Griffith Observatory Private Tour With Driver: How to Get to Griffith Observatory by Car, and Where the Car Waits

How do you get to Griffith Observatory by car?

Griffith Observatory sits on the south face of Mount Hollywood in Griffith Park, looking over the basin toward downtown and the Pacific. It opened in 1935, admission is free, and the view makes it one of the most photographed places in Los Angeles. It is also a place where a car is a nuisance. There is one way up, a limited lot, and a long list of rules about what vehicles may do when they get there.

If you want a Griffith Observatory private tour with driver, the arrangement works best when you understand those rules first. The rules below come from the City of Los Angeles pages for the Observatory, which are linked in this guide so you can check the current version. Rules change, and the Observatory warns that the road is closed when traffic builds.

Price & book your ride

One road up: how West Observatory Road works

West Observatory Road is the only route to the building. East Observatory Road is one way downhill, so you cannot approach from that side. The approach from Los Feliz is the one most chauffeurs use; Hillhurst Avenue leads to Vermont Canyon Road and the Greek Theatre, and Observatory Road climbs from there.

On West Observatory Road, the City distinguishes two lanes. The right lane is for street parking, buses, shared rides, taxis and through traffic. The left lane leads to the public lot, and the right lane has no access to it. A driver who takes the wrong lane at the gate cannot simply turn around.

Griffith Park's inbound gates close at 10:00 pm each night. Whoever drives you must enter before then, and so must anyone coming to collect you. The Observatory building itself is open until 10 pm on its open days, and evening is when the road is most likely to be restricted.

Distances from the usual starting points:

• Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue. About 7 km (4.5 mi), 15 to 25 minutes off-peak.
• Downtown Los Angeles. About 11 km (7 mi), 20 to 40 minutes.
• Burbank Airport (BUR). About 13 km (8 mi), 20 to 35 minutes.
• Los Angeles International (LAX). About 38 km (24 mi), 45 to 90 minutes depending on the hour. See our LAX airport transfer page.

The chauffeur's constraint: drop, don't wait

The most important rule for anyone arriving in a hired car is the one most visitors miss. The Observatory states that taxis, rideshare vehicles and shuttles may never park at the Observatory, and that tour buses may only drop off and must leave. Pickup and drop-off for cars is in a marked zone just past the horseshoe driveway in front of the lawn, and vehicles may not park or wait there.

That means a chauffeur cannot sit outside the building while you tour. The practical plan has three steps.

1. Drop-off. The driver stops in the marked zone, you step out, and the car moves on immediately.
2. Waiting. The driver parks away from the Observatory, usually in the free area around the Greek Theatre, which is a short drive down the hill.
3. Pickup. When you are ready, you text the driver and he or she returns to the same marked zone. On a busy evening, allow 10 to 20 minutes because of traffic on the hill.

Tell the desk at booking that this is a Griffith Observatory stop, so the driver is briefed on the zone and the plan, and so you know to message before you are standing on the curb.

Parking, the Greek Theatre lot and the DASH shuttle

If you drive yourself, or want to understand your options, the City's rules are as follows.

• Paid parking applies to the Observatory lot and to parallel parking on West Observatory Road and Western Canyon Road. It is enforced Monday to Friday from noon to 10:00 pm, and Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 am to 10:00 pm. Pay stations accept credit cards only, there is no time limit, and the receipt goes on the dashboard.
• Free parking is available around the Greek Theatre. The City says visitors who can walk uphill up to a mile can park there and walk to the Observatory. On Greek Theatre concert evenings the free parking is unavailable after 1:00 pm, and the theatre season generally runs from April to October.
• The DASH Observatory/Los Feliz shuttle runs from the Vermont and Sunset Metro station to the Observatory, daily from 10:00 am to 10:00 pm, about every 20 to 25 minutes, including on days the building is closed. Fares listed by the City are 50 cents (35 cents with a TAP card). It also stops at the Greek Theatre, Mount Hollywood Drive and Hillhurst Avenue in Los Feliz.
• Accessible parking is in the south part of the Observatory lot, for official plates or placards, first come, first served.

Parking at the Observatory is limited, and evenings, weekends, summer, spring break and holidays are the busiest times. For a visit on a busy evening, arriving by DASH or being dropped off by a chauffeur is faster than hunting for a space.

