Los Angeles, 3 weeks, what to see?

[Zendalar]

In couple of weeks I am gonna visit Los Angeles. We, me and my GF are spending three weeks there.

Any special places what is a must see in there?

Santa Monica, Venice, Hollywood sign, Griffith Observatory there are at least on the list.

Mulholland drive would be cool to see, though with rental car, not so fun

Share your food experiences and places to see

Thanks.

[Zeke]

Well, you have the beach and the overall view planned. That's good. Lot of great architecture here if you want to search that. For a 3 week stay I'd venture out of town at least once. The beach cities of Orange County are really nice, good eats and all. Or north of the city through Malibu and on to Ventura. Nice marina and restaurants. Come back through Camarillo and the San Fernando Valley to get a sense of 1/3 the county. Lots and lots of museums.

It's a big place with a lot to see but you can waste a lot of time just getting from one place to another. Plan well.

I'm sure others will have some great specific advice so I kept it simple.

[craigster59]

Weather should be good by then. Lots of rain lately will make everything nice and green.

If you want to see some "movie magic" PM me and I can get you tickets for the Warner Brothers Studio Tour. A bit more in depth and informative than the Universal Studios Tour.

[3rd_gear_Ted]

Here's an OC itinerary:

Rent an electric Dory in Newport harbor to see what the .1% live like, then go to the Crab Cooker for dinner.
Visit South Coast Plaza for a world class shopping experience & venue.
Lunch @ Newport Coast Pelican Hill after cruising PCH on a Saturday morning.
Biggest & best car show in the country every Saturday morning in San Clemente , no less than 1000 awesome cars.
Cooks Corner Biker Bar and the drive thru the Oak covered Canyon is pure SoCal.
California Adventure @ Disneyland for the kids, Kachow
San Onofre Beach, tower 6 are where fellow Danes go in the summer.

[Seahawk]

If you want to see some really spectacular scenery, I can recommend some desert drives and mountain drives around Ridgecrest, Ca.



Nine Mile Raod up into Kennedy Meadows is a favorite of mine.

[Scott Douglas]

If you're into a unique experience, I'd recommend going to Will Rogers State Park to see how the old folks used to live.
I'd put the Peterson museum on the list too. They usually have something interesting on display.

A lot depends on where you're staying as getting around can be a PITA if you ask me, especially up there in West LA.

[Matt at Pelican Parts]

+1 for the Peterson Museum. For an automotive enthusiast it's practically a crime to visit LA and not see it

[masraum]

I am not a local and haven't spent a ton of time there, but I have been there and saw some cool stuff even if it wasn't really very impressive. It was stuff that I've seen and was familiar with.

"Hollywood"
- I saw the sign from a distance, and that was enough for me.
- I saw the "Walk of Fame". It was odd, I've seen it which is cool. It wasn't "disappointing" exactly, but it was far less impressive than I expected.
- I saw Mann's Chinese Theater, the one with the hand prints of stars. It was similar to the Walk of Fame, I'm glad that I saw it, and it was interesting, but it wasn't as "grand" as I expected.
- I stood on the corner of Hollywood and Vine.

I'm glad that I saw ^those^ things, but what I thought was cooler and more interesting was driving in the hills above Hollywood. I saw the Observatory and I accidentally drove past the Frank Lloyd Wright Ennis house which is what Blade Runner - Deckard's apartment was based on. Granted, that was just driving past an interesting house, probably not something that most folks would be interested in.

I didn't see anything "amazing" but I was places that I have seen on TV and in movies and thought that was pretty cool.

[gtc]

The LaBrea tar pits are really cool.
There are also some good museums... I really liked LA County Museum of Art (LACMA).
We didn't get a chance to hit the Getty museum or Peterson Auto museum.

The Hollywood walk of fame is very touristy and kind of dumb, i would skip it.

The Bradbury Building in DTLA is cool to see if you're a Blade Runner fan.

For food:
Definitely hit Koreatown for some excellent Korean BBQ.
Grand Central Market is also fun... there are some yummy places inside like Villa Moreliana.
Look up a taco truck or taco stand near you that serves Al Pastor tacos... i would skip the chain taco restaurants like Guisado's.
There is a lot of great food in LA... Michelin has some good guides... for example: https://guide.michelin.com/us/en/best-of/best-korean-restaurants-los-angeles-michelin-guide

[Magyar Kiwi]

Interested in History and Art ?
Visit the The Getty Villa, an educational center and art museum located at the easterly end of the Malibu coast in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles.
Address: 17985 Pacific Coast Hwy, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272, United States
Admission is free, and requires a timed-entry reservation, book early on line.

[KFC911]

I've flown into LAX a few times and was picked up by friends who lived in Hermosa Beach .... good times . But I digress....

HB isn't far, and Pelican is pretty close too .... hint, hint .

Explore ....

[Zendalar]

This all sounds like there is tons of stuff to see I was thinking of either renting or loaning a car to drive around the city.

Food will be one thing that excites me, new and different cuisines.

And of course, isn’t Pelicanparts also in LA? Maybe we visit there also, would like to buy a book from Wayne if he is around.

