L.A and L.V

[s.a.f]

I'll be visiting Vegas and Los Angeles soon. Just wondering if the typical tourists sites are the best things to see/do whilst there or is there anything better to experience?

unfortunatly I'll only have 3/4 days at each place so I need to spend the time wisely. Any suggestions?

 

[Cassin]

Sadly you're going to have to pick one spot at LA due to traffic.

At least in Vegas you'll be able to walk around.

 

[s.a.f]

Yeah I'll be staying in Hollywood but want to spend 1 day visiting Malibu and Santa Monica whats the best way to travel there?

 

[Cassin]

Sorry I am not familiar enough to give those kind of pointers.

I just know with your time frame you need to make your expectations within a 1 mile area, IMO.

 

[s.a.f]

1 mile??!!?

Here in the UK we have this crazy concept called 'walking'. Seriously Hollywood is only a few miles across its not much bigger than the centre of my town. You can walk a mile in 10 minutes.

 

[Cassin]

I think you took me a bit too literally : ) I was just meaning a small area that will give you time to enjoy whats inside some buildings.

 

[s.a.f]

Bump :woot:

C'mon there must be some people from LA and Vegas on this site! :dunno:

 

[Bryan]

Probably can't arrange it for this trip, however, if you ever get a chance to go back...... the Grand Cannon is only about a 4-5 hour drive from Vegas... Then we drove to the Grand Cannon and stayed 3 days... It was such a great time mixing the "dark-human pleasures" of Vegas and the "wonderous-natural side" of the Cannon.

The "Grand Cannon"?? Is that some artifact of powerful weaponry from the Napoleonic Wars that was brought to Las Vegas just to impress people? :dunno:

 

[s.a.f]

Got a buddy that lived in North Hollywood for 10+ years....give me a day or two and let me see what I can come up for you.

Cheers for that! :salut:
Yeah got a helicopter trip to the Grand Canyon planned, will be taking a coach trip to LA from vegas and yeah seeing the desert landscapes is something that I'm looking forward to the most since theres nothing even close to that in the UK.
As for gambling I'm just going to have a little go and hope for beginners luck if not then I'll quit. Those $12bn casino/hotels were'nt made by paying out money to gamblers. House always wins in the end.

 

[Aplunk1]

I've lived in both areas. I'll comment soon. I'm stuk on layover.

Btw, you cant walk through LA. You'll need a car.

 

[s.a.f]

Thanks for the link, very useful. :notworthy

 

[chore boy]

I'm sorry but I must know... will your attire consist of soccer/football shirts, tube socks and Jesus sandals?

 

[s.a.f]

Of course I'll be swapping my usual attire for something a little more holidaylike.

[attachment=0:23capavi]2003-january-matt-barnard.jpg[/attachment:23capavi]

 

[oni]

Saf make sure you don't brush your teeth for few weeks before you go! You don't want to let the side down!!!

Also you need to make sure they sell the SUN so you make a borstal brick!! and look at real tits..............................Stella by the pint would be good!

 

[dimitar_berbagod]

Full English for brekkers...

Ten pints followed by a curry in the evening... unk:

 

[The Gardener]

Not sure if I'm replying to this in time or not, but I'm an Angelino and can help, saf.

Hollywood is a good place to stay, it's a bit touristy, but there are lots of entertainment choices. If you are into fine dining, Santa Monica Boulevard between Hollywood and West Hollywood has, what I believe, to be the best new restaurants in the city. If you are a foody and want some suggestions, let me know what kind of cuisine you like and I'll give some suggestions.

It is very possible to get from Hollywood to Santa Monica without a car. There are two main east-west streets that run between Hollywood and Santa Monica... Santa Monica Blvd and Wilshire Blvd, and both have very frequent metro bus service. They run through relatively affluent areas of the city (West Hollywood, Miracle Mile, Beverly Hills, etc) so there shouldn't be too much sketchiness to worry about in making that journey.

I'd suggest hitting up the Venice neighborhood during the day, its just south of Santa Monica. The beach area (where Venice Boulevard meets the coast) is known for being a very bohemian area and it will be a feast for the eyes. A few blocks inland from there is Abbott Kinney street, which is lined with drinking establishments, art galleries, and resturants. Venice is a very casual, but very trendy nowadays and its quite a vibrant area. From Venice, you can hop a bus a few miles north to Santa Monica. Santa Monica is a great walking city FULL of entertainment options. You want to head to the Third Street Promenade, a street closed off to car traffic that has blocks and blocks of entertainment and dining. It's best on weekend evenings where there will be street performers and lots of street life.

