La

markccfc

I've been to LA twice now for 5 + 7-days respectively.

I don't drive and relied on the metro and bus both times without any problems at all. For $5 a day you can't go wrong.

JamesTGP

What sort of things were you doing whilst out there markccfc?
Thanks again!

makeup

Hello

I lived in LA for 4 months at the end of 05 and went for a trip in 07.

I was living in Glendale without a car and totally relied on public transport. It is perfectly possible to get to most places but...it does take time - so take your ipod!

Here is the website for the public transport www.metro.net it has a journey planner so you can see the journeys you need to take. One of the hardest places to get to and from is, ironically, the airport so I used a shared taxi / minibus which was reasonably priced and efficient.

Public transport doesn't run that late - but the OP wasn't after nightlife.

I loved LA - I found it had much more culture than I expected (LACMA, MOCA, Getty Museum, Disney Hall and I have to say I loved the Brea Tar Pits..!) The beaches are fab and I think Santa Monica is great place to stay for beach / relaxing / eating out etc. I went to the Warner Bros studios and had a great time but you can also easily get to Universal studios which has more rides etc.

I went to Miami last year and enjoyed it as well. I stayed in South Beach which is where most tourist stayed and is a lot of fun but most of that fun is about partying....so hard if you are under 21. The beaches are lovely though and there is good shopping. The public transport is fine to use although we only did one trip out, we went to the downtown area and to Little Havana. There are buses and also a metro system which was pretty easy to use. I think if you wanted to combine with trip to Orlando you would have to sign up for a trip - there were plenty of places selling those in Miami but I'm sure you could sort out a deal before you travelled. Orlando is quite far from Miami though.

To get outside of Miami would be hard without a car - we hired a car and travelled to Everglades and Keys and had a fabulous time.

pazza2000

JamesTGP wrote: »

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.

By the sounds of what you are looking for LA is all its hyped up to be. I think those who do not like LA really have a dislike to it, and that why they are loud with there opinions. LA has its flaws, it is dirty and traffic can be tedious however that aside it is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the World. Like i said, many people, be it rich, successful, well travelled -choose to live there over any other city in the World. They reckon LA will eclipse Moscow for the highest number of Billionaires -you have to wonder why. Thats no reason to go there, im just tying to stress the point that it has something over most of the other cities in the World. Hopefully you will see i, like i and many others do.

leed

realised wrote: »

Apologies if i'm slightly hijacking the thread but what hotel did you stay at in venice beach? I'm off to la soon and decided to stay around that area

We stayed in Holiday Inn in Marina Del Rey - it was within walking distance of some very nice restaurants and the beach. Rooms excellent, roof top pool and decent (if standard) breakfast.