If you haven’t heard of or haven’t visited Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, you are definitely missing out. It’s this stunning building perched in the hills of the beautiful Griffith Park just on the edge of Hollywood. It’s the kind of place that offers something for almost everyone. You can take a stroll or hike through Griffith Park, drool over the art deco architecture and copper domes, get some great snaps of yourself in front of the Hollywood sign, or enjoy the exhibits and telescopes inside.
I had the pleasure of visiting the observatory and park last week, taking in some seriously cool views and architecture then enjoying a pretty sweet walk down the hill back to our hotel.
The first thing that caught me about this place, though, is the luxuriousness of the observatory itself. As you arrive, after winding your way up the hills, your eyes are drawn directly to the shining beauty of the Griffith Observatory. For someone like me, who loves looking at and photographing architecture, I was in awe of the creamy white walls and copper domes. Seriously, I think I fell a little bit in love with it.
The second thing that caught my attention and stole my breath away was the view. It is insane! You can pretty much see all of Los Angeles, even the plume of smoke that is a permanent part of the landscape. Right along the front and from the rooftop there is vewing space, so even if the observatory is busy you can find some space for yourself.
After a bit of exploration and rooftop photography, the visitors at the observatory increased and we were inundated by school children. It must’ve been about half an hour before the observatory actually opened and busload after busload rolled up packed to the roof with students of all ages.
If you decide to go check it out sometime, I’d definitely take this kind of thing into consideration – maybe even look into going in the evening, something I really wish we’d been able to do. I can just imagine how stunning a sunset over the city and seeing the lights of LA would be.
It wasn’t long before we headed out on our walk back down to our hotel in order to try and escape all of the kiddies. We thought we’d be able to get away from school children on our USA trip, but apparently not! We were even followed by a group down the path!
Seriously though, it was a really easy and enjoyable walk. All down hill and just the right temperature. I would probably die if I did this in the middle of summer though, another thing you’d want to consider when visiting.
Anyway, once we finished the trail, we still had a bit of a walk through the residential area that leads into Hollywood. I loved walking through this, not only because I love the architecture (there are some beautiful homes through here) but because there are some very large and overgrown plants/trees that we came across… like this cactus.
It’s a great walk for someone that wants to see a slightly less touristy scene, but still feel very safe.
By far, this was the highlight of my trip to Los Angeles. Way to go Griffith Observatory!
A Bookish Apprenticeship 