Resolved Going to Los Angeles for a few days, what to do, see, eat, hang, etc?

[thekev]

I don't care to do nature stuff like hiking, lived and still visit central america, so I have done all types of nature stuff. I have gone all over the caribbean and seen a whole bunch of beaches too, so I will prob see maybe one or two beaches. I would have liked to go to Yosemite, but I think that would be too far.

Yosemite is really nice, but it's something like 7 hours from LA if I recall correctly. The yosemite valley is something like 30 miles from the park gates. If you're not catching a flight to Fresno, you would end up spending too much time in commute for it to be worth it, even if you can go on little sleep. I prefer to make those kinds of drives overnight as there are fewer people on the road.

 

[Carlanga]

Sorry for taking my time to answer, wanted to be on the laptop to write properly instead of the iPhone.

Let me type this slower...

lmao, I'm not originally from PR, but living here for a whole bunch of years. Public transportation here is horrible though, waiting time can take an extra 45mins easily at each stop, so I don't think it could be worse? What is so horrible about it? I think going to the touristy places at least they could be faster by train, since the train station is about 1/2 a mile from my hotel. I hear driving can take a while in traffic and don't know the streets nor the parkings which I assume are going to be expensive and might be an extra $ that could be spend on seeing things instead?

One more place in Hollywood no one's mentioned is Amoeba Music. It's the music equivalent of Powell's Book's up in Portland. Definitely worth a trip, especially if you're already in Hollywood. Be prepared though, it's hipster-nation in there...

It may sound a little off, but check the Hollywood Bowl schedule... it's a music venue icon that is worth the trip, especially if an event that interests you happens to be during your visit.

Philippe's (Chinatown) was also a great recommendation.

Very nice, thanks for the recommendations! Yeah, I read about the Bowl and for sure Chinatown, will check Bowls schedule events
Don't worry I'm not afraid of hipsters, I can 'handle' their mustache if the vibe is nice!

There's a lot to see in LA, the only question is where to start? The other question is what do you want to do?

You can definitely get around LA without a car it can take forever, it does also take forever by car because of traffic. Get to know the Metro lines, just be careful when you get on the blue line as it goes through some rough areas on the way up to downtown from the green line. By the way, Metro recently extended the evening hours to end at around 2am and they start up again around 4:30am but there are buses that run all night.

Definitely check out the museums in downtown. If you haven't seen a space shuttle up close, Endeavour is a sight to behold.

If you just want to explore, take a trip to downtown in the morning and just walk around the area for the day. From there, you can get into Chinatown and Olvera Street. Definitely get into the area by Metro as parking sucks in downtown.

From downtown, you can take the red line into Hollywood and explore even more there.

If you're into nightlife and electronic music, check out Avalon in Hollywood on Saturday. This is also the only club in LA open all night, everything else closes at 2am. By the way, last call in California is 2am so be sure you get your drink on by then.

I see some people have said to try out In n Out, they have good burgers but there's a place in Hollywood called Fuku Burger, give them a try along with In n Out.

If you're into movies, take a look at doing studio tours with Warner Bros Studios or Paramount Studios. Universal Studios has their studio tour included as one of the theme park attractions. Don't completely discount the theme park as a whole though, CityWalk might be a good option to check out. You can get there with the red line.

Feel free to ask for more recommendations.

Thanks, at least you told me some of the reasoning on why public might be bad. Thanks good to know about the blue line! The train is about half a mile away from the hotel so I was considering just getting on the train to get to Hollywood and stuff inside LA since the train can leave you very close based on what I saw on google maps? I know people recommend me a car, but inside LA I'm told parking is a B, expensive and just going in the car can take a longer time than taking other ways like the train as you mentioned I have been reading the recommendations on the site: http://www.discoverlosangeles.com and I'm digging the places and how one can divide the day by regions. They make it look like public transport might be the easiest way to go around the places, at least in the day time inside LA, but you guys/gals know the reality . I was thinking one day carless and go to hollywood by train and see how it runs and then decide if I do need a car.
I take it, since you mentioned about the train lines, you have experience on the public side, what would you recommend car or public?
Thanks for the recommendations, sound great, I'm gonna be leaving LA on a sat @ ~6pm though, so I would maybe go to a club either thursday or friday depending on how the day time went!
Man, 2am, that's earlier than what I though for LA. Thanks for the tips, love the studios if I have time and will try to see Endevor!
Appreciate the tips on places around the lines, stuff that is close by them that you think are great would be nice. I already downloaded the official metro app.

I agree. If you want a really good [inexpensive] burger in LA, go to Astro Burger.
(just remember to bring cash, since they don't accept credit cards)

Nice, I'll be on the lookout if I see one.

