Los Angeles what area to stay?

smithers1981

Hi planning trip late October to Los Angeles for Breeders Cup at Santa Anita (horse race meeting)

The racing is on the Saturday and am flying out the Monday before. First time in USA let alone Los Angeles.

Travelling with wife and 10 year old daughter and want to do some sightseeing, beach, shopping and maybe a day in Disney before racing on Saturday.

Where would be a good base, would downtown LA be suitable?

jackieblack

LA is basically a huge sprawling dirty hole with terrible traffic (it’s one of the few places in the US that I have absolutely no desire to return to) and, unfortunately, the places you want to go to are not really anywhere near each other. Santa Anita Park is to the northeast, Disneyland is to the southeast (about 40 miles from Santa Anita) and the coast (beaches) is to the west of LA.
If you’re flying into LAX, this is closer to the coast than the city and there are many beaches to choose from - my preference would be Santa Monica, but it can be pricey.
The poor exchange rate means that shopping has got much more expensive than it used to be - are you thinking Rodeo Drive/designer boutiques or discount outlet stores?
Are you staying very long after the racing or flying straight home?
Would you be open to staying in 2 or 3 different places for the different parts of your visit?

EveryWhere

Do you need to stay at the same place for the whole trip? Will you have a vehicle? What is your budget?
Everyone is different, so difficult to recommend without knowing all of these things. But we stayed in Santa Monica/Malibu Beach, amongst other places.

Take a look here for tips.

smithers1981

Was hoping not to get a car is public transport doable? Flying in Monday then have Tue Wed Thurs Fri before racing Saturday and home Sunday.

My things to do are the racing and the battleship. Daughter wants Disney and to go ‘shopping’ in Target! Too much YouTube.

Wife wants beach will look at Santa Monica.

Thanks

jackieblack

A car is going to be essential with the different places you want to go, unless you are happy to taxi/uber everywhere.

Battleship... Do you mean USS Iowa? That’s south east, at San Pedro - about 30 miles from Santa Monica and about 45 miles from Santa Anita Park. Your destinations form a four sided shape around LA.

Have you already booked your flights? TBH, if you haven’t and just want to visit ‘a battleship’, not USS Iowa specifically, I’d be tempted to fly into San Diego, do USS Midway, beaches and shopping, drive up to Disney Thurs/Friday, to Santa Anita racing on Saturday and fly out of LAX or one of the regional airports. You would need a car.

richardw

Beaches further south Huntingdon and Newport are much nicer.

richardw

jackieblack wrote: »

....I’d be tempted to fly into San Diego, do USS Midway, beaches and shopping, drive up to Disney Thurs/Friday, to Santa Anita racing on Saturday and fly out of LAX or one of the regional airports. You would need a car.

Good plan, don’t forget regional airports possibilities.
BA’s A380 LAX-LHR can be very good.

smithers1981

That sounds a good plan certainly good for thought thanks

smithers1981

Flights direct to San Diego are expensive so need to fly LHR to LAX return.

Leaning towards are car seems a lot less hassle and also will feel safer especially with daughter.

Duckyduck

San Diego isn’t that far a drive from LAX so still worth looking into staying around San Diego or Orange County. LA gets a lot of hate, but the wider southern California area can make for a great holiday.

It is possible to get around without a car, but it’s just so much easier to have one. Its not a difficult place to drive other than the notorious traffic jams meaning journeys can take a lot longer than they should.

EveryWhere

We flew into SFO and out of Santa Ana.

A car is highly recommended, but we are used to driving on both sides of the road.