LA Vacation / Touristy Advice

[RussTCB]

Just saw a similar thread on NYC and thought I'd do the same thing for LA. It's looking like my wife and I will be hitting LA for vacation some time in October. We have absolutely nothing planned so I thought I'd ask for ideas.
 

I really don't have any interest in seeing Canter's but we're up for any suggestions outside of that. Any thoughts?

[SoulMonster]

If you like running, and you stay in the Hollywood area, head for Runyon Canyon. Very tough but lovely views all over.

A slightly posh bar is the bar connected to Marmont Hotel in Hollywood.

I always go to Hirozen for Sushi (it has recently changed its name), but last time I went it was not as high quality. But great to have Omakase in the bar. It is south of West Hollywood.

I usually stay at Magic Castle Hotel in Hollywood due to its location but also because the guys working there are great. And they have a free soda and ice cream machine. But I have also stayed at a few other hotels, most of them in Hollywood including Andaz which I stayed at a few months ago.

Your Premier League fix can easily by quenched at football pubs in Santa Monica - they also have lots of great taco places there nearer to the ocean.

Generally speaking, the restaurants are great with lots of variety, as in most larger cities in USA.

I can't give any good option for shopping. I usually find gifts for my kids at Target

[RussTCB]

46 minutes ago, SoulMonster said:

If you like running, and you stay in the Hollywood area, head for Runyon Canyon. Very tough but lovely views all over.

A slightly posh bar is the bar connected to Marmont Hotel in Hollywood.

I always go to Hirozen for Sushi (it has recently changed its name), but last time I went it was not as high quality. But great to have Omakase in the bar. It is south of West Hollywood.

I usually stay at Magic Castle Hotel in Hollywood due to its location but also because the guys working there are great. And they have a free soda and ice cream machine. But I have also stayed at a few other hotels, most of them in Hollywood including Andaz which I stayed at a few months ago.

Your Premier League fix can easily by quenched at football pubs in Santa Monica - they also have lots of great taco places there nearer to the ocean.

Generally speaking, the restaurants are great with lots of variety, as in most larger cities in USA.

I can't give any good option for shopping. I usually find gifts for my kids at Target

I'm not a runner haha. I'm thinking we're gonna try some of the movie studio tours or see a taping of a TV show or something perhaps. Wouldn't mind seeing Whisky A-Go-Go, Rainbow, The Roxy and all that shit too.

[Padme]

First of all rent a car. It is the number one priority. Also at the same time traffic is a mess. I wouldn't stay in down town, East L.A. or East Hollywood. If your budget allows stay in Santa Monica or Venice Beach. I don't know how many days you plan to stay. If it is a week or longer check appartment rentals. If you want to check GN'R related places, well Canter's   Sunset Blv (West Hollywood) The Rainbow, The Roxy, The Whisky. They are all pretty much next to each other. Universal Studio (North Hollywood) Disneyland is bit far away. If you want to go be ready to spend pretty much the whole day there. Otherwise is not worthy. You can check around Beverly Hill but forget about buying anything there. Westwood, near UCLA is nice to do some shopping. You can drive up Hollywood Hills to have a panoramic view of the city.

[SoulMonster]

28 minutes ago, RussTCB said:

I'm not a runner haha. I'm thinking we're gonna try some of the movie studio tours or see a taping of a TV show or something perhaps. Wouldn't mind seeing Whisky A-Go-Go, Rainbow, The Roxy and all that shit too.

I have never done any studio tours or other typical touristy stuff like celebrity sightseeing. The famous rock bars at the Strip are interesting enough but you get the feeling they were better in the 80s

Canter's is a great diner even without the GN'R connection. Another great diner is Greenblatt's at Sunset if you prefer your pastrami to be rock free. I hhave never rented a car, I usually just Uber wherever I want to go. LA is vast so you will spend time in traffic. Are you coming in at LAX? 

[RussTCB]

45 minutes ago, SoulMonster said:

I have never done any studio tours or other typical touristy stuff like celebrity sightseeing. The famous rock bars at the Strip are interesting enough but you get the feeling they were better in the 80s

Canter's is a great diner even without the GN'R connection. Another great diner is Greenblatt's at Sunset if you prefer your pastrami to be rock free. I hhave never rented a car, I usually just Uber wherever I want to go. LA is vast so you will spend time in traffic. Are you coming in at LAX? 

Yeah, flying into LAX then staying between there and Hollywood.

[Padme]

4 minutes ago, RussTCB said:

Yeah, flying into LAX then staying between there and Hollywood.

LAX is far away from Hollywood. LAX is near the beach (Marina del Rey) While Hollywood is somewhat closer to Down Town. In L.A. everything is far away from everything. Check a map but even that could be misleading to some degree.

[SoulMonster]

7 minutes ago, RussTCB said:

Yeah, flying into LAX then staying between there and Hollywood.

Okay, about 45 minutes drive from LAX to Hollywood, depending upon traffic. Uber does not pick up at LAX (or they didn't). Various shuttle services exist from LAX to hotels elsewhere, typically $ 80-85 to Hollywood - should be less if you go shorter and probably possible to share a shuttle to cut costs.