Yosemite is really nice...

Thanks, I'm gonna leave it for whenever I go back to Cali.

 

[Liquorpuki]

In & Out is over-rated.

I'll back you up on that - salty as hell, fries taste like cardboard

I want them to bring Shake Shack to the West Coast

 

[rhett7660]

I'll back you up on that - salty as hell, fries taste like cardboard

I want them to bring Shake Shack to the West Coast

That is funny you say that. I was just in New York and had them again, this time it was at one of the other locations, and the fries and burger were just ok. Nothing like I remembered them. So I have a feeling this could be said about most places, it depends on which one you go to.

Don't get me wrong, I love Shake Shack and I love In-and-Out, but you can have an experience that is isn't the best at both.

Are you going to be near Long Beach? If so, I would recommend Shore Line village. Lots of places to eat and some good sites to take in. The Queen Mary being one of them. The Long Beach Aquarium is ok, kind of small but if you are into this type of stuff might be worth a look.

- Yard House if you are into Beer
- Tequilla Jacks, name says it all! LOL
- Congregation Ale House, Beer bar
- Beachwood BBQ Beer and really good BBQ
- Taco Beach, live bands and the food isn't too bad

With the exception of hearing the live bands, all these places are open during the day.


The Science Museum is also a good place to go.

 

[iMikeT]

Thanks, at least you told me some of the reasoning on why public might be bad. Thanks good to know about the blue line! The train is about half a mile away from the hotel so I was considering just getting on the train to get to Hollywood and stuff inside LA since the train can leave you very close based on what I saw on google maps? I know people recommend me a car, but inside LA I'm told parking is a B, expensive and just going in the car can take a longer time than taking other ways like the train as you mentioned I have been reading the recommendations on the site: http://www.discoverlosangeles.com and I'm digging the places and how one can divide the day by regions. They make it look like public transport might be the easiest way to go around the places, at least in the day time inside LA, but you guys/gals know the reality . I was thinking one day carless and go to hollywood by train and see how it runs and then decide if I do need a car.
I take it, since you mentioned about the train lines, you have experience on the public side, what would you recommend car or public?
Thanks for the recommendations, sound great, I'm gonna be leaving LA on a sat @ ~6pm though, so I would maybe go to a club either thursday or friday depending on how the day time went!
Man, 2am, that's earlier than what I though for LA. Thanks for the tips, love the studios if I have time and will try to see Endevor!
Appreciate the tips on places around the lines, stuff that is close by them that you think are great would be nice. I already downloaded the official metro app.

If you're not going to be in the LA area long and will probably just be in concentrated areas, I would recommend public transportation, particularly the train if you're not too far from the stops. There are parts of town where you just might find yourself being around longer than you thought, like Hollywood for example. Just walking along Hollywood Blvd from one end to the other can take a couple hours.

I get around by car in the area but I really hate it. I have to take my car because I'm in the area at times and places where public transportation isn't convenient. Honestly, I would take public transportation everywhere if I could and I take advantage of it when I have the opportunity. Speaking of having a car, if you'll be in places like downtown, Hollywood, or Santa Monica, parking is terrible and can be very expensive. Keep this in mind, car rental + gas + parking fees = upwards of $150 where a Metro day pass is $5 each day and is good until like 3am.

Yeah it sucks that things close at 2am here. I think venues find it more convenient as serving alcohol stops at 2am and they're not making any more money. Don't find yourself pressured into going to clubs and such, they'll always be around. There are some good bars around where you're staying that I know of but you'll have to take the bus there instead of the train.

 

[Queen of Spades]

1) Santa Monica Pier/3rd St. Promenade - Pretty views, lots of shops and restaurants, boardwalk action, etc.

2) Venice Beach - a fun walk, great for people watching. You can have drinks on the roof top of one of the hotels that overlooks the water (sorry, I forget which one off the top of my head, but you can ask someone there and they'll know), which provides spectacular views and a low key club vibe.

3) Hollywood/Walk of Fame/Hollywood & Highland - You can spend a little time seeing the walk of fame, the Chinese Theater and the Kodak Theater. There's also good restaurants and shopping in the Hollywood & Highland complex. This is also a good spot to catch any and all sightseeing buses. They're cheesy, but I've done them when friends visit and it's a good way to see a bunch of landmarks quickly (like the house used in the exteriors for The Fresh Prince of Bel Air!)

4) The Abbey/Fiesta Cantina/West Hollywood - As far as clubs go, West Hollywood is a good destination. The Abbey is fun, always packed, and voted #1 gay bar in America, although it is a very mixed crowd (people of all persuasions). Fiesta Cantina is nearby, good for upstairs/outdoor dancing and cheaper drinks.

