I’ve been fortunate enough to go to California for two weeks with my boyfriend and his family, first stop on our trip around the golden state was Hollywood. I really wasn’t sure what to expect but safe to say I loved every second of our stay at the home of cinema.
We flew into LAX at around 6pm local time and headed straight for the Loews Hotel, right around the corner from the Dolby Theatre: home of the Oscars! After falling straight into bed that evening we got up the next day ready for our whistle-stop tour of Hollywood.
We had a private tour booked where a tour guide took us in a car round Hollywood, Beverly Hills and of course pointing out celebrity homes along the way! Some of our favourite celebrity palaces we tried to peek at belong to Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio, Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher, and the home of the late Avicci. My favourite part of the tour was a trip up as close as we could legally get to the Hollywood Sign, so iconic.
After lunch and a cheeky trip to Sephora for some sheet masks (aka: essentials) we had a tour round the Dolby Theatre and got told the story of Oscars night. Along our tour we found out that each Oscar is made from a copper core and twice dipped in 24K gold… they really are as heavy as they look!
Our second and final full day in Hollywood was spent on a VIP Experience at Universal City Hollywood. In the morning we had a tour around the sound stages and the backlots, some of which were active filming locations! This was definitely my favourite thing we’ve done so far as we were able to get out of the cars and walk on the sets. We saw the set for War of the Worlds with Tom Cruise, the City Hall Square from Back to the Future, their very own New York Street, parts of which have featured in shows like Brooklyn 99 and How I Met Your Mother, and finally my personal favourite we saw the outdoor set for The Good Place (I may or may not have had a minor fangirl moment when the guide said she’d seen D’arcy Carden) (I definitely did).
The afternoon was spent with VIP tour guide Jeff taking us round the theme park taking us on almost all the rides, my favourites were Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey and Revenge of the Mummy. Another highlight of the day was when I got pulled out in Olivanders to take part in the wand choosing ceremony, my wand was made of ivy. The Holly(ie) and the Ivy..? I liked the coincidence anyway!
All in all a very successful and memorable trip to Hollywood, I think you’ll agree! If you liked this post please like, share and subscribe to see more and follow me on Instagram to see some more photos from my trip.
Hollie x
