4 days in LA....dos and don'ts?

Hi all,

Counting down to LA/Vegas (21/09). ^) It's my first time in LA we're staying in Santa Monica (4days). Been to Florida so not interested in doing Universal.

Any other recommendations? ?| oo)

Cheers y)

[Darren Wheeler]

Hollywood Boulevard - freak show central.
Hollywood sign - Touristy but an essential. Head to Lake Hollywood Drive for the iconic view.
Griffith Park and Observatory.

Walk or cycle down to Venice Beach from Santa Monica and watch the muscle men working out (it won't quite be hobo season but the panhandlers are increasing in numbers ).Beaches- loads !!! Huntington, Manhatten, Redondo etc etc. Drive up to Malibu. Go shopping at The Grove (and the Farmers Market) or out to Glendale. You also have 3rd St Promenade in Santa Monica.
Check out the Supreme shop and the vintage shops at Melrose.
Hollywood Boulevard , Manns Chinese Theatre.....
I love LA .
DL

Would highly recommend taking a trip down to Long Beach. The Queen Mary is there and well worth the trip.
Beverly Hills is worth having a poke about and great for celeb spotting if you like that sort of thing !
If you like football, worth a trip to the Home Depot stadium (LA Galaxy) and watch a game. Tickets are really cheap !
Plus all of the other things that Darren and DragonLady have also said !

Have fun !!!

The Getty Center is a must for the location, the buildings and the gardens alone. The art is just a bonus.

Personally I would avoid the Grove - it's just a fake street with the same shops you'll find in any mall. The Farmers Market next door, however, is worth a visit for a slice of L.A. history, and a great selection of food vendors - Loteria is one of the best Mexican restaurants in town.

To add to the others...

If there's something on, the Hollywood Bowl is worth a visit.

as to don'ts.....

- assuming you have a car, don't underestimate the length of time it takes to get places

- don't ever jaywalk in Santa Monica.

Do wonder along Rodeo Drive window shopping, unless you have a whole lot of money

If you like rides then Magic Mountain is the place to go
It's about a 45 minute drive north of LA in a place called Valencia.
Loads of white knuckle rides - a great day out.
http://www.sixflags.com/magicMountain/r ... Rides.aspx

Also knots Berry Farm is great too.
http://www.knotts.com/things-to-do/roller-coasters

Enjoy.

If you like rides then Magic Mountain is the place to go
It's about a 45 minute drive north of LA in a place called Valencia.
Loads of white knuckle rides - a great day out.
http://www.sixflags.com/magicMountain/r ... Rides.aspx

Six Flags is a great day out if you like real white knuckle rides ( it makes even the "thrill" rides at Alton Towers , Chessington etc seem absolutely tame ): ): ).
DL

The Getty Center is preferred by me over the Getty Villa, the former has fantastic views and great architecture.

Lunch at Shutters on the beach in Santa Monica followed by a stroll around.

Rodeo Drive can be fun.

LA is very spread out, as pjh says, plan plenty of time.

Then of course there are the studios :w .

Wow. Thanks for all the suggestion. I've got the map out and and plotting a course already

Btw, I wasn't planning on hiring a car. I'm hoping a combination of tour buses, taxis and metrolines will suffice??

The metro is good enough to get around and if memory serves, most popular touristy bits are within walking distance from a metro stop.

Hiring a car would be good if you wanted to see the surrounding areas but that is completely up to you ! One tip if hiring a car ... watch out for the no stopping zones. No stopping literally does mean no stopping. Stopping to adjust your seatbelt will be a $100 fine - I speak from experience !!!

I was quite disappointed with LA when I visited back in June. I only planned 2 full days in LA on my trip including Anaheim (2 days), Las Vegas (6 days) and San Francisco (4 days) and I was glad that I only planned 2 days for LA.

The Grove is a nice place to be at with a fountain in the middle but its over-hyped with very limited shops. The Farmer's Market was disappointing too and I much prefer Borough Market in London.

It was nice to drive up the hills and see the Hollywood Sign. Go to Hollywood & Highland Center and see the famous Grauman's Theatre and Walk of Fame. A walk along the pier at Santa Monica Beach and little shopping at 3rd Street Promenade.

If you are a fan of US TV series and films then of course there is the Warner Bros Studio Tour and from other studios too.

It really depends on what you want to do and what kind of a person you are. Could you give us an idea?

The metro is good enough to get around and if memory serves, most popular touristy bits are within walking distance from a metro stop.

