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

seatzie

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

just excersise caution as you would do at home, LA in the touristy areas is generally fine, know your route before you leave etc, Disney is a good bit out of LA, check out Knotts Berry Farm as well. Santa Monica is class but it does have a lot of homeless near the beach theres a cool webcam for the pier on here
http://www.westland.net/piercam/

also people going to San Diego be aware car hire company won't insure you for driving in mexico so as tempting as it is to nip over into Tijuana by car, DON'T!

malkay

seatzie wrote: »

hollywood santa monica etc aren't bad theres a fairly cheap car park near cheesecake factory in beverly hills...

lol. what is it with you and the cheesecake factory? that place is so overrated. granted, most of the food is of a good standard and near enough worth what you pay for. But nothing on their menu stands out. I think it's cop-out food. You can do a bit of research and see what most critics regard as the best steak, burger, etc. in the town and see if you agree... or you can just go to the cheesecake factory and have an average meal.

Baz_2

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

Seriously, dont worry too much.

Santa Monica is perfectly fine.

I think what people are saying is to just be aware of where you are. If you stick to the tourist spots, which are obvious, then there wont be a problem. Just don't go wondering around willy nilly. Its quite easy to wonder into an area in which you shouldn't be. Like any city in the UK really.

http://golosangeles.about.com/od/latravelplanning/a/SafetyTips.htm

It depends what kind of holiday you are after really as to how much time to spend in LA. California is a wonderful place, it has so much to offer that really I personally would find it a shame to spend the majority of my time in LA. I wouldn't spend a week there.

Why not spend more time down the coast? Spend a day in Santa Cruz, a couple in Carmel or Moterrey. Stay near the Big Sur etc. Go to Hearst Castle and Cambria, Santa Barbara and all the other places down the coast line.

Again www.roadtripamerica.com is a great resource.

anglo1967

This link should help you with parking in LA:

http://www.jaunted.com/story/2006/12/12/114743/99/travel/Jaunted+Parking+Guide:+Where+To+Park+In+Los+Angeles. Also, there's www.hollywoodusa.co.uk which might help with bus tour info, if not try www.laobserved.com for info on where to eat/ shop. For my fave local LA news station, go to http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/index . Just remember that the media likes reporting e bad news for better ratings! Ill ask my friends if the parking charge has changed much & get back to you l8r xx

anglo1967

I have just done some research...:mad: Parking rates will DOUBLE :eek: in LA county by the time you arrive... Check out the kabc/index link & put "parking meter rates" in the search engine top right corner... Follow it to the videos that will tell you.

Remember that LA COUNTY rates will cover all of the cities in that county -(BH, LA, SM, Venice, H'wood, etc), but that in OC & SD coutnties, the parking rates will be different. The main streets of LA/BH (hollywood/sunset / melrose /santa monica /beverly /robertson /doheny/rodeo dr )will have a lot of people visiting and mostly just street parking.

The meters & places in OC/ SD will prob be less expensive that central LA (methinks). http://losangeles.citysearch.com has some restaurant reviews, plus more advice on random things to do.

BTW, Cabazon, on the way to SD, is the outlet that someone forgot in an earlier post... they have great deals for clothes.. Just follow the signs off the freeway, you cant miss it (signs are HUGE). You should plan 1-2 hours.

The busses in SD are a good idea, its a big Uni town (theres a few), so there tends to be more public transport than in LA/OC.

I dont know what your interests are, but here are a few random links on things you may want to do while youre there:
shopping: www.stevemadden.com, www.sketchers.com, www.johnfluevog.com, (all those brands youll find in LA, plus sketchers are at the outlets), www.shopfashionisland.com (when youre in OC, as a shopping break out, i miss it!), http://getty.edu (One of the best collections of art in LA, amazing building, and its FREE *We charge for most museums*.

A cheap, local OC restaurant is www.crabcooker.com, teeny more upscale is www.bluewatergrill.com, there's a few locations for them but youll no doubt see them on your travels!!!!

happy travelling:beer:

seatzie

lol! since in the earlier post I'd mentioned cheesecake factory and since there was a question about car parking and since there is/was a really cheap car park beside it why not mention it?

place is overrated? I ate there I liked it I thought it was good value.....good enough reason for me to recommend it i think........especially when your wife is a pain in the a$$ vegetarian and this is one place you know she'llf ind something she likes lol!!

as for going to critics recommendations and seeing if you agree.........is this not a moneysaving website?lol

malkay wrote: »

lol. what is it with you and the cheesecake factory? that place is so overrated. granted, most of the food is of a good standard and near enough worth what you pay for. But nothing on their menu stands out. I think it's cop-out food. You can do a bit of research and see what most critics regard as the best steak, burger, etc. in the town and see if you agree... or you can just go to the cheesecake factory and have an average meal.

senwar

Thanks for putting my mind at ease.

I'm a frequent traveller and have done some nervy places in the past, but want to do this as the nicest hol we can.

Baz wrote: »

Seriously, dont worry too much.

Santa Monica is perfectly fine.

I think what people are saying is to just be aware of where you are. If you stick to the tourist spots, which are obvious, then there wont be a problem. Just don't go wondering around willy nilly. Its quite easy to wonder into an area in which you shouldn't be. Like any city in the UK really.

http://golosangeles.about.com/od/latravelplanning/a/SafetyTips.htm

It depends what kind of holiday you are after really as to how much time to spend in LA. California is a wonderful place, it has so much to offer that really I personally would find it a shame to spend the majority of my time in LA. I wouldn't spend a week there.

Why not spend more time down the coast? Spend a day in Santa Cruz, a couple in Carmel or Moterrey. Stay near the Big Sur etc. Go to Hearst Castle and Cambria, Santa Barbara and all the other places down the coast line.

Again www.roadtripamerica.com is a great resource.

We're going to drive to Monterrey for the day - the day before we leave San Fran. I know its on the way down, but we've decided to travel to Santa Monica in a day, and are going to drive halfway, stop at san luis obispo for the afternoon, then set back off about 3pm. So rather than detour into Monterrey in the same day as our travel to SM, we've decided to do it as a seperate trip.

We've already got accommodation booked - have hired a 1 bed apartment in both SF & SM from vrbo.com. Happy to drive about a bit though.

The wife wants to do Hollywood/Beverley Hills just to say we've been, then I'm more interested in cultural stuff and scenic views etc.

seatzie

senwar wrote: »

The wife wants to do Hollywood/Beverley Hills just to say we've been, then I'm more interested in cultural stuff and scenic views etc.

do it you can easily drive round it from Santa Monica, Beverly Hills is off the main Santa Monica - Hollywood road (whose name escapes me) you could easily do the drive round seeing the shops, Manns etc without getting out of the car in 90 minutes lol!! I think from memory SM-Hollywood is about a 20 min drive.........................

Baz_2

senwar wrote: »

We're going to drive to Monterrey for the day - the day before we leave San Fran. I know its on the way down, but we've decided to travel to Santa Monica in a day, and are going to drive halfway, stop at san luis obispo for the afternoon, then set back off about 3pm. So rather than detour into Monterrey in the same day as our travel to SM, we've decided to do it as a seperate trip.

That is a long drive SF to SM unless you are just planning on using the freeways?

If you are using the freeways then thats a shame as the coast line is wonderful, although saying that, I'm not sure if highway 1 is closed or not at the moment due the fires.



Enjoy.

senwar

Lovely

I'd looked at the coastal route - 119 miles and just under 3 hours according to google maps. That about right?



Makes it a long day but will be nice to do. The other option that day is to go the other way and go up to Napa Valley. A lot closer and keen to see that area.