Griffith Observatory

Griffith Observatory is a landmark of Los Angeles and an overall jewel that we are incredibly privileged to have.

Beautiful drive in. Parking is limited and tougher on busy weekends. Pretty pricey. If able/desired, hiking up is both great exercise and its own fun experience. That said, if need to park close, then would try to show up pretty early.

One of the few free attractions of LA. Only cost would be if you need to park close and if you want to experience the planetarium show (definitely recommend it), otherwise entry to everything else is free!

Great place to bring food to have a picnic on the lawn and enjoy the sun outdoors. Cafeteria is available but not the best.

Take the family here next weekend!!

Very beautiful

Lots of trails and photo ops

Limited parking on the way up to the observatory- i would park on the bottom and walk up

The uphill incline is no joke though

Will definitely come back to explore again

It's hard to know whether to look up or down to see stars at LA's Griffith Observatory. Opened in 1935 this art deco masterpiece has played host to countless films and television programs including Terminator, Back to the Future, Lala Land and perhaps its most famous star turn in the iconic James Dean teen angst fest, Rebel Without a Cause.

Who can forget a howling Dean chewing scenery over the body of his murdered friend Plato (Sal Mineo) in front of this iconic planetarium or the spectre of Arnold doing his Terminator thing just for kicks as LA burned.

Currently, there are tours and programs which I would recommend, not to mention a commanding view of Los Angeles. Griffith Observatory is an icon worth your time and attention. Five easy stars.

Come here after a good rain in LA to see a clear skyline view from downtown all the way to the Hollywood sign.

Parking is $10 an hour. Restrooms are clean. It gets chilly at night so bring a sweatshirt. Nice place for a family outing.

Certainly one of the greatest views of Hollywood is from here. Griffith Observatory is an important part of history, as well as being the place to check out the sky. If you like to see the literal stars, and not the ones on the screen, this place is for you. Also it's free. There's not a better deal for anything else around here truthfully.

As you can tell by the name, this is located in Griffith Park, on the north side of Hollywood. It's actually located about a mile or so from the Hollywood Sign. There's hiking trails that go there. It opened in 1935 and is one of the main attractions of the park that surrounds it. The observatory was made free by its benefactor, Griffith J. Griffith, and remains so. It has the main floor, which includes a pendulum in the middle. The wings contain information about astrology and other stuff. On the roof is a big telescope powerful to see far into space and beyond. There's also views that you can see with your own eyes of the city, mountains, the Hollywood Sign, and lots of cool stuff.

Best thing about it is that it's free. It's also easy to get to by using the free bus that leaves from the Vermont station. There's lots of great views.

First time coming here! The Hollywood sign was much smaller than I expected!
But it's definitely a nice place to look out the city of LA and the Hollywood area!
They have observatory and got to see interesting stuff with gravity!

Holy s***. Get here early. NO JOKE. Get you're a$$ up EARLY if you want to visit here. You need to beat the school system, the traffic, the crazy drivers and of course the plethora of buses that unleash hundreds of horrid tourists with zero manners.

The place was crawling with degenerate tourists--people walking on the grass, spitting gum onto the building, drunkenly sliding up and down the "hiking" trails and taking up ALL THE SPACE inside. I swear, all I could think of is that we were all going to get COVID or the flu again with this many people shoved up against each other--I hated it. I spent little to no time inside due to the flood of people. Security has zero interest to limiting the patrons inside. If there was a fire or other sort of safety issue--people would get hurt for sure.

Bathroom was horrendous. Hold it. Don't even think about going here.
"Hiking" trails are also not HIKING trails. They are cleared walking trails. You won't sweat or see any wildlife--just people, everywhere.

Parking along side the road is $20.00 for every two hours.

Do not miss the opportunity to visit!! The historic observatory lived up to all my expectations- the views of Los Angeles and beyond as well as the Hollywood sign coupled with all the fascinating scientific stations inside make for a fascinating experience that I will never forget.

My friend booked us a two hour tour using highly rated Experience First and wow was our guide knowledgeable. We went around and in and he told us way more than we could have seen and learned on our own. The coolest was seeing the Tesla Coil- I won't spoil it for you but you'll want to see it.

The grab and go food was limited ($23 for a bottled soda, chicken wrap and bag of chips). I believe you can bring your own and stay outside to eat and enjoy the view.

** Signs are posted no beverages or food inside the building

We would have stayed longer to explore but if you're lucky enough to find parking in the paid lot up top it is $10 an hour so we decided three hours was plenty. Regarding traffic, it's heavy and you can expect long waits. If you're willing to walk there are places down the mountain to park or hike up, with an occasional shuttle bus. We took a chance and got lucky on a fairly busy Sunday afternoon.

I will definitely return for further investigation, the views and to go into the planetarium. The gift shop was cute, as well. So glad I finally got to see the icon!!!!!

Just wow! This was one of our favorite things we did while in LA. We were staying off of Hollywood Blvd and took a short Uber ride here.

I'll start with the inside. It is completely free aside from some small fees for certain shows/events. We just looked at the free exhibits and had a lot of fun and spent quite a bit of time exploring. There is a wealth of information about space and other related topics. Very interesting and fun. They have a gift shop and a cafe inside if you get hungry. We didn't eat while there, but I was happy to see you could grab a complimentary cup of water in the cafe which is always nice.

Now for the outside - the views are breathtaking. You can see views of the city, the ocean, the mountains, and the famous Hollywood sign. There are multiple trails you can walk including one that goes up to the Hollywood sign. We just did a short trail to see the beautiful views from different spots (the incline back up was no joke for this flatlander!). I would love to build my tolerance to inclines and return to explore more trails.

Overall, this is a fantastic spot to visit! I feel like I'd probably love going regularly if I lived there and will definitely return next time I'm in LA!

If It was not chilly evening, I wish I could stay few hours to see such beautiful night views. Totally breathtaking view.

I recommend to bring a tripod to take a night picture.

I saw lots of cars on the street parking and people walking along the street. It's not so bright. There is free DASH bus, Observatory/Los Feliz and very convenient to use from Metro station.