The ESSENTIAL HOLLYWOOD SIGHTS (LOS ANGELES #2)

On the second day in LA, I decided to travel a little further from DTLA to West Hollywood, to visit some of the sights in the area!

⛩️ Little Tokyo

When in Little Tokyo, visit the Japanese Village Plaza, where you can visit Japanese supermarkets selling Japanese goods and snacks. Should you be craving Japanese cuisine, there are authentic restaurants selling good Japanese food here!

I ate at Shin Sen Gumi Hakata Ramen, an affordable and customisable ramen shop with ramen that’s pretty legit, and much better than the other whitewashed versions that I’ve had outside of Asian enclaves.

🧑‍🎨 Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Lacma)

A museum dedicated to modern and classical art, this large museum is located away from the downtown area but don’t skip it! Especially if you’ll be in town on the second Tuesday of each month - Admission is free then!

Combine your visit with the La Brea Tar Pits next door, where you can see how prehistoric creatures that roamed the Americas were petrified in the Tar pits, leaving well-preserved fossils for scientific studies!

🧑‍🌾 The Original Farmer’s Market

A little further from Lacma is this large historic market with a range of shops, restaurants, and grocers selling food, vegetables, and more! This open-air market has food for every tastebud, from seafood to vegan dishes, Chinese to Mediterranean cuisine, as well as other knick knacks as well. Combine your visit here to the shopping mall just nearby.

👨‍🎤Hollywood Walk of Fame

A tourist must-do and debatably also a tourist trap, the Hollywood Walk of Fame along Hollywood Boulevard is a historic landmark with more than 2,700 stars on the sidewalk. Take photos with your favorite celebrities’ stars, or marvel at how a world-famous landmark can also be so tacky, dirty, and unmaintained and left to rot in the piss of the homeless, chewing gum stains, and trash. Don’t waste time in Hollywood, instead walk around the area to see the famous landmark buildings, like the cylindrical Capitol Records Building, TCL Chinese Theatre, and more!

🔭 Griffith Observatory

Perched on the hills just north of Los Angeles, is the Griffith Observatory on the south slope of Mount Hollywood. This is also the best place to take photos with the Hollywood sign, as well as a bird’s eye view of the city below.

There are free public telescope viewings available each evening when the skies are clear and the building is open! Visit the Samuel Oschin Planetarium as well, to learn more about astronomy, the stars, and the planets, and see live planetarium shows as well (paid)!

🚶‍♂️Hike to the Hollywood Sign

If the southern Californian heat doesn't deter you, go for a hike up to the Hollywood sign! There are many trails of varying difficulties, so decide how tired you want to be! Stay to see the sunset over the city, but be prepared to climb down in the dark! A mistake that I made - I forgot to account for the setting sun and I nearly got lost in the darkness on my way down after the sunset!

If you enjoyed this guide, check out the rest of the series and my other posts for travel inspo!

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