Glamourous, outrageous, and lots of fun.  

Poor old Hollywood. Movie stars buy homes in Beverly Hills, shoot films in Burbank and accept their Oscars in downtown Los Angeles. But Hollywood itself, the balmy enclave where it all began, is these days dismissed  as the place to go if you want a lewd  T-shirt or a cheap tattoo. Which it is.

But Hollywood is also a vibrant, bustling, diverse, and historically rich neighbourhood - the only place to go if you want to gawk at Cyd Charisse's underclothes, hear jazz at one of Frank Capra's favourite clubs, and catch a glimpse of our own Nicole Kidman exiting a premiere, all in one day. It is a thrilling place to spend time, especially if you resist the temptation to roam. The key to enjoying L.A. is to avoid its freeways, and instead investigate one neighbourhood at a time. Few are more rewarding than Hollywood.

Founded in 1887 by teetotaling Methodist apricot farmers, Hollywood was in 1910 a village of only 5,000 or so residents. Who knows what would have happened if, between 1910 and 1913, maverick film directors D.W. Griffith, Mack Sennett, and Cecil B. DeMille had not arrived in search of warm weather and good lighting. By 1920 there were 50,000 people in Hollywood and dozens of studios. 

Some wonderful relics of those early glory days of American cinema are still around. Consider basing yourself at the Spanish colonial Roosevelt Hotel, once patronised by Errol Flynn and John Barrymore. The first Oscars were presented here in 1929, and the hotel -    with its ballroom-size lobby, tile floors, and stencilled ceilings - wears its age gracefully. Cinegrill, the Roosevelt's cozy nightclub, hosts live music nightly. The Roosevelt is located on Hollywood Boulevard, walking distance from the street's more famous sights. Between La Brea and Gower Streets, some 2,500 celebrities, from Lassie to Eddie Murphy, have been honoured with pink stars embedded in the footpath. Follow the stars and you will pass some utterly unique sights, like the sand-coloured Egyptian Theatre, built in 1921 to resemble the temples of Ramses and Karnak.

Hollywood's most celebrated movie house is, of course, Mann's Chinese Theatre, also on the Boulevard. Since 1927, celebrities from Betty Grable to Harrison Ford have left prints of their hands, feet, and even cigars in its courtyard cement. The theatre itself, with its baroque, green-roofed pagoda and the nine-metre dragon, is ravishing. Seeing a movie here is an absolute treat.

Four blocks east, you'll find Frederick's of Hollywood, once the purveyor of naughty lingerie. Today the art deco underwear emporium seems a bit quaint, selling padded bras so dowdy they would be laughed out of Victoria's Secret. Even more intriguing is the free museum at the rear of the building, displaying curios like a capacious Zsa Zsa Gabor twinset and one of Madonna's dominatrix-era bustiers.

Noting changes in lingerie is one way to mark the passage of time. So is standing at the corner of Hollywood and Vine, once the mythical heart of the movie industry. Although the intersection has gone to seed, it still offers a perfect view of Hollywood's more distinguished architecture. To the north lies the cylindrical Capitol Records Building, built in 1954 to resemble a stack of records. In the hills beyond looms the iconic Hollywood sign. Standing more than 15 metres tall, the letters originally spelled "Hollywoodland" (the name of a real estate development). "Land" fell off in 1949, and the entire sign fell into decay until a group of celebrities, including Hugh Hefner, Alice Cooper, and Gene Autry, paid to restore it. Today it represents all the dreams, despair, and glamour that is associated with the movie business.

Before winding up your tour of the Boulevard, stop by the wood-panelled Musso & Frank Grill. Courtly male waiters bear plates of sauerbraten and Welsh rarebit to clubby red booths once occupied by William Faulkner and Dashiell Hammett. A bartender mixes gin fizzes and grasshoppers. It is wonderful and wonderfully antiquated.

In choosing a place to eat, you should also know that Hollywood is renowned for its Thai restaurants, like Chan Darae, a hip, bright storefront serving sensational spicy salads. For 'real' American fare the original Roscoe's House of Chicken 'n' Waffles specialises in the unusual combination of waffles and fried chicken. Or for a more upscale meal, try Pinot Hollywood. The French-California food is superb, and even if you don't see a celebrity, this feels like the sort of place where you might.

Odds of spotting a famous face are even better at Paramount Studios, which has kept its production facilities in town. The walking tour of its 26-hectare lot offers a fascinating look behind the scenes of a working studio. You will see racks of costumes, warehouses of props, and an eerily authentic New York streetscape. You may even see a television program, like Charmed, in rehearsal. The stars read from scripts and argue with the director - it actually looks like hard work! 

Adjoining Paramount is the sprawling, lush Hollywood Forever Cemetery, full of pomegranate trees, palms, and celebrity grave sites, from Marion Davies' handsome mausoleum to the rather ostentatious Douglas Fairbanks memorial. It's one of the few quiet spots in town and an ideal place for a stroll.

For a walk on the wilder side, try a day of shopping in Hollywood's outlandish boutiques. An intriguing option is the tiny Heaven 27, owned by Oscar-winner Sofia Coppola. Her Milk Fed line of apparel features whimsical beaded slippers and teensy tees in bubble gum pink. Equally trendy items can be found south of Hollywood proper along Melrose Avenue, where dozens of shops sell slinky women's dresses and big-soled shoes. Stop by Koan, a lofty store filled with chunky old Indian beds and Chinese bamboo couches. And don't miss Chic-A-Boom, a trove of pop culture memorabilia. It would take hours to sort through its Charlie's Angels artifacts alone.

But perhaps the loveliest way to spend a sultry evening is to pack a picnic and go to the Hollywood Bowl. Since 1922, famous musicians from Stravinsky to The Beatles have performed in this delightful open-air amphitheatre surrounded by hibiscus and pine in the surprisingly serene Hollywood hills. If possible, visit the Hollywood Bowl Museum, where you can view old photos and hear stirring clips of Ella Fitzgerald singing Too Close for Comfort, recorded here in 1956. Yet another reminder of Hollywood's dazzling past.