Hollywood, California

Associated with wealth and glamour since Cecil B. De Mille filmed "The Square Man" here in 1913, Hollywood is to LA as the Eiffel Tower is to Paris. Much of the area has fallen into decline, and care should be taken when exploring. Still, some of the old movie magic lives on at Paramount Studios, where you can watch a sitcom being filmed. Every visitor wants to step in the footsteps of legends along the Walk of Fame (with its more than 2,000 bronze stars); to take in a movie at Mann's Chinese Theater; and to cruise Sunset and Hollywood Boulevards, with their landmarks recalling the Golden Age when the major film studios were based here. ...

Associated with wealth and glamour since Cecil B. De Mille filmed "The Square Man" here in 1913, Hollywood is to LA as the Eiffel Tower is to Paris. Much of the area has fallen into decline, and care should be taken when exploring. Still, some of the old movie magic lives on at Paramount Studios, where you can watch a sitcom being filmed. Every visitor wants to step in the footsteps of legends along the Walk of Fame (with its more than 2,000 bronze stars); to take in a movie at Mann's Chinese Theater; and to cruise Sunset and Hollywood Boulevards, with their landmarks recalling the Golden Age when the major film studios were based here. Hollywood even has a fistful of museums – from the Hollywood Heritage Museum to the Craft and Folk Art Museum. Auto buffs will thrill to the Petersen Automotive Museum, while the Los Angeles County Museum of Art is also acclaimed. Don't leave town without calling in at Frederick's of Hollywood, the legendary lingerie shop and museum with its own Hall of Fame. Today, Sunset boulevard is ground zero for sizzling nightlife in LA, be it the world-famous Comedy Store, cocktails with the stars at The Mondrian Hotel, or a live show at the Hollywood Bowl. And West Hollywood is a hive of gay life.

About the Expert

Christopher P. Baker has authored guidebooks to Costa Rica, California, and various Caribbean islands for Frommer's, Lonely Planet, and National Geographic, among others.