Visiting Los Angeles During Awards Season

Awards season runs from early January to mid-March 2027, and it changes how Los Angeles feels. Bleachers go up on Hollywood Boulevard. Streets close. Camera crews stake out hotel entrances weeks in advance. You do not need an invitation to feel any of it, because the venues sit in ordinary neighborhoods you can ride straight past.

City Sightseeing Los Angeles runs open-top double-decker Hop-On Hop-Off routes through all of it, in partnership with Starline Tours, Hollywood’s original sightseeing company since 1935. Our red buses stop directly in front of the Dolby Theatre, roll past the Beverly Hilton, and pull up across from the Grammy Museum. Here is the 2027 calendar, where each ceremony actually happens, and how to build a trip around it.

Six ceremonies anchor the season, spread across three months and different spots of the city:

• Critics Choice Awards, Sunday January 3, 2027, at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica
• 84th Golden Globes, Sunday January 10, 2027, at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills
• Grammy Awards, Sunday February 7, 2027, at Crypto.com Arena in Downtown LA
• 99th Academy Awards, Sunday March 14, 2027, at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation 

Other industry-facing events, like the SAG-AFTRA Actor Awards on February 28 and the Producers Guild Awards on February 27, also happen in Los Angeles, though these do not have a public-facing spectacle.

This is the part most visitors do not realize until they arrive. Stop 1 on both the Red and Purple Routes is the Dolby Theatre at 6801 Hollywood Blvd, the actual home of the Oscars. You board where the red carpet goes down.

The Beverly Hilton, where the Golden Globes are held, sits on the Yellow Route along Santa Monica Blvd. Stop 38 on the Purple Route is LA Live and Crypto.com Arena, positioned across the street from the Grammy Museum. And the Yellow Route runs the length of Santa Monica, where the Critics Choice Awards take place. Check the route map to see how they connect: the Red and Yellow Routes meet at Stop 7 in Beverly Hills, and the Red and Purple Routes both begin at the Dolby.

Ordinary Hollywood, plus infrastructure. In the days before a ceremony, crews build grandstands and carpet frames along Hollywood Boulevard. Trucks line side streets. Security perimeters appear. The TCL Chinese Theatre forecourt, where handprints have been set in concrete since the 1920s, fills with people who came to watch the setup.

Go a few blocks out and the season shows up differently: restaurant reservations vanish, the Sunset Strip gets busier on weeknights, and Rodeo Drive boutiques run appointment-only fittings. Hollywood Boulevard and neighboring streets do close for major ceremonies, so check current alerts before you plan a day around the Dolby.

Awards season overlaps with the quietest travel months of the year here. Summer crowds are long gone, hotel rates sit below peak, and January and February weather is mild enough for open-top buses. You get the city at its most culturally interesting and its least congested at the same time.

A multi-day pass makes the most sense, because the venues are spread across the city. Our 2-Day Pass is the most popular option and covers the Red, Yellow and Purple Routes at a relaxed pace, with the 3-Day Pass as the best value if you want time to linger.

A workable shape for it:

• Day one, Hollywood. Red Route from the Dolby Theatre, past the Guitar Center RockWalk, the Comedy Store and Whisky a Go Go on the Sunset Strip, then Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive.
• Day two, Downtown. Purple Route to Crypto.com Arena and the Grammy Museum at Stop 38, plus Walt Disney Concert Hall, Grand Central Market and Olvera Street.
• Add an evening. The Hollywood Night Tour Starring Griffith Observatory departs at 5 PM in winter, with a 30-minute stop overlooking the city. The Observatory museum is closed Mondays.
• Add the classic. The two-hour Celebrity Homes Tour runs daily with a live guide, in English or Spanish, through neighborhoods most operators cannot enter.

• Buses run 7 days a week. Red Route first departure from Stop 1 is 10:00 AM, last full loop 4:30 PM. Purple Route last full loop leaves Stop 1 at 2:30 PM. Schedules shift, so confirm on the day.
• Download the app before you arrive and pull the audio over WiFi. Bring headphones and a charged phone.
• No hotel pickup on Hop-On Hop-Off, though many routes pass close to hotels.
• You can buy from the driver. All drivers carry card machines, but booking online first is faster.
• Seating is first-come, first-served. We add departures in peak periods, but no specific seat or departure is guaranteed.
• Street closures are real in awards weeks. Call (323) 463-3333 the morning of if the Dolby is on your plan.

The 2027 calendar is set, and January through March is when Hollywood is most itself. Browse all passes and tours, review the route map, or check our FAQ for boarding and ticket details. Travelling with a group, or planning something around a specific ceremony? Our groups and events team handles private charters and branded buses, including for premieres and industry activations. Questions on your dates? Contact us or call (323) 463-3333.

FAQ Section:

The 99th Academy Awards are Sunday, March 14, 2027, at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood, 6801 Hollywood Blvd. The Dolby is Stop 1 on both our Red and Purple Routes, so you can see the exterior year-round. Expect street closures and grandstand construction in the days before the ceremony.

Ceremonies are invitation-only, and bleacher seating for the Oscars is handled by the Academy through its own lottery, not by tour operators. What is open to everyone is the street-level atmosphere: venue exteriors, carpet setup, and the neighborhoods where it all happens. Our routes pass all four 2027 venues.

Yes. It is one of the quietest travel windows of the year, with mild weather, smaller crowds at major landmarks, and the Critics Choice Awards on January 3 and Golden Globes on January 10 bringing genuine energy to the city. Hop-On Hop-Off runs daily through the whole season.

The 2027 Grammy Awards are Sunday, February 7 at Crypto.com Arena in Downtown LA. Stop 38 on our Purple Route is LA Live and Crypto.com Arena, with the bus stop across the street from the Grammy Museum. The same route covers Walt Disney Concert Hall, Grand Central Market and Olvera Street.