To many, Hollywood Boulevard is nothing but a tourist trap trading on its glory days during the Golden Age of Cinema. But there are secrets here, for those who go looking, and sometimes the dustiest rooms – and grittiest streets – yield the most fascinating treasures.

The stories on this self-guided Hollywood walking tour will lead you back to the beginnings of this neighbourhood. We’ll seek out rock legends, the perfect martini, and the best place to enjoy it. There’s a museum with a strange connection to the guillotines of the French Revolution along the way, and a certain hotel where you might hear the sounds of a trumpet – even when nobody is playing. Nobody you can see, that is.