Unspecified/General

Stretching some twenty-two miles across the Los Angeles basin, Sunset Boulevard is one of the most storied streets in the world, a winding ribbon that runs from the edge of downtown all the way to the Pacific. Few roads carry as much cinematic baggage; its very name conjures Hollywood glamour, faded stars and the sprawling, sunlit geography of Southern California. The boulevard traces a remarkable cross-section of the city. Beginning near the old pueblo and the historic core, it passes through immigrant neighbourhoods and the heart of Hollywood, threads the legendary nightclub strip, curves through the wealthy enclaves of Beverly Hills and Bel Air, skirts the university district and finally descends through the canyons of the Palisades to meet the ocean at the coast highway. Its fame owes much to the movies and the music industry clustered along it. The road gave its name to a classic film about a faded silent-era actress, lent its image to countless songs and stories, and for decades its central section has been lined with recording studios, comedy clubs and the towering billboards that advertise the entertainment business to the city below. Because it changes character so completely from end to end, the boulevard functions less as a single destination than as a thread connecting many different Los Angeles worlds. For visitors Sunset Boulevard is best experienced as a drive, ideally with the top down, taking in the shift from gritty cityscape to glamorous hills to open coast. It is free to travel, threads past many of the city's landmarks, and rewards an unhurried journey that captures the scale and contradictions of Los Angeles in a single road. Landmarks crowd its length: grand old hotels, hillside mansions, music venues and the studios where records and films were made. The road has inspired writers, painters and songwriters who saw in it a mirror of the city's dreams and disappointments. Driving it from end to end takes the better part of an hour without stops, but the constantly shifting scenery, from neon-lit nightlife to open ocean horizon, makes it one of the great urban drives anywhere.

Type: Tourist Attraction

Address: Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA, United States