3 Places to Visit in Los Angeles

If you are planning to travel to Los Angeles, here are some of the attractions you can visit within a day. In the morning, you can hike at Point Dume in Malibu or relax at the beach, in the afternoon, you can go to the Griffith Observatory and see the Hollywood sign, and at night, hang out at the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Point Dume (Malibu)

If you like hiking and experiencing beautiful views, you should visit Point Dume in Malibu. It is a 40-minute drive from Encino and there are two ways to get there: through the beach road (CA-1) or the mountains road (US-101). Both roads have stunning views, but I prefer the mountains. Once you arrive there, you will see a parking lot that costs $8 per day and restrooms nearby. You can hike for 15-20 minutes and get to see the most beautiful view of the beach from the top of Point Dume. You can also continue walking the trail and look out for sea lions and dolphins when contemplating the ocean. Whenever you feel like done walking, just get down to the beach and swim a little and do whatever you would like for a more fun experience! 

Griffith Observatory / Hollywood Sign

Website: https://griffithobservatory.org/

The observatory is located on the slope of Mount Hollywood in Griffith Park. If you would like to see the Hollywood Sign, this is one of the best places to get a shot, which also has free admission. As of October 2022, they required proof of vaccination to enter the observatory, and a photo of the vaccination card was accepted. Parking seemed to be the biggest problem when going there because we couldn’t find anything near the observatory. Since it is way uphill, the parking nearby was completely full, so we drove around and only found a parking area where we had to walk over a mile on a trail to the observatory. Going back to the car was the biggest issue, it was completely dark to go back on the trail, so we had to walk on the road (over 2 miles) which was dangerous. We used our watch flashlight, so cars could see us whenever passing by. Besides parking, the rest of the experience was great. We had fun walking on the trail, and on the way, we saw the Hollywood sign and took a few pictures. The best shot of the Hollywood sign is once we are exactly at the top, in the front area of the observatory. There were a lot of people, but it was still easy to find a good spot to take pictures. Once we got to the observatory, we walked around and got to see some exhibits. They also have events, and even though we didn’t attend, you can plan by checking their website.

Hollywood Walk of Fame

This was my second time at Hollywood Blvd, and my first time at night, which was super fun. All the buildings were lit up and everything looked nice, it was actually the night before Halloween, so I saw a lot of people dressed up in cool costumes and having fun. Some of the places to check out include the Chinese Theater, Hollywood Wax Museum (https://www.hollywoodwaxmuseum.com/), Michael Jackson star (and other celebrities), The Hollywood Experience store (they have the coolest gifts) and try some of the restaurants. I always recommend purchasing tickets to museums/events on the website in advance for discounted prices.

In my experience, it is possible to visit all three in a day, however, if you have a long vacation, I recommend taking the time to visit each attraction for as long as you would like. In addition to that, please make sure to explore the websites and purchase tickets and book anything ahead of time to have a more relaxing trip. Have fun!