Thanks already

[Scott Douglas]

Not knowing anything about you, it's kind of hard to say what might or might not be of interest to you.
There are some unique places such as the Tar Pits, that you won't find anywhere else.
I'm not sure what the Porsche experience in Carson has to offer as I've never been there.

As a person who's lived the majority of their life here, I rarely go places just to see them.

If you're into taking a good day's road trip you could go to the San Diego Zoo and/or Wild Animal park. Both are world class and easy to get to if you're willing to drive a bit.

There's always Disneyland too, which, if you've never been to one, is worth going once in your life time.

[Ayles]

Plan on LOTS of traffic... Even on highways at all hours of the day/night.

I love Santa Monica and Venice Beach lots of stuff to see and do in that part of town.

Hit up the Hinano for the coldest beer around and a great cheeseburger.

[rcooled]

Originally Posted by Scott Douglas

There's always Disneyland too...

Unless you're traveling with a young kid(s) who insist on going, you might think twice about Disneyland. It's become eye-wateringly expensive and intensely crowded at all times. There's no longer any 'good' time to go that's any less crowded...unless maybe in the middle of the week during a winter rainstorm. If you must go, be sure to spend the extra money for a 'Genie +' pass that allows you to bypass some of the longer lines. Without this, you'll spend half your day standing in long lines to get on the popular rides. You can easily wind up waiting 90-minutes or more in line for a 3-minute ride. Picking your way thru the crowds and dodging the multitudes of strollers in order to get around the park can slow you down too.

On a more positive note, if you're interested in films and film history, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures might be worth a visit.
https://www.academymuseum.org/en

In addition to LACMA, there's some very interesting art at the Broad Museum (rhymes with 'road') and it's admission-free too.
https://www.thebroad.org/

If you're into architecture, you can tour Frank Lloyd Wright's Hollyhock House. There's a good view of the 'Hollywood' sign and Griffith Observatory from there too...


https://hollyhockhouse.org/

[look 171]

Sneak away to las Vegas. Only 3:45 min away, 4 if you want to make a pit stop. Fun place if you haven't been.

What do you think you like to see?

Take a drive up the coast from Santa Monica, have lunch at Santa Barbara. Maybe keep driving up the coast a bit past that. There'a always Hearst Castle but that's a bit of a drive, 3 hours. Slowly drive up the coast, and please do stop at places you think that's interesting. Spend the night at the sleepy town of Cambra, drive on up the Hearts Castle the next morning. TAke the freeway back instead of winding along Pacific Coast Hwy, PCH.

[look 171]

Food? What type of food do you like? We have foold from around the world and go get at some of the more authentic type, they are located in various parts of the city. From Indian to Ethiopian to Tibetan.

[speeder]

^^^ Academy Museum is right across the street from Petersen Automotive museum and right next to the LACMA. That’s become *museum row.*

The Getty is a must, IMO. It’s always free but parking requires a reservation way in advance so the only way to go is by Uber. Park in Westwood village by UCLA and it’s a cheap ride to the Getty. Get lunch at LaMonica’s NY pizza and thank me later.

The old joke about LA being, “a great place to live but I wouldn’t want to visit,” is a truism, IMO. Ironically, tourism is the biggest industry there is, here. It’s an amazing place to live if you like big cities, (it’s HUGE), but can be daunting and confusing for visitors. Hollywood is the absolute worst thing in LA and everyone wants to go there. It’s trash. There are stars pressed into the sidewalk with people’s names on them…for the life of me, I can’t understand why anyone would give a ****.

The Griffith Park observatory is awesome on a clear day or night but it’s become very popular and crowded with tourists. Maybe it was the movie, “La La Land?” Still worth a visit. Griffith Park in general is amazing for hiking or seeing a concert at the outdoor Greek theater, the park is exactly 6x the size of Central Park in NYC.

It also has 2 18 hole golf courses and lots of tennis courts, all open to the public and cheap. You could spend 3 weeks in the Los Feliz area, (near the base of GP), take a couple of field trips to the beach and DTLA and it would be better than driving hundreds of miles trying to see random things. Life is awesome in that part of town and there are more great restaurants in a square mile than there are in many U.S. states.

Feel free to hit me up when you’re here and if time allows, I’ll meet you for a coffee or something. Have fun!

[look 171]

^ Dennis is correct. I am in that area couple times a week. Do lots of work around there and I went to high school there. Ride my bike through Griffith Park at least 3 times a months sometimes a lot more. Parking is no fun, I must warn you. Congestion or traffic is not downtown bad but it does get crowded during rush hours.

[KNS]

Having been born there and a huge interest in film growing up (left California a long time ago), Hollywood is sort of neat to see but very touristy and crowded (and a bit filthy). If you do have an interest in movie making (and even if you don’t) I would take up Craigster’s offer on the studio tour. The behind the scenes stuff is pretty cool.

I would also suggest the Huntington Botanic Gardens in San Marino. Beautiful Japanese garden, Chinese garden, Jungle garden and desert garden all in one spot. Also a world renowned art museum. Plan to spend a whole day (I believe Wednesdays are free admission).

If you’re into cars the Peterson museum of course.

As mentioned LA is spread out - it’s huge and plan to spend time sitting in traffic. Bring plenty of patience.