This Iconic California Hotspot Was Ranked The Worst Tourist Destination In The World

Since 1960, when the first permanent stars were installed on the sidewalk, tourists have flocked to see celebrity names along the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Over 2,700 of these terrazzo-and-brass stars now line the pavement of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Los Angeles. Between the Walk of Fame and the TCL Chinese Theatre's forecourt, where more names are scrawled in cement with accompanying handprints, the boulevard is a place where movie history is literally embedded. However, it's reality that everyone's a critic, including travelers — and, apparently, luggage storage companies. In late-2025, for example, the Walk of Fame received the traveler's version of a Razzie Award when one such company, Stasher, named it the world's worst major tourist attraction.

If this sounds familiar, it may be because it's become something of a tradition for the Walk of Fame to top Stasher's worst-of list. The company even notes this, saying, "Back in 2019, our first tourist attractions study came to the same conclusion based on the data analyzed, creating quite a bit of stir by prominent late-night talk show hosts." The news made the rounds again in 2023 when outlets like The Guardian and Fox 11 Los Angeles reported on it. As they say in the Oscar-winning musical, "All That Jazz," everything old is new again.

At the risk of making a luggage pun, it's worth unpacking Stasher's updated data, since its methodology may involve things that have no bearing on your travel decisions, such as TikTok likes. In its analysis, the company says it "examined five key data points" across "101 of the world's most popular attractions." The overall metrics were visitor satisfaction, social media engagement, accessibility, security conditions, and lodging standards. The specific data points used to gauge these were, respectively: Google Reviews ratings, average TikTok likes, distance from the nearest airport, country safety rankings, and local accommodation quality.

In Stasher's sample group of 101 popular attractions, the Walk of Fame earned the lowest Google Reviews score, but the lowest was 4 out of 5, or 80 percent. If this were a movie, that wouldn't be a bad Rotten Tomatoes score. It's just that 100 other major attractions ranked ahead of the Walk of Fame, which lost points for how inconvenient it is to access from the nearest airport, LAX. In its reporting, KTLA 5 mentions the absence of a direct, nonstop public transit route from Hollywood to LAX. Nonetheless, you'll find indirect options if you consult our guide to the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

According to Stasher, the Walk of Fame had an average of 37.58 thousand TikTok likes, but the airport is 38.1 kilometers away, or about 23 miles. This latter data point arguably fudges the numbers a bit, since anyone can pull up Google Maps and see that the 23-mile route isn't necessarily the fastest or shortest in terms of distance. KTLA 5 further explains that, from the intersection of Hollywood and Vine, LAX "would be anywhere from 13 to around 23 miles away — depending on which freeways you take." The FAQ on the Walk on Fame's official website rounds down, saying that it's "12 miles from LAX," but that it "takes between 1/2 hour to 1 hour by car."

Up until 2025, when Washington, D.C., dethroned it, L.A. had been ranked the worst U.S. city for traffic by ConsumerAffairs, which notes that it "still has the longest weekday congestion." Thus why it takes so long to get between the airport and Walk of Fame. If you're flying in just to visit the Walk of Fame, then you might be disappointed when you finally get there and see that it's not the pristine, palm-tree-lined boulevard of your dreams.

Because the Walk of Fame's host country, the U.S., ranks so low on the Global Peace Index (GPI), this also counted against it. Per World Population Review, America's 2.443 GPI made it the 131st safest country (out of 163) in 2025. This may be one of the reasons why tourism in the U.S. is seeing such a dramatic decline. If it seems disingenuous for a London-based luggage storage company to fault one city landmark for an entire country's problems, blame the Google reviews cited by Stasher, calling the Walk of Fame "dirty" and "unsafe."

Back in 2019, CBS LA took to the street to determine whether the Walk of Fame deserved its reputation as a "completely underwhelming," "disappointing," "overcrowded," "tourist trap" (in the words of people surveyed through Stasher and Tripadvisor). The Walk of Fame sees approximately 10 million visitors a year, and most interviewed had positive things to say about it, calling it "super fun and awesome" and "really interesting" and "amazing." For what it's worth, the newer Stasher study ranks Disney World as North America's best attraction, but in Tripadvisor's 2025 ranking, America's best attraction is a Florida icon that's even better than Disney. It just goes to show that ranking travel destinations isn't an exact science, no matter how much data you include.

One reviewer put it this way (via Fox News): "The image you have of the Hollywood Walk of Fame is one of stardom and glitz, but the reality is your average city center with expensive gift shops." As for hotels, L.A. visitors wanting luxury might prefer staying across town in West Hollywood or Beverly Hills. Personally, when I visited the Walk of Fame, I had fun shooting pics of the sidewalk stars, yet I witnessed firsthand how it made a bad first impression on my traveling companion, who was eager to leave as soon as we arrived.