you’ll be treated to a guided tram tour through soundstages and a sizable New York back lot with different neighborhood backdrops, plus a stop at the prop warehouse.

Time Out tip: For a more interactive experience, download the Paramount Studio Tour app, which lets you scan props and costumes to unlock exclusive behind-the-scenes content from Paramount hits.

This cylindrical tower is so closely tied with postcard pictures of sunny California that it’s hard to separate the building from the lore. (Yes, it looks like a stack of records, but believe it or not that was purely a coincidence.) But that’s also part of its appeal; whenever you see its blade-like spire rising above the 101 freeway, its cool, white shades make you feel like you’re living the dream. Fun fact: The blinking light atop the spire spells out “Hollywood” in Morse code.

Time Out tip: Outside the building, you’ll fittingly find Walk of Fame stars belonging to iconic musicians, including each of the Beatles, Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison and Neil Diamond.

For a guided helicopter tour of the Capital Records Building and more, click here. 

If you keep driving up Beachwood Drive in search of the Hollywood Sign, eventually you’ll hit a dead end at Sunset Ranch Hollywood’s cluster of horse stables. The ranch offers a variety of daily trail rides through Griffith Park, and you can book ahead on their website. Pricier and longer rides include a trek to the top of the park or Mt. Hollywood, but even the basic one-hour ride ($75) lets you snag a close-up look at the Hollywood Sign along with sweeping views of the hills and L.A. cityscape below.

Open since 1919, the Musso & Frank Grill is Hollywood’s oldest restaurant, a steak-and-cocktails joint formerly favored by Charlie Chaplin and Raymond Chandler (and seen onscreen in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood). With its many obscure dishes and individually priced sides (and salad dressings!), the menu can be daunting. However, some dishes are fail-safes: The grilled meats are excellent and a safe bet. And every table gets a half-loaf of house-made sourdough bread, the perfect accompaniment to the joint’s iconic dry martini.

Time Out tip: Even though it’s primarily thought of as a steakhouse, don’t sleep on the crêpe-thin flannel cakes—served with syrup or whipped cream and fruit—or the daily specials (think chicken potpie and corned beef and cabbage).

Just outside the Hollywood border, this hilly park is the home of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hollyhock House. Originally intended as a massive arts complex, the site still fulfills that role with exhibitions in a variety of different gallery spaces, including the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery. In the summer, the park hosts alfresco wine tastings and cultural events that bring out a nice mix of singles, couples and young families.

Visible from within the neighborhood but technically located just outside of it, this L.A. landmark feels like an essential part of any Hollywood visit. The vista here is stunning, particularly at night when Los Angeles twinkles below. Inside you’ll find a bevy of exhibits, including a Foucault pendulum, Tesla coil and planetarium show. Give yourself plenty of time before the 10pm closing to gaze through the 12-inch refracting telescope on the roof, otherwise you can look through the far less crowded modern, reflecting telescopes on the front lawn.

Time Out tip: Parking in the congested lot and along the hill now costs about $10 per hour—though you can take a DASH bus up there for only 35 cents with a TAP card.

See Griffith Park, the Chinese Theater and more on a city tour.

As streaming services have erased CDs from our collective memory, the L.A. branch of San Francisco’s Amoeba Music could easily be seen as a mausoleum to physical media and actually leaving the house to buy music. But this, the largest independent record store in the country, is very much alive—albeit in a slightly smaller location now than its previous spot down the street. The variety of stock (vinyl, CDs and DVDs, new and used) is awesome, the prices are fair, and the staff know their stuff.

Carved into the hills above the Hollywood Reservoir’s walking paths but below a turnout of sightseeing vans, this grassy field feels like a dog-friendly Shangri-La (just make sure your dog is leashed, lest you get ticketed by the park rangers). You don’t have to have four legs to enjoy the scenery, thanks to a small playground, shaded picnic benches and one of the most fantastic views of the Hollywood Sign in the city.

Time Out tip: No matter where you’re coming from, it’s easiest to approach the park from Barham Boulevard. From there, turn onto Lake Hollywood Drive, then right at the intersection of Wonder View Drive and right on Canyon Lake Drive.

Built as a private art museum in the 1920s, this Japanese palace is a spectacular structure with extraordinary views of Hollywood. For years, it was a beautiful building in which to eat bad food, but recent shake-ups in the Japanese fusion cuisine have made it worth a visit even if you don’t get a table with a view. It may not be the cheapest option, but did we mention that view? Make a reservation well in advance and request a window seat.

Even if you’ve never seen it in person, you’ll undoubtedly recognize the Stahl House (Case Study House #22, completed in 1960, for you modernist fanatics) and its twinkly vista. There’s barely more to it than a roof, floor-to-ceiling windows and a swimming pool, but the Hollywood Hills house emits that magic that so many of us have found—or spend our lives chasing—in Los Angeles. 

Time Out tip: Limited timed tours of the house are offered on Wednesdays, Saturdays and two Fridays a month ($35–$90). Reservations become available (and are immediately snatched up) about three months in advance, so check the website for the latest reservation release info.

This overlook in the Santa Monica Mountains has fantastic views of the Hollywood Sign to the Downtown skyline all the way to the ocean and Catalina Island—and it’s right above the Hollywood Bowl. It’s also, as the only skyline-facing overlook on Mulholland Drive, often jam-packed with tour vans. Get there as early as possible—the parking lot is tiny, and while there is street parking, the park is in a particularly curvy spot on Mulholland, and cars whiz by at all hours. (Note: It’s also technically not open in the evening.)

Time Out tip: If you’re after more scenic views, you can keep following Mulholland to find about a half-dozen other overlooks that face the Valley side of the city, including the Universal City Overlook, with its view of the theme park’s giant Minion.

See the Hollywood Sign on a helicopter tour.

It may have “Hollywood” in its name, but this theme park and functioning studio is just over the other side of the hill. The theme here is the movies, and Universal has woven classic cinema and modern blockbusters into its theming and attractions. The main draw here has long been the studio tour—that is, until the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and Super Nintendo World arrived. Just outside the gates, you’ll find shopping and dining destination CityWalk, whose tenants include L.A.’s first-ever Hello Kitty cafe and an AMC theater with a massive, seven-story IMAX screen.

Time Out tip: If you’re only interested in a backlot tour and not thrill rides, consider saving a few dollars and head over the hill to the Warner Bros. backlot. Both are worth a visit.

There are easier ways to meet your favorite stars than buying a star map stalking their homes or trying to sneak your way into the VIP areas at expensive clubs. Simply head to Madame Tussauds Hollywood and hang out with the facsimiles of Brad Pitt, Harry Styles, Ariana Grande, Lady Gaga and Marilyn Monroe. And the best bit? They’ll stand still for all your snaps. Nobody back home will ever know…

Time Out tip: Madame Tussauds opened a rooftop restaurant and bar last year, where you can get the wax museum experience—sipping cocktails next to the likes of Scarlett Johansson, Zendaya, James Dean and Leonardo DiCaprio—without paying for a ticket.