Los Angeles: 5 things to do if you're a visiting film buff

As the heart of the film industry, Los Angeles is any movie buff's dream. For every coffee you drink, there's an aspiring actor, writer or director serving it to you and every location is bound to be memorialised in film or television.

Travelling to La La Land? Here are our five recommendations for a cinematic experience. 

Live like Marilyn Monroe

The Hollywood Roosevelt first opened on Hollywood Boulevard in 1927 and was home of the first Academy Awards dinner in 1929.

Even more spectacular: for two years, before becoming a household name, Marilyn Monroe lived in room 229 in a poolside cabana that was later named after her and remains open to the public.

If you're into this kind of thing, they say the hotel is haunted by Monroe herself. The mirror that once hung in her suite was moved to the hotel manager's office after Monroe died in 1962. It's rumoured an employee was dusting the mirror when she saw "a sad blonde lady". These days, the mirror sits in the foyer near an elevator lobby and passers-by swear they sometimes see the same sad lady looking out at them. Spooky.

READ: What it's like to attend the Emmys, TV's biggest night

Tour Hollywood with Starline Tours

Why not delve further into the history of Monroe. Hop on a Starline Tours celebrity sighting tour that drives past Hollygroves, the old Los Angeles Orphans Home Society where she lived as a child. You might see the window she is rumoured to have looked out of, gazing at RKO Studio's water tower that had her dreaming of being a famous movie star.

She once said, "I used to think as I looked at the Hollywood night, 'There must be thousands of girls sitting alone like me, dreaming of being a movie star'. But I'm not going to worry about them. I'm dreaming the hardest."

These tours will show you the history of the film scene in Hollywood and greater Los Angeles, with hop-on hop-off buses, visits to the iconic Madame Tussauds and drives past Hollywood landmarks and celebrity homes.

Interestingly, they've just launched a 420 Celebrity Tour. So very Hollywood.

Visit Griffith Park Observatory 

Used in James Dean's Rebel Without a Cause and Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone's La La Land, the Griffith Park Observatory is almost as iconic as the Hollywood sign.

The observatory, built in 1935, sits on the south face of Mount Hollywood overlooking the Los Angeles basin and, with its spectacular planetarium, is your dream stargazing location.

Dine at Yamashiro 

Sitting above Hollywood Boulevard and surrounded by incredible Japanese gardens, Yamashiro boasts incredible food and even better city views. There's nowhere more majestic.

The Asian fusion restaurant sits in mansion that was completed in 1914. If you think you recognise Yamashiro, you may have seen it feature in films like Sayonara, Memoirs of a Geisha, Gone in 60 Seconds, Blind Date, Thousand Men and a Baby, Playing God or Teahouse of the August Moon.

Try the wagyu beef nigiri or shrimp tempura.

Visit Disneyland 

Look, technically this one requires leaving Los Angeles.

Let your inner kid out (if she isn't already) and head to Disneyland in Anaheim, California, just 35 minutes by car from LA, where you can check into the Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, and immediately wander into the park, home of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, Indiana Jones Adventure, Soarin' Around the World, World of Color and Space Mountain. Have a drink at Oga's Cantina. Galaxy's Edge opens its newest Rise of the Resistance ride on January 17.

If you're prepared to spend a little more, you can upgrade your trip with the VIP tour. At USD$600 (approx. $880) per hour with a minimum of seven hours you can have the premium Disneyland package. This is best suited for guests who want to maximise their time in the parks (no wait lines and your guide knows all the shortcuts) with groups of up to 10 people.

While in Anaheim, eat like a local at Urbana (taco heaven) and become a pilot for the day at Flightdeck Flight Simulation Center

This writer travelled to Los Angeles courtesy of Visit California.