I really wouldn't recommend trying to do public transportation, especially with only a couple of days. It's just not fast/reliable or widespread enough to be effective. Luckily since it's LA and everyone has to drive, there's almost always parking structures and lots nearby most attractions.

Good luck!

 

[mobilehaathi]

A friend of mine who lives down there right now highly recommends the J Paul Getty Museum, if you are into such things.

 

[Carlanga]

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Are you going to be near Long Beach? If so, I would recommend Shore Line village. Lots of places to eat and some good sites to take in. The Queen Mary being one of them. The Long Beach Aquarium is ok, kind of small but if you are into this type of stuff might be worth a look.

- Yard House if you are into Beer
- Tequilla Jacks, name says it all! LOL
- Congregation Ale House, Beer bar
- Beachwood BBQ Beer and really good BBQ
- Taco Beach, live bands and the food isn't too bad

With the exception of hearing the live bands, all these places are open during the day.
The Science Museum is also a good place to go.

Nice thanks! DOn't know how far away, but I will consider!

If you're not going to be in the LA area long and will probably just be in concentrated areas, I would recommend public transportation, particularly the train if you're not too far from the stops...
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Great, you make me want to definitely try public transportation at least the first day! Thanks for all the tips!

1) Santa Monica Pier/3rd St. Promenade - ...
2) Venice Beach - ...

3) Hollywood/Walk of Fame/Hollywood & Highland - You can spend a little time seeing the walk of fame, the Chinese Theater and the Kodak Theater. There's also good restaurants and shopping in the Hollywood & Highland complex. This is also a good spot to catch any and all sightseeing buses. They're cheesy, but I've done them when friends visit and it's a good way to see a bunch of landmarks quickly (like the house used in the exteriors for The Fresh Prince of Bel Air!)

4) The Abbey/Fiesta Cantina/West Hollywood - ...

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Thanks for all the specifics, will definitely try all things from cheesy turisty to anything I can fit! Appreciate it.

A friend of mine who lives down there right now highly recommends the J Paul Getty Museum, if you are into such things.

Thanks for the specific one, I will try to fit prob one museum if I have time since they take way too long and I'm staying just a few days, but the exhibitions at the getty look interesting!



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Thanks all for all the tips!! I think I have accumulated more than I can see in my short time, appreciate all the help and tips! WIll reply in the thread after I come back

 

[Carlanga]

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I hope I got everyone

I came back from L.A. yesterday
First, I wanted to thank you all for all your recommendations. You guys/gals rock.

I ended up using Public Transportation for my 2.5days of free time to see the city. I must say I 100% recommend USING public transportation. Google Maps on my iPhone was great and gave me almost to the minute accurate times for buses and trains. I took as fair as trains: the blue, red & green. A good amount of metro buses like the silver line and others w/ ####, then I think it was also 3 maybe 4 Culver City Buses and finally the Griffith Observatory Shuttle. The $5 for a day Tap card was great, shame it didn't work with the CC buses or the griffith shuttle. Based on route time, public transportation was around ~1.6 times longer to get to a destination than car according to google maps. Now, I have never been to LA, traffic wasn't as bad as I thought it was gonna be (Here in PR we have 2 million cars for a 3.6 population in a small island), but you guys do have some traffic. I think the public transport, especially trains are the best way to get to the places to see LA stuff since traffic and finding parking looked to be time consuming and expensive for what one would have to do around touristy places. So probably in the end, after one loses a couple of blocks down the road to reach a destination in a car and then find parking you probably would have spent just as much time as w/ public transport or even more in some areas I went.
So, about the train blue line, I did have to connect from the green line to the blue line in Willowbrook/Rosa Parks station, the next station that I never had to past through after that was Compton, one time the Rosa Parks station when it was almost 9PM felt a little more 'dangerous', nothing too bad though. So I guess I could say I was 'Straight Outta Compton' lol

So what geographical places did I go in my 2.5 days:
Warner Bros VIP Studios Tour, Walk of Fame, Madame Tussauds Wax Museum, Dolby Theatre, Hollywood Museum, a tour to see 'famous' people mansions around beverly hills, the hills or whatever they are called, hollywood sign, Rodeo Drive, Sunset Blvd, Sony Pictures Studio Tour, Santa Monica Pier, aquarium, Muscle Beach + Venice Beach, Malibu, PCH, Manhattan Beach & Village and the Griffith Observatory. Also saw the Staples Center and Grammy museum from the outside. Probably missing some other geo places off the top of my head.

Those are just the places I can think of the top of my head though, these on top are places I did stuff in them, not just went through

I really liked the 'summer weather', very cool and nice, especially at night. Beaches were just ok in my book, nothing great, water & sand was like C+ in my book. People were great, very courteous, great treatment at any place I went to. LOTS of european travelers.

