LA + Vegas, need tips and recommendations!

fatboyonadiet

Cheers all for the tips, pbright and wdyw thanks for all your posts but let's not fight! Let's all be friends! The reason why i love MSE and MTC said the same is you got totally opposite posts but all a useful as one another. All are useful to me and helping to shape up my holiday - no matter who has posted them.

Anyway have a good weekend and enjoy the sun!

vfm

My travel flyl direct from Manchester and we found the prices very reasonable.

vfm

Mytravel fly direct from Manchester and we found the prices very reasonable.

IvanOpinion

Just some other points of interest to consider. If you decide to drive try to take in a little town called Solvang ... its like stepping back in time in a real Dutch community (and does the most fantastic pastries).

If you are heading into Mexico, I notice some people mention Roserita .. if you continue SOuth you will also find Ensenada which is a bit touristy but does have a 'Papas and CHips; (a bit like Senor Frogs) which is good for afternoon.

If you are heading out towards Magic mountain or Knottsberry Farm then not too far from them is Ripleys Believe it or not and 'The Goose' (although the less said about that one the better). If you want a simple bit of fun then also consider Medieval Times where you get a meal while watching your knight joust and battle (ours fell off his horse).

Also, just in case nobody has mentioned it yet, consider going to Venice Beach ... it is not reportedly the safest place in America but it is good for a laugh and you will meet some real weirdos .. including JImmy Hendrix in a turban and roller blades, a man setting himself on fire etc.

So much to see .. so little time to do it.

Ivan

Murphy_The_Cat

vfm wrote:

Mytravel fly direct from Manchester and we found the prices very reasonable.

Hi VFM

Mytravel are asking £575 for travelling in September, which is a wee bit steep.

Also, doing a bit of digging around on T'internet, there appears to be A LOT of people complaining about the seat pitch on the plane Airlinequality.com quotes 29" of seat pitch - if thats the case I would not travel from Manchester to Lonond with them.

MTC

pbright

IvanOpinion wrote:

If you are heading into Mexico, I notice some people mention Roserita .. if you continue SOuth you will also find Ensenada which is a bit touristy but does have a 'Papas and CHips; (a bit like Senor Frogs) which is good for afternoon.

.......If you want a simple bit of fun then also consider Medieval Times where you get a meal while watching your knight joust and battle (ours fell off his horse).

Also, just in case nobody has mentioned it yet, consider going to Venice Beach ... it is not reportedly the safest place in America but it is good for a laugh and you will meet some real weirdos .. including JImmy Hendrix in a turban and roller blades, a man setting himself on fire etc.

With a Rental car and the time you have, i personally would not reccommend you go further south than Roasarito.....i also found Ensenada dirty, but Roasarito would be a "Must" for me if you want to go to Mexico

I forgot about Medieval times(you will clock it in lots of movies/shows after your trip)....i would reccommend to do it after your night at six flags...(am i right that it is just of the route there??)it would be a perfect way to end the day however if you are doing Magic Mountain and the water park there in the same day...you will be pretty beat come dinner time.

I would also reccommend Venice for the experience....its a bit like Hollywood Blvd at the Beach in my opinion...i would suggest you do it on your Santa Monica Pier/Beverly Hills day(you will go through Bev. hills on the way to SM from Hollywood so do the drive round there then...maximise your time!!). If you like the idea of doing all that on that day i would suggest fat boy you have breakfast in Rodeo Drive or Hollywood(ill reccommend places with directions if you want? just PM me) then head to Santa Monica slowly taking in Beverly Hills/Bel Air etc then turn south on PCH when you reach Santa Monica and go down to Venice Beach(not too far) then come back afterwards and do Santa Monica at sunset, late evening...the best time to do it i think!!


Also Fatboy...before i went i map-quested loads of diretions to everywhere and anywhere from my hotel and back.....obviously your plan will change but i made loads of directions from mapquest when i had all the time here so i did not have to fret with my precious time in the great city of LA

Murphy_The_Cat

pbright wrote:

Also Fatboy...before i went i map-quested loads of diretions to everywhere and anywhere from my hotel and back.....obviously your plan will change but i made loads of directions from mapquest when i had all the time here so i did not have to fret with my precious time in the great city of LA

and don't forget to do some enquiies to find the multiple neighbourhoods of LA that you don't want to go ANYWHERE near.

also regarding visiting Mexico - some of the car rental firms get iffy about their cars leaving the country, it doesn't do any harm to check with them first.

MTC

p.s. pbright, I'm still waiting that pm that you promised me - if you don't want to send it to me, fine. But you were the one that offered to send it in the first place.

Tommy_C_2

fatboyonadiet wrote:

What about the helicopter ride? How much and any recommendations?

This is by far the best one to do:

http://www.papillon.com/popris/show_package.aspx?package_id=19&lang=en-US

Includes collection to/from your hotel. Sit next to the pilot, fly over and around Hoover Dam, Lake Mead, etc. and then the Grand Canyon. Land at the bottom for a lunch (provided) and then back again including over and around the Vegas strip. About 4 hours in total.

Best thing I've ever done!

My tip is not to go on the last flight of the day as it is sometimes cancelled if there is any wind. Book direct with the company.

Murphy_The_Cat

Are we all agreed that (whoever you use) the Grand Canyo helicoptor flight is a "must do" while in Las Vegas excursion.

MTC

nevh2001

2 years ago, we did the trip but we went to New York first, which was direct from Manchester, and flew with contintental, we went to Las Vegas for 3 nights then went to L.A. for 7 nights.
If i were you , i would stay in Santa Monica in LA, there are some very reasonable hotels/motels there, we stayed in a motel, cant remember the name but it was $60 a night and was very clean etc. Santa Monica is a great little place, is famous for having movie stars walk around it (we didn't see any :-( ), has a great beach and is very close to Beverly Hills/Hollywood etc. for day trips. I thoroughly recommend.

We hired a car from LAX, was very cheap and we drove to San Diego and stayed in a motel by the beach for a couple of nights. Was an amazing holiday