Where the Movies Found Their Home
Hollywood is a neighbourhood in Los Angeles, California, known worldwide as the home of the American film industry and a symbol of cinema glamour. Film-makers began to settle here in the 1910s, drawn by sunshine and varied landscape, and the studios that followed made it a global shorthand for the movies. The Hollywood Sign, first built in 1923 to advertise a housing development, now stands above the city as its most recognisable landmark, best photographed from Griffith Park.
Hollywood Boulevard is the heart of the visit. The Walk of Fame, begun in 1958, lines the pavement with stars for performers, directors and musicians, and the forecourt of the TCL Chinese cinema carries famous handprints and footprints. The Capitol Records Building, shaped like a stack of records, anchors a musical corner of the district, and the Hollywood Roosevelt hotel hosted the first Academy Awards in 1929. For a hotel group, this heritage is irresistible storytelling.
Studio Tours, Concerts and Canyon Views
Behind the glamour are working studios. Paramount Pictures, which sits within Hollywood, and nearby Warner Bros offer tours that reveal sound stages, back lots and the craft of filming. Evenings belong to the Hollywood Bowl, the open-air amphitheatre set in a natural canyon, where summer concerts and the Los Angeles Philharmonic play beneath the stars. Musso and Frank Grill, which opened in 1919, serves classic American dishes in a wood-panelled room that has welcomed generations of writers and actors.
The hills above add an outdoor dimension. Runyon Canyon and the trails of Griffith Park lead to views of the sign, the city and the Pacific, and the Griffith Observatory crowns the ridge. Sunset Boulevard, running through neighbouring West Hollywood, is famous for live music venues. Nearby, Los Angeles opens out into beaches and galleries, and a tourist board can present Hollywood as a gateway to the whole city.
Read the full Hollywood guide on Visit Travel Group, or see VisitHollywood.co.uk on Visit Travel Group.