Here is my last pic while in L.A. a few hours before I had to go to the airport using my 4S.

 

[mobilehaathi]

Glad to hear you had a good time!

 

[iMikeT]

I hope I got everyone

I came back from L.A. yesterday
First, I wanted to thank you all for all your recommendations. You guys/gals rock.

I ended up using Public Transportation for my 2.5days of free time to see the city. I must say I 100% recommend USING public transportation. Google Maps on my iPhone was great and gave me almost to the minute accurate times for buses and trains. I took as fair as trains: the blue, red & green. A good amount of metro buses like the silver line and others w/ ####, then I think it was also 3 maybe 4 Culver City Buses and finally the Griffith Observatory Shuttle. The $5 for a day Tap card was great, shame it didn't work with the CC buses or the griffith shuttle. Based on route time, public transportation was around ~1.6 times longer to get to a destination than car according to google maps. Now, I have never been to LA, traffic wasn't as bad as I thought it was gonna be (Here in PR we have 2 million cars for a 3.6 population in a small island), but you guys do have some traffic. I think the public transport, especially trains are the best way to get to the places to see LA stuff since traffic and finding parking looked to be time consuming and expensive for what one would have to do around touristy places. So probably in the end, after one loses a couple of blocks down the road to reach a destination in a car and then find parking you probably would have spent just as much time as w/ public transport or even more in some areas I went.
So, about the train blue line, I did have to connect from the green line to the blue line in Willowbrook/Rosa Parks station, the next station that I never had to past through after that was Compton, one time the Rosa Parks station when it was almost 9PM felt a little more 'dangerous', nothing too bad though. So I guess I could say I was 'Straight Outta Compton' lol

So what geographical places did I go in my 2.5 days:
Warner Bros VIP Studios Tour, Walk of Fame, Madame Tussauds Wax Museum, Dolby Theatre, Hollywood Museum, a tour to see 'famous' people mansions around beverly hills, the hills or whatever they are called, hollywood sign, Rodeo Drive, Sunset Blvd, Sony Pictures Studio Tour, Santa Monica Pier, aquarium, Muscle Beach + Venice Beach, Malibu, PCH, Manhattan Beach & Village and the Griffith Observatory. Also saw the Staples Center and Grammy museum from the outside. Probably missing some other geo places off the top of my head.

Those are just the places I can think of the top of my head though, these on top are places I did stuff in them, not just went through

I really liked the 'summer weather', very cool and nice, especially at night. Beaches were just ok in my book, nothing great, water & sand was like C+ in my book. People were great, very courteous, great treatment at any place I went to. LOTS of european travelers.

Here is my last pic while in L.A. a few hours before I had to go to the airport using my 4S.

Glad to hear that you had a great time and managed to get around using only public transportation haha! See, it isn't as bad as many people say. Personally, I think a lot of people have gotten used to their cars and it's a hard habit to break. On top of that, public transportation often gets bad word of mouth here. It does have its issues but not as bad as people think.

I am impressed that you managed to do all of those things in the two days you had! Having lived in the area most of my life, I haven't done even half of those lol!

As for the beaches, the beaches in the LA area definitely aren't the best because of how dirty the water is and how much of it washes up on the shore. The better beaches are north in Malibu and south in Orange County and further in San Diego. Though, I have to say the best beaches I've been to were in Puerto Rico, I can't wait to go there again!

 

[Carlanga]

Glad to hear you had a good time!

Thanks, it was a good time!

Glad to hear that you had a great time and managed to get around using only public transportation haha! See, it isn't as bad as many people say. Personally, I think a lot of people have gotten used to their cars and it's a hard habit to break. On top of that, public transportation often gets bad word of mouth here. It does have its issues but not as bad as people think.

I am impressed that you managed to do all of those things in the two days you had! Having lived in the area most of my life, I haven't done even half of those lol!

As for the beaches, the beaches in the LA area definitely aren't the best because of how dirty the water is and how much of it washes up on the shore. The better beaches are north in Malibu and south in Orange County and further in San Diego. Though, I have to say the best beaches I've been to were in Puerto Rico, I can't wait to go there again!

Yeah, I kind of felt that based on the replies of people on the thread, but public transportation was good, at least on my short stay. What I do think needs a good update is the airport though.

Thanks, I'm still tired!! lol

Umm, good to know that there are some better ones. I guess I found the water too 'murky' and cold. Yeah, here there are some nice beaches, if you come again, you should go to "Flamenco Beach" , I have been to better beaches than the ones here though. I would say beaches here can go from a solid B to A- if you know where to go, there are some C beaches also.