All the most important celebrities of the entertainment world, both American and international, have been honored with a commemorative plaque on Hollywood Boulevard. Over the years, the Walk of Fame has expanded so much that it is now over a mile long on both sides of the road.
It is estimated that ten million visitors a year walk along the Walk of Fame to photograph the star with their favorite celebrity’s name on it. This place definitely deserves to be included among the best places to visit in Los Angeles, also because Hollywood Boulevard is home to many special attractions that we will discover together in this article.
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Location and Directions
A short section of the Walk of Fame is on Vine Street and the rest continues for almost two miles on both sides of Hollywood Boulevard from Gower Street to La Brea Avenue, where you will find the Four Ladies of Hollywood monument.
Reaching Hollywood Boulevard by Public Transportation
The two closest metro stops are Hollywood/Vine (near the east end of the Walk of Fame) and Hollywood/Highland (stop below Hollywood & Highland). Both stops are on the Red Line.
How to Get There by Car
If it is inconvenient for you to use the metro, the alternative is to try to get as close as possible to Hollywood Boulevard by car, look for a parking space nearby, and enjoy a walk among the stars.
For this reason, I want to point out the main parking lots based on convenience and size that can be found in the area. The map below shows you about ten parking lots along Hollywood Boulevard, but if you want to have even more choices, follow this link, which shows you a map with over 2,000 parking spaces available in the area.
What Is the Best Way to Visit the Walk of Fame?
If you prefer to visit the Walk of Fame and Hollywood Boulevard on your own, all you have to do is follow the directions on how to get there and enjoy the experience. Once you’re there, if you want to learn more, you can take a guided walking tour that will show you the history of Hollywood Boulevard.
Find out all the information about the tour
If you are looking for a different option to reach the Walk of Fame than the ways mentioned so far, why not consider a Hop on-Hop off bus tour? This solution will allow you to freely organize your time according to your needs. One of the bus stops is located right near the TCL Chinese Theatre.
More information about the Hop-On Hop-Off bus
Things to Do on Hollywood Boulevard
As you walk on Hollywood Boulevard, you will meet many people wearing elaborate costumes that resemble famous movie stars who will try to convince you to take a souvenir photo with them for a fee (someone will also try to get you to book some tours of the villas of celebrities). You will also be surrounded by souvenir shops, which are tourist traps that try to make the most of the area’s fame. For many people, this “flying circus” can be irritating. My advice is to try to look at the charming side of all this, and to concentrate on what is interesting to see.
If you want to see the homes of movie stars, I suggest that you go on tours organized by more reliable agencies. Here are a couple of tours:
- Tour of the houses of movie stars (duration: 2 hours)
- Tour of the city of Los Angeles and the homes of Hollywood stars (duration: 3 hours)
Here are the best attractions in the area.
TCL Chinese Theatre
It is one of the historical cinemas in Los Angeles. When it opened in 1927, “The King of Kings” was the first movie screened here. Outside the cinema, you can see almost 200 concrete blocks where handprints, footprints, and celebrity signatures are immortalized. You can take tours of this historic cinema or perhaps you can watch the latest movie to hit the box office.
About the VIP Tour at the TCL Chinese Theatre
Dolby Theatre
Once called the Kodak Theatre, the Dolby Theatre is the building where the Oscars ceremony is held each year. Also in this case, you can take a tour and learn about the history of both cinema and the Oscars. If visiting the Dolby Theatre is something that interests you, keep in mind that the Dolby Theatre Tour is included in the Go Los Angeles Card.
Hollywood & Highland
This huge shopping mall built on several floors is one of the best viewpoints to admire the Hollywood Sign, the big sign on the surrounding hills (we talked about the other viewpoints in the article on the Hollywood Sign). If you are also planning to shop or eat in the mall, you can leave your car in their parking lot, because if you get your ticket validated in one of the shops, it will only cost you $2 for two-hour parking. Be careful not to overdo it, because after two hours, the cost of parking increases significantly ($1 every 15 minutes for a maximum of $15 per day).
CityPASS Los Angeles
In addition to the attractions along Hollywood Boulevard, the City of Angels has much more to offer. You can learn more about what this city has to offer in our article about the things to do in Los Angeles. If your itinerary includes, for example, a visit to Disneyland or the legendary Universal Studios in Hollywood, then you may want to consider buying a pass that will give you a discount on total cost of admission. By clicking on the link below, you can read our article that can help you to choose the pass that best suits your needs.
Los Angeles Pass: Which one should I choose?
A Short History and Some Fun Facts about the Walk of Fame
The Walk of Fame came to be thanks to an initiative of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, which had the idea of establishing a place to give special recognition to Hollywood stars during the early 1950s. However, the first commemorative plaques were built in 1958.
How many stars are on the Hollywood Walk of Fame?
At the moment, more than 2,600 stars have been installed on the sidewalk.
Who is on the Hollywood Walk of Fame?
If you want to know where to find the star dedicated to your favorite celebrity, or if you want to know what the next plaques to be built will be, you can consult Star Search. In each star, next to the name of the famous person, there is always a symbol that represents one of the five categories into which the “stars” are divided: cinema, television, music, theatre, and radio. There are some exceptions that do not fall into these categories, such as the Disneyland attraction that has the shape of a building as its symbol, and the one dedicated to the Los Angeles Police Department that has the distinctive badge of the local police force. Neil Armstrong and his fellow astronauts, instead of a star, have a commemorative plaque in the shape of the moon to honor their feat.
An award on the Walk of Fame is not a privilege of celebrities alone. Over time, the Walk of Fame on Hollywood Boulevard has also included fictional characters who have entered the collective imagination, such as The Simpsons, and Disney and Sesame Street characters.
There is only one star that has been installed on a wall rather than on the sidewalk. On the wall of the Dolby Theatre, you will see the star that commemorates Muhammad Ali, who thought it was offensive that his name would be trampled on by those who had no respect for him.
Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump are the only two presidents of the United States to have a star dedicated to them on the Walk of Fame. The former got it thanks to his work as a Hollywood actor before embarking on his political career while the latter received it for his role as a television personality.
How Do You Get a Star?
The procedure requires a formal request to be submitted to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. So in theory, anyone can request to have a star on the Walk of Fame, however, only the names of those who have had monumental accomplishments will be taken into consideration. In addition to this first bureaucratic step, you must also be able to pay a sort of fee of about $30,000 that will be used for the construction of the star, for its maintenance over the years, and for the organization of the opening ceremony. Before arriving at the final commission, the artist’s application and resume are evaluated by a small circle of Hollywood celebrities.
The fact that a formal request must be made as a first step also explains why there are still big names in American entertainment who do not have their own star, since they are not interested in recognition. These are some examples of the celebrities that are missing (at the moment we are writing the article): Woody Allen, Clint Eastwood, Dustin Hoffman, George Lucas, Al Pacino, and Robert De Niro.
Where to Stay in the Area
If you do not want to miss the opportunity to stay overnight at walking distance from the stars of the Walk of Fame, take a look at the best hotels in the area by clicking the link below. Prices are high (as they are in many parts of Los Angeles), but on the other hand, you will stay in Hollywood, which has the advantage of being close to the Universal Studios (just over 10 minutes by car) and the famous Beverly Hills area.
Another important detail to take into consideration is the proximity to the aforementioned Red Line. Therefore, if you want to leave your car at the hotel for a day, you can easily take the metro all the way to downtown and to Universal Studios (which will allow you, among other things, to avoid paying for parking at Universal Studios, which is around $20).
Search for hotels on the Walk of Fame
If you want more information about accommodations in the City of Angels, check out our article on where to stay in Los Angeles.