Another okay hotel I've stayed at is Elan at Beverly Boulevard. They have free wine tastings in the evenings. That part of Beverly Boulevard is full of shops of different kinds, and only a short walk away from the lively part of Fairfax with nice restaurants and more shops. Almost opposite Beverly Center which is a bit of a posh shopping centre. You can walk from that area to the Sunset Strip or Hollywood Boulevard in about 30 minutes. Oh, and they also have a nice liqour store a block away from Elan.

[RussTCB]

26 minutes ago, Padme said:

LAX is far away from Hollywood. LAX is near the beach (Marina del Rey) While Hollywood is somewhat closer to Down Town. In L.A. everything is far away from everything. Check a map but even that could be misleading to some degree.

See below.

23 minutes ago, SoulMonster said:

Okay, about 45 minutes drive from LAX to Hollywood, depending upon traffic. Uber does not pick up at LAX (or they didn't). Various shuttle services exist from LAX to hotels elsewhere, typically $ 80-85 to Hollywood - should be less if you go shorter and probably possible to share a shuttle to cut costs.

Another okay hotel I've stayed at is Elan at Beverly Boulevard. They have free wine tastings in the evenings. That part of Beverly Boulevard is full of shops of different kinds, and only a short walk away from the lively part of Fairfax with nice restaurants and more shops. Almost opposite Beverly Center which is a bit of a posh shopping centre. You can walk from that area to the Sunset Strip or Hollywood Boulevard in about 30 minutes. Oh, and they also have a nice liqour store a block away from Elan.

We'll have a rental car, so we're good. From what I could tell it'll be about 25 minutes to the hotel we picked from LAX, then 25 minutes to Hollywood from there. 
 

We have about 4 1/2 days there with absolutely nothing planned. I'm thinking if there's some driving each day to whatever we plan on, we'll still be set. Or at least I hope I'm right haha

[downzy]

3 hours ago, RussTCB said:

I'm not a runner haha. I'm thinking we're gonna try some of the movie studio tours or see a taping of a TV show or something perhaps. Wouldn't mind seeing Whisky A-Go-Go, Rainbow, The Roxy and all that shit too.

When I was in LA a couple of years ago I snagged an amazing AirBnB accommodations located in the Hollywood Hills.  It's a really great spot since it's close to The Rainbow and other Sunset Blvd 80's hotspots.  It's also close by to LA's best comedy clubs, home to some of the country's best stand up comics (it's quite common for extremely famous comics to show up and test out new material).  It's also very centrally located, so that helps if you want to see a lot in different locations.  I'll send you a PM with the AirBnB location if you're interested.

Definitely spend an afternoon (late afternoon, early evening) checking out Santa Monica and Venice beaches.  Perhaps drive up to the Malibu area or Santa Barbara in the morning of the same day.  

My favourite area in LA is the Manhattan and Redondo beach areas.  Much more relaxed part of LA without the crush of tourists.  Great place to take your wife for a nice dinner.

Griffith Observatory is worth checking out.  My advise is to go at night since it will be cooler and the walk up (which is likely, since parking is limited up top) won't be so tiring.  

Obviously if this is your first time then check out Hollywood and perhaps the a theme park (Universal Studios is likely easier to get to than Disneyland in LA).  

I would say you could stay in your car and drive up or down Rodeo Drive.  Not sure if it's necessary to get out and walk around.  

[WhazUp]

Ameoba Records is a place I go to very frequently, a huge music store with the bottom level being CDs and vinyl where the top are movies and music related DVDs/Blu-Ray.  It is on Sunset too so its not far away from the places such as the Whiskey or the Troubadour.

If you can, walk around the Echo Park area too, I go there every now and then and there are some trendy bars and cool small music venues there

[Mendez]

Dont expect to just trot over to downtown from Santa Monica in under 5 minutes.

 

Traffic is a bitch

 

Street tacos are a must. (From taco stands on street corners)

[DieselDaisy]

My mother likes a show called the wives of orange county or something or other. They all look like somebody has taken their facial skin and tied a knot in the back of their head.

[RussTCB]

On 8/28/2017 at 6:51 PM, WhazUp said:

Ameoba Records is a place I go to very frequently, a huge music store with the bottom level being CDs and vinyl where the top are movies and music related DVDs/Blu-Ray.  It is on Sunset too so its not far away from the places such as the Whiskey or the Troubadour.

If you can, walk around the Echo Park area too, I go there every now and then and there are some trendy bars and cool small music venues there

I stopped into Ameoba once on a business trip years ago and loved it. Can't wait to spend more time there. Thanks for the Echo Park recommendation too.

On 8/28/2017 at 7:25 PM, Mendez said:

Dont expect to just trot over to downtown from Santa Monica in under 5 minutes.

 

Traffic is a bitch

 

Street tacos are a must. (From taco stands on street corners)

Yeah, we've heard a lot about the traffic. Because of all of the advice here, we're only planning on doing one thing per day. That way if traffic gets in the way, we're not just stuck or trying to get all over the place with terrible traffic.