 

[The Gardener]

Getty Museum is an outstanding idea. (http://www.getty.edu/museum/) There are two Getty Museums in LA, the Getty Center (which is the one you want to go to), and the Getty Villa in Malibu (which is nice, but would be way out of your way). I'm not a big fan of the collection there, but the grounds and building, and the views of the city from there, are amazing. Best of all, its FREE! To get there, you would need to catch a bus north on Sepulveda Blvd and it makes a stop at Getty Center, where you can make an easy walk to the peoplemover that takes you to the mountain top perch that the complex is located on.

For entertainment options, LA has some outstanding live music venues. If you are into Jazz and Blues, the Catalina Jazz Club in Hollywood (http://www.catalinajazzclub.com) on Sunset is one of my favorites. It's not a bar-type club, but rather its a dinner club where you are seated for the show, and they ALWAYS book outstanding talent. It's also a dinner club, but the dinner there is a bit pricey... you don't have to have dinner there, it is possible to just go there for drinks and to see the show. I recommend calling ahead to reserve seats, or having your hotel concierge do so.

Another fave music venue, if you are into jazz/blues, is Harvelles in Santa Monica. (http://www.harvelles.com) It's on 4th street, just one block away from the 3rd street promenade, and it's more of a typical bar-type live music scene. One of my favorite restaurants in the city is in Santa Monica, The Wilshire (wilshirerestaurant.com), on Wilshire. On some nights (maybe just weekends... but, maybe they do it every night?) at about 9pm or so the place starts transforming from a restaurant to a lounge, usually with a DJ or sometimes live music. Make reservations for a table in the patio, which has great ambience and is a great place to suck up a few drinks and peoplewatch. If you don't like the music or the scene there then no problem!... right next door is another OUTSTANDING live music club called Angels (angelssantamonica.com) which schedules a variety of different kinds of musicians, and best of all there is NO cover charge, and the bartenders pour stiff drinks!

 

[The Gardener]

In Hollywood, if you are into the lounge scene, I'd suggest Wood and Vine, located at the lobby of the W Hotel at Hollywood and Vine streets. (http://www.woodandvine.com) There's a lot to do within walking distance in that area.

Oh, there is a fantastic new lounge space in downtown LA that is amazing. It's called The Edison (http://www.edisondowntown.com/), and they have all different kinds of entertainment scheduled from live music to performance art, all in a restored old generator house building. It's open Wednesday through Sunday, and its a very unique place. Check the calendar on their webpage to see what's going on there before venturing over. It's a bit scene-ey, but usually a lot of fun. You can get there from Hollywood on the red line of the subway, its on Main and 2nd, a few blocks away from the civic center station. There are numerous subway stops in Hollywood, so it shouldn't be hard to access.

Yes, LA does have a functioning metro system. (http://www.metro.net/riding_metro/maps/ ... il_map.gif), the only problem is that you can't get to Santa Monica on it, thus the reliance on the bus to get to the beach areas and the Westside.

Not sure what particular interests you have, but if you can give me some info as to what kinds of experiences or things you enjoy, I can give more help...

Hope you enjoy your trip!

 

[The Gardener]

A few more things just popped into mind... you could take the red line north to Universal City station and hit up Universal Studios, and the adjoining CityWalk entertainment area. Extremely touristy, but fun. Universal Studios offers a studio tour that is sort of a "behind the scenes" look at the place (warning.. touristy, but out of towners usually seem to like it) and CityWalk is a walking plaza with bars, restaruants, and Jon Lovitz' comedy club.

Likewise you could take the red line towards downtown and hit up LA Live, another entertainment complex that surrounds Staples Center, the basketball arena. Get off the red line at the 7th street metro center, and walk south for about 4 blocks. This area hosts a few more clubs and also the Grammy Museum, a museum of pop music history, if you are into that sort of thing. Right between LA Live and the metro center on Olympic and Figueroa is Flemings.. its just an upscale chain restaurant steakhouse, but they have a great happy hour menu with some affordable and tasty tapas-sized bites and discounts on pints.

 

[s.a.f]

Thanks for taking the time to do all that. :notworthy Good to hear about the bus service.