La

blindman

pazza2000 wrote: »

I dont know what to say to this!! Maybe i guess i am a little to passionate, -its just that great a place :-D

Have a look at this forum, sums LA up really. Its a great place, those who are not to keen on it tend to have went car less or have spent little time in the traditional hotspots only such as Hollywood. Those who spend good time there and with a car, love it like i do. This guy above is an exception i guess .... all im saying is he contradicts himself, ill leave it at that :-)

No he's not.

We all have our opinion about places\sights etc but in general I agree with the points sturll has made.

The irony is that you do need a car in LA to get around

(Universal and Hollywood are at the North of the city and Disney\Knotts berry are at the south.
South beach is South too (obvious really!).

BUT the traffic can be horrendous and not just at what we would call "rush" hour.
More like "Rush 24" hrs!

I have been to LA 4 times and used the Metro (doesn't go that far in such a huge city.) You do get some 'interesting' characters on the buses!

If you've never been to Florida then go there instead of LA .

BTW
I've been to 27 US states and the city if LA is not in my top 20 of places to go.

Each to his own.

neilbond007

blindman wrote: »

No he's not.

We all have our opinion about places\sights etc but in general I agree with the points sturll has made.

The irony is that you do need a car in LA to get around

(Universal and Hollywood are at the North of the city and Disney\Knotts berry are at the south.
South beach is South too (obvious really!).

BUT the traffic can be horrendous and not just at what we would call "rush" hour.
More like "Rush 24" hrs!

I have been to LA 4 times and used the Metro (doesn't go that far in such a huge city.) You do get some 'interesting' characters on the buses!

If you've never been to Florida then go there instead of LA .

BTW
I've been to 27 US states and the city if LA is not in my top 20 of places to go.

Each to his own.

i'm in the same boat as this fella. been to close to 30 states and am not a fan of LA (not made it to florida yet).
Been there probably 7 times (mainly 1 night stop overs when travelling to NZ / home) and the only places that are ok are -
Santa Monica
Long beach
I haven't done the theme parks but everything else is pretty cack.
Hollywood is like blackpool with more freaks.
Too spread out, too dirty and the traffic is horrendous (even with the car pool lanes).

As other people mention if you can't get a car there are much better places to visit. vegas and san francisco are 2 that come to mind....

mysparrow

JamesTGP wrote: »

Having been looking at booking a USA holiday for summer for a week or two, we're torn between LA and Florida. My girlfriend's been to Florida before but I've been to neither.

Just wondering if anyone has any advice on LA? We won't be driving out there so any info on transport, value for money hotels etc as well as areas to avoid would be great.

Thanks,
James

Seeing as this is getting quite heated (!) it might be an idea for you to tell the people what you'd want to actually do on your trip? Culture, wildlife, nightlife, sightseeing, nature, beaches etc...
The 2 areas you're looking at are wildly different. How about getting a couple of travel books to do some research?
Personally without a car I'd echo the San Francisco option over LA. It's a beautiful city, ticks most 'things to do' & very easy to get about on foot/ bus.
As for Florida, are you thinking beaches or theme parks?
Orlando is fairly easy without a car but it's pretty much the same stuff with a different outfit on! If you like coasters & such it's great, if you're not fussed then you'll quickly get bored.
Never been to Miami so can't comment on how that'd work without a car.

Another option is to wait another year so you can hire a car & then do a 2 or 3 week road trip of the west coast? That way you could also see San Diego, Joshua Tree, Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Death Valley, Yosemite, Sequoia & King's Canyon, Lake Tahoe plus many others while you're out there!

JamesTGP

We're after a bit of everything really ... a bit of sightseeing, day or two at beaches, day or two at theme parks / attractions. Not really interested in nightlife as neither of us will be 21 by then.
Sounds like LA isn't all it's hyped up to be, I'll have a look around at other options too.

seekit

Hi

I've been following this thread because me and my gf are flying into LAX at the end of May and we also will not be driving.

So in this case at the moment we've decided to stay at a beach hotel(s) and do a few excursions and we'll be happy with that.

Can anyone recommend what beach resort to stay in for mainly relaxing on the beach,walking and shopping during the day,a bit of night life and entertainment later.
We would prefer a nice hotel on the beach or as close as we can to the beach which is reasonably priced (upto £100 per room pn)

Anyone have any reccomendations for us please ?

Thanks in advance.

sturll

seekit wrote: »

Hi

I've been following this thread because me and my gf are flying into LAX at the end of May and we also will not be driving.

So in this case at the moment we've decided to stay at a beach hotel(s) and do a few excursions and we'll be happy with that.

Can anyone recommend what beach resort to stay in for mainly relaxing on the beach,walking and shopping during the day,a bit of night life and entertainment later.
We would prefer a nice hotel on the beach or as close as we can to the beach which is reasonably priced (upto £100 per room pn)

Anyone have any reccomendations for us please ?

Thanks in advance.

Santa Monica. 100%

neilbond007

sturll wrote: »

Santa Monica. 100%

i'll second that. although hotels in this area are pretty pricey.
marina del rey is also an option. i found this area to be cheaper and is 5 miles from santa monica. walk from marina del rey via venice beach, muscle beach to santa monica. grab a cab back at night (or hire bikes!).

but, if you find a decent hotel at a good price in SM ignore the above comments!

SimbaSimon

We're staying in Hollywood on our trip to LA however we're only there a few nights. 1 day will be universal and the other will be a grand tour of LA so neither need a car. On the 3rd day I'll hire a car and head down the costal route to San Diego.

steveo3002

just came back from LA at the weekend , we love it there and have been loads

i agree you really would have a better time with a car , but all the hotels can put you on a le tourist shuttle bus to any actraction, although it will end up dearer than a car

maybe stay near disney /knotts ..we did the bus trips when we first went , up to hollywood ,universal , vegas , disney , knotts etc if you choose your hotel carefully you can walk to places to eat and a supermarket

hollywood is pretty much a dump imo id never stay there

FluffyFiFi

I've been to LA and Florida and TBH I wouldn't want to do either without a car as you just end up not seeing the things you want or spending ages waiting for transport. If you fancy USA but can't hire a car, what about Vegas. You won't need a car there, the hotels are fantastic, there are some great deals at the moment and you can do day trips to the Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam.