Los Angeles, San Diego & Las Vegas Tips...

sturll

tux130582 wrote: »

is it seriosuly that bad? you cant look at a map??

Is it hell.

As for making sure you have water etc... what a load of tosh.

The only place i ever went where you had to do that was death valley.

Some people make me laugh.

sturll

tux130582 wrote: »

blue

"If you are intent on driving over to Vegas be aware that there are regulations for how much fuel you have and how much water you carry with you in case you break down. I have known people take the precaution of phoning their destination hotel with their car reg and estimated arrival time just in case something goes wrong. I'd definately recommend checking out the experiences of other drivers with that"

What do you mean by the above?

He means he is talking a load of poop.

anglo1967

Culver city is ok. That part of the city is full of mostly residential track housing, scattered with some delis and hotels. Its kind of a trek to hollywood, but youll be close to the freeway and youll be fine.

Parking will be ok , just keep quarters on you and remind yourself to read the signs. Especially by the beaches on OC as they can be really short - time sometimes. The freeway system is easier than in Fla as there are turnoffs every 1/4 mile from OC to almost SD, so pay attention to your satnav!

As far as the crime rates go, LA is getting a lot of stick, :mad: but I will say that the FACTS are that in 2007, stats show that LA isnt even in the top 15 cities for crime in the US. The top cities were detroit and st.louis. Orlando was number 11, worse crime rate than compton (very well known LA gang turf), which was number 14. These rates are based on cities of over 75,000 people, based on charges of murder,rape,robbery,aggravated assault, burglary, and car theft. Just be aware of your surroundings like you were on the East coast.

The San diego tourist board will show you cheap places to stay. Refer to my first post www.visitcalifornia.com, www.cheesecakefactory.com., and pay attention to that tip about https://www.coldstonecreamery.com . YUM!!!

If you need anything else specific to your trip, feel free to contact me personally. I love my state!;)

tux130582

thanks anglo!! hopefully everyone there is as kind as you!

ive now booked all my hotels, im staying in the Handlery in San Diego on hotel circle mission bay, they have a shuttle service to the old town so that will be helpful.

My new questions now is when im in LA / SAN DIEGO whats it like to drive into hollywood, santa monica, and in SD La Jolla Mission beach, pacific beach? how much will i be looking at for parking? or would you recommend local transport and leave the car at the hotel?

thanks

jackieblack

Am doing a similar trip next year.
It's great picking up all this useful info!
I love this forum!
:T:j:T

schooleydoo

jackieblack wrote: »

Am doing a similar trip next year.
It's great picking up all this useful info!
I love this forum!
:T:j:T

Ditto, doing the same thing for my honeymoon in Sept, tagging this thread so i Dont lose it.

senwar

I'm off to CA in Sept & Oct this year, and some of the comments have freaked me a bit!

Having a week in San Francisco, then driving down to Santa Monica for a week. We intend to do the touristy things in LA such as Disney, Hollywood, etc. However, is this a dodgy thing to do, and should we avoid at night?

Is Santa Monica OK? A few people appear to have said so on here

malkay

tux130582 wrote: »

is it seriosuly that bad? you cant look at a map?? what exactly do you mean? cos you look like an outsider for mugging?

its funny but not at any point when i wrote the 1st thread did i feel worried about the trip but the more people talk about the guns etc lol!! i never once even thought about it travelling from new york to florida does LA have a bigger gun scene?

It's all relative to which part of the city you are in. When we landed in LA, we got a shuttle bus to a neighbourhood location of our rental car company to save on $200 worth of fees. That neighbourhood location was Inglewood. We drove out of the rental place, 100 metres up the main road as we sat at some traffic lights... a stolen car going in the opposite direction flies across 3 lanes of traffic onto our side of the road crashing into the car 2 infront of us. About 5 police cars pull up behind him, officers jump out drawing weapons... there's a helicopter buzzing overhead. That was just after being in the country for a little over an hour. We also had to get some petrol so we pulled in to a station that had bulletproof glass (that looked as if it had been tested out, daily) between us and the cashier.

That's a bad suburb of LA... as is Compton, even areas close to Downtown can be shady. Then you've got nice areas like most of Orange and Brea, Pasedena, Irvine, Glendale, Beverly Hills of course.

Dunno about New York, but I'd guess it's the same. There's not much socio-economic residential integration in the US...

seatzie

tux130582 wrote: »

ive now booked all my hotels, im staying in the Handlery in San Diego on hotel circle mission bay, they have a shuttle service to the old town so that will be helpful.

My new questions now is when im in LA / SAN DIEGO whats it like to drive into hollywood, santa monica, and in SD La Jolla Mission beach, pacific beach? how much will i be looking at for parking? or would you recommend local transport and leave the car at the hotel?
thanks

hollywood santa monica etc aren't bad theres a fairly cheap car park near cheesecake factory in beverly hills, its not as expensive as I thought it would be, like £2 an hour or something, I think the kerb side parking is more expensive. L a Jolla from memory was difficult to find a space in, but definitely drive everywhere you can always head off the beaten track if you see somewhere that looks cool

sturll - not whipping a map out in public - its a security precaution, foreign city, you never know who is around, it was advice many sites and forums gave me before I went and worth following I believe

malkay

senwar wrote: »

I'm off to CA in Sept & Oct this year, and some of the comments have freaked me a bit!

Having a week in San Francisco, then driving down to Santa Monica for a week. We intend to do the touristy things in LA such as Disney, Hollywood, etc. However, is this a dodgy thing to do, and should we avoid at night?

Is Santa Monica OK? A few people appear to have said so on here

Disney is in Anaheim, which is perfectly fine. Hollywood has a seedy reputation at night, but it's really no worse than leicester square. You may see dodgy people, but rarely does anything happen because the area is always so busy. Just avoid side streets as a precaution. Santa Monica is also fine... just dont swim at the beach... i swear there is sewage being pumped in that water!