Hours, admission and planetarium shows

The City lists the Observatory as open Tuesday to Friday from noon to 10:00 pm and Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 am to 10:00 pm. It is closed on Mondays. Admission to the building and grounds is free. Live shows run daily in the Samuel Oschin Planetarium; they have their own schedule and are ticketed separately, so check the official plan your visit page before you travel. Public star parties and special screenings appear on the same calendar, and some sell out.

Inside, the galleries cover the sky, the Earth and the history of astronomy. Plan one hour for the exhibits and the terrace, and add the planetarium show if you want it. A realistic visit is 90 minutes to two hours, more if you walk the hillside paths.

Sunset, the Hollywood Sign and what to see after dark

In mid-October the sunset is around 6:20 pm, according to the Observatory's own page, which is the best time to be on the terrace. Arrive about 90 minutes earlier on a weekend if you drive, or at least an hour before if you are dropped off. The light changes quickly: the downtown towers glow, the Hollywood Sign sits on the ridge to the west, and the city lights come on over the next hour.

The Observatory is also a film location. Rebel Without a Cause was shot here in 1955, and a bust of James Dean stands on the grounds. The terrace and lawn appear in the musical La La Land. The view of the Hollywood Sign is one of the best for a visitor without a hike, and it is why this stop pairs well with the Hollywood Walk of Fame, about 7 km (4.5 mi) away.

How to reach the Observatory, compared

If you are on your own and the weather is clear, the shuttle is the best-value choice. A chauffeur is the sensible one when you are traveling as a group, when you would rather not wait in the dark for a ride at 10 pm, or when the Observatory is one stop in a larger day.

Concert nights, hikers and other traffic on the hill

The Observatory shares its approach road with the Greek Theatre, whose season generally runs from April to October. On concert evenings the free parking around the theatre is unavailable after 1:00 pm, the DASH still runs but may be delayed by traffic, and the road to the Observatory slows noticeably in the late afternoon. If your visit falls on a concert night, ask the desk to plan an earlier arrival, and expect the pickup to take longer than on a quiet Tuesday.

Griffith Park is also the starting point for many of the city's best-known walks. The Mount Hollywood trailheads are near the Greek Theatre and the Fern Dell entrance, and the Observatory itself has bike racks and paved connections for cyclists, who must use paved park roads and not the fire roads. A walk of a few hundred meters along the ridge from the Observatory terrace gives a different angle on the Hollywood Sign without needing a car at all. The park's roads are shared with hikers, so a chauffeur drives slowly and keeps to the posted limits.

Two ways to build the day

A sunset visit. Start with an early afternoon stop on Hollywood Boulevard, move to the hill about 90 minutes before sunset, and book the pickup for 8 pm. Dinner in Los Feliz or Hollywood follows. This plan avoids the busiest parking window and puts you on the terrace at the best time.

A daytime tour of the hills and studios. Open with the Observatory when it opens on a Saturday or Sunday at 10 am, move to Universal Studios Hollywood about 10 km (6 mi) and 20 to 35 minutes away for the afternoon, and return via Hollywood. For something calmer, the Observatory also fits before the Getty Center, about 20 km (12 mi) west across the Santa Monica Mountains (30 to 55 minutes). The Getty is closed on Mondays, as is the Observatory, so choose a Tuesday to Sunday.

Longer plans start from the private tours with driver page; the Los Angeles limo service page, the attractions hub and the North America directory fill in the rest. The desk can add a stop for lunch in Los Feliz or at one of the hilltop viewpoints.

Reserve your chauffeur

Accessibility and practical details

The drop-off zone is at the front of the building. Accessible parking is limited to placard holders, and the DASH buses have wheelchair lifts or ramps. If anyone in your group has limited mobility, tell the desk so the driver can use the nearest legal stopping point and wait out of sight below.

Food on the hill is limited, so eat before you go. The Observatory's own pages carry current rules for bags and photography. The Metro station used for the shuttle, Vermont and Sunset, has no parking, so it is a transit connection, not a park-and-ride. Use the Metro site for fares and maps, and for road and park conditions check the City's getting here page.