Los Angeles keeps its famous sights in plain view: set into the sidewalk, standing on a hillside, lit up on a theatre marquee. Many of these 12 picks are things to walk past and take in, and the rest are rooms where you need a ticket and a reason to sit down. The list starts with the oldest, the Hollywood Bowl, which dates from 1922, and the Hollywood Sign followed in 1923. The newest is the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, from 2002, and in between come a cemetery, a film studio, an opera house and a skyscraper. These are not obscure finds. They are the famous names, chosen with judgement and approached the way a local would: going to a show rather than just photographing the building, reading the quieter stars on the sidewalk, and seeing the sign from a distance. If this is your first time in the city and you want the landmarks without the tour-bus version of them, start here.
-
1 Hollywood Walk of Fame
North La Brea Avenue, Los Angeles, CAMore than 2,700 terrazzo and brass stars set into the sidewalk
The Hollywood Walk of Fame runs to more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars, set into the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street. The project dates from 1958 and carries the designation of a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument. Skip the crush around the few famous names everyone photographs. The real pleasure is walking a block or two further and reading the stars of people you half remember. Start at the North La Brea Avenue end, keep your eyes down and take it slowly, and look at the official website before you go.
Dates from 1958 · Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument
-
2 Dolby Theatre
6801 Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90028A live entertainment theatre on Hollywood Boulevard
At 6801 Hollywood Boulevard, in the 90028 postal code, the Dolby Theatre has staged live entertainment since 2001. The frontage-and-selfie stop that most visitors settle for is worth skipping. A theatre with its lights off is half a building, and the reason to come is a ticket to whatever is on inside. Check the calendar on the theatre's own website before your trip and plan the evening around a show. It is a young building by the standards of this list, and what it offers is the night out, not nostalgia. Come for the performance and let the boulevard outside be the walk home.
Dates from 2001
-
3 Hollywood Sign
Mount Lee Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90068The sign reading "HOLLYWOOD", a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument
Since 1923, the Hollywood Sign has spelled out "HOLLYWOOD" from Mount Lee Drive in the 90068 postal code, and its whole point is that the city can see it from a distance. A Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument, it is best treated as something to look at rather than somewhere to reach. Skip the paid shuttles that promise a closer look. If you do plan a route up toward 90068, read the guidance on the official website first, then pick a clear morning, find a vantage point you like, and let the letters do the work.
Dates from 1923 · Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument
-
4 Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood BoulevardThe street itself, a working Hollywood thoroughfare dated to 1939
Walk any stretch of Hollywood Boulevard and the street makes a case for itself, apart from any single landmark on it. It is a street in Hollywood, Los Angeles, and its record goes back to 1939. Avoid the costumed photo hustles and the sidewalk ticket pitches. The locals know the boulevard is best read at walking pace, for its signage, its storefronts and its rhythm, early in the day before the crowds settle in. Treat it as the connective tissue of a Hollywood morning rather than a destination, and a street on the record since 1939 will reward a slow walk far more than a drive-by.
Dates from 1939
-
5 Forest Lawn Memorial Park
1712 S. Glendale Avenue, Glendale, Los Angeles County, California, USAA Glendale cemetery dating from 1906
Forest Lawn Memorial Park, at 1712 S. Glendale Avenue, has been a cemetery in Glendale since 1906. Skip the celebrity-grave hunt that brings so many visitors. The quieter reward is the stillness of a place built for mourning, not sightseeing, and that makes it a welcome break from the noise of the Hollywood stops. Dress and behave as you would at any burial ground, because that is what this is first, and before you go, check visiting arrangements on the official website. Come with time to spare and no checklist. A cemetery dating from 1906 is not something to rush.
Dates from 1906
-
6 Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels
555 West Temple Street, Los AngelesA Catholic cathedral of its own century, dating from 2002
The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels at 555 West Temple Street is a Catholic cathedral in Los Angeles dating from 2002. No old-world gilt, no borrowed Gothic past: this is a cathedral built in its own century, and the reason to come is to sit inside it for a quiet quarter of an hour, away from the noise of the city. It is still a working church, so check service times on the official website and plan your visit around them, not through them. Arrive without a guidebook script and let the space set the pace.
Dates from 2002
-
7 Peacock Theater
777 Chick Hearn Court, Los Angeles, CA 90015Music and theatre at L.A. Live in downtown Los Angeles
The Peacock Theater at 777 Chick Hearn Court, 90015 is a music and theatre venue at L.A. Live in downtown Los Angeles, and it earns its place here on the strength of whoever is on the bill, not the building itself. Skip the overpriced pre-show drinks at whatever is closest to the door. Eat properly beforehand, arrive close to start time, and save your evening for the stage. Check the current lineup on the official website and book for the act you'd cross town to see. Downtown at night does the rest.
-
8 Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
135 North Grand Avenue, 90012LA Opera performances in the Los Angeles Music Center's opera house
The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, home to LA Opera, stands at 135 North Grand Avenue, 90012 and has been part of the Los Angeles Music Center since 1964. Don't just admire it from the plaza. An opera house is built to be heard, and the visit counts for nothing if you leave without buying a ticket and sitting through a performance. If opera is new to you, choose a well-known work, read the synopsis over dinner, and give it the full evening. The Music Center's website lists what is on.
Dates from 1964
-
9 Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall
665 W. Jefferson Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90007Large-scale events in a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument dating from 1925
The Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall at 665 W. Jefferson Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90007 was built for large events and has never been anything else. Dating from 1925 and recognised as a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument, the building carries real weight, but it rewards you from the inside, not the pavement. Without a ticket, you are looking at a locked door. Check the event calendar on the official website, find a night that appeals to you on its own merits, and let the room justify the address.
Dates from 1925 · Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument
-
10 Walt Disney Studios
500 South Buena Vista StreetThe Disney film studio in Burbank, dating from 1940
What you find at 500 South Buena Vista Street is the Walt Disney Studios, a film studio in Burbank with a record dating from 1940, not a theme park. If rides and costumed characters are what you want, this is the wrong stop. The appeal is quieter: standing on Buena Vista Street knowing what is made behind the gates. Check the studio's official website for anything open to the public before you plan around it, and come as a film fan rather than a thrill-seeker.
Dates from 1940
-
11 Aon Center
707 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA, United StatesA Los Angeles skyscraper dating from 1973
Stand at 707 Wilshire Boulevard and the Aon Center fills the view. It is a skyscraper in Los Angeles dating from 1973, and it belongs on this list because the city's skyline is as much a sight as any monument. We wouldn't cross town to walk around the lobby. The better plan is to arrive at dusk, stay on the street, and let the height do its work against a darkening sky. Pair it with a walk along Wilshire, treat it as the vertical counterweight to a day of Hollywood sidewalks, and the tower dating from 1973 still sets the scale.
Dates from 1973
-
12 Hollywood Bowl
Performances in an open-air theatre dating from 1922
Applause has rolled across the Hollywood Bowl, an open-air theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, every season since 1922, which makes it the oldest pick on this list and the one most worth building an evening around. We'd skip the daytime visit: an outdoor theatre without an audience is just seats and sky. Come on a performance night, bring a jacket for when the evening cools, and give yourself time to settle in before the first note. Check the season's program on the official website and book early for the shows you care about most.
Dates from 1922
Last verified by automated review (v1.7.2_fame1017d-1015-2012-20261017040924) on . What is automated review?