I suppose that's true if you mean the buses as well as the subway, but it's not the easiest way to get around and I think that hiring a car is probably more sensible.

The metro is good enough to get around and if memory serves, most popular touristy bits are within walking distance from a metro stop.

I suppose that's true if you mean the buses as well as the subway, but it's not the easiest way to get around and I think that hiring a car is probably more sensible.

Wholeheartedly agree that hiring a car is the easiest thing to do. We only spent one day walking around the West Hollywood area and got the metro subway to Universal studios and down into Compton to see a football match - oh how we wished we had a car then !!

We did hire a car the next day and found it much easier to get around.

I'm usual a beachbum hence why I chose Santa Monica. Off the beach I'm a bit of a frantic tourist plan a route and tick sites off. I have driven around SFO but I've concluded I only like 2-3 lanes max!

I'd heard LA is vast foolishly I didn't listen! If we manage the suggestions thus far I'll be well impressed.(beachtime permitting) Best I get back to plotting a route:)

Cheers guys

If you like Tim Burton at all then a visit to the exhibition of his work at LACMA is well worth it.

And if you can get tickets go along and see Iris, the Cirque du Soleil show at the Kodak (?) Theatre, it's amazing.

Take a tour with these guys http://www.dearlydepartedtours.com/ you will see a very different side to LA.Have a look at the Hollywood museum in the old Max Factor building just off Hollywood boulevard near the Chinese theatre,tons of fabulous stuff in there.Love a beer at the bar of McCormick & Schmick's at the top of the steps bottom of Rodeo Drive.Full of colourful locals and the best bar maid in LA.Have fun.

If you like the beach, there's precious little reason to leave Santa Monica/Venice much for the time you are there. You can tick off the sign and Hollywood Boulevard with a quick drive nearer evening (sunset light is good), grab a cocktail at the steakhouse in the Hollywood/Highland and drive down to Osteria Mozza for dinner (or the pizzeria if price is a bit of an issue).

Like Slinky, I would prefer the Getty Center as such over the villa, and it has the added bonus of it being easier to grab entrance (free but you need to reserve parking) closer to the time you want to do, as it's a much bigger space. But the villa is up the coast, and provides a good reason to get out of Santa Monica and you can stretch it to as long of a drive as you feel like taking along the coast, whereas the drive up the center is, well, more "urban" (from Santa Monica you should do regular streets to the Center and avoid the freeway).

You can rent a Segway or do a Segway tour in Santa Monica, which offers an interesting way of exploring the whole beach area down to Venice, bit different from the bike thing.

While in the town itself, I would stick to the area south of I10, on Main Street, as opposed to spending too much time on the promenade, unless you want to catch a movie. Bars and restaurants are just better there, IMO, and the general atmosphere nicer. Sunday late morning is also lively there as they have their own Farmers Market, small but pretty good, with lots of good takeout stands. I loved Brick + Mortar when we were last there, terrific Happy Hour and food & drink in general.

One thing that I always do in LA, if possible, is have a late-evening drink in the 360-degree revolving bar at the top of the Bonaventure Hotel downtown. (It's now a Westin.) It's not a great bar, but the views of downtown and of LA itself, unfurling beneath you like a giant carpet, are great...

... although admittedly LA isn't the greatest metropolis to look at!

There are some interesting and trendy places downtown, too, but it's a strange area and it gets quite quiet at night and the weekends, despite a so-called renaissance.

While in the town itself, I would stick to the area south of I10, on Main Street, as opposed to spending too much time on the promenade, unless you want to catch a movie. Bars and restaurants are just better there, IMO, and the general atmosphere nicer. Sunday late morning is also lively there as they have their own Farmers Market, small but pretty good, with lots of good takeout stands. I loved Brick + Mortar when we were last there, terrific Happy Hour and food & drink in general.

Another vote for Main. The PJHs left their mark at the location of the Farmers Market - Heritage Square - as we bought an engraved brick to thank our friends who live on Hart Avenue for hosting our first trip to the US back in 1998.

For the don'ts - Don't stay on the 720 bus down Wilshire/from Santa Monica past Downtown, we were expecting it to turn around there...

Then we found ourselves about 30 minutes into East LA, not the nicest areas. Luckily it was 3pm, can imagine it being much worse after dark. Scuttled out the bus across the road and straight onto the bus back...

Without a car, its not a great town. Even on the buses/Metro, you will spend a lot of time travelling... I think I'd have preferred to have stayed in Santa Monica, we were at the Beverly Hilton at the edge of Beverly hills and finding somewhere to eat and drink was a struggle without a taxi...