The hike to the Hollywood sign is a must do for everyone who visits LA if you are able to walk that is. It’s great, yes you have to walk but it could be worse it isn’t that long and the views along the way are so worth it and you get a really good tan and sweat out the alcohol from the night before. It took us 2.5 hours up but that’s because we did all the little trails first to ensure we didn’t miss anything or a better view point. At one point we was walking and the sign read ‘Ollywoo’ due to our positioning on the trail. We were literally questioning ourselves as to had we not read the sign correctly before and were all our photos from the beginning with Ollywoo in the background rather than Hollywood.

You start from the Griffith Observatory which has a car park if you don’t want to do the hike and just admire the view. You can also find people selling hike tours which doesn’t make any sense to me, but they must get some customers else they wouldn’t try again right? There are signs stating beware of the rattle snakes and then from there you take the footpath trail. You choose a trail and follow it – simple. Although we did take some wrong turns but once you’re on the main drag its really easy and there are lots of tourists. You need sun cream, good walking shoes of course and drinking water. At the top near the sign you have to wait to get the money shot but that’s expected. The walk isn’t strenuous there is only a slight uphill section so its suitable for the whole family.

As you start the hike you can see for miles over Los Angeles (the city of Angels) if it’s a clear day. If not you can still have an awesome view but it will look smoky on the horizon from the cloud, you are literally above the cloud when you start hiking. There are no toilets when you start the hike – which should be obvious as you’re going up a mountain. Mount Lee. We hiked to the top within 2.5 hours but we had a few stops to take photos and have a drink and take in the views.

The way down is easier as you’re going downhill but we took a wrong turn and ended up in the middle of a pedestrian area an hour away from the Griffith Observatory not too sure how we did it, but thank god we didn’t have a car up there in the car park as I wouldn’t have wanted to walk back.

This is a great experience and one of the highlights of my trip, and it’s totally free.