Travel Guide : Los Angeles

[misstiz]

Hey guys.. I'm refreshing this thread as I'm heading over to LA in June (soooo excited!)

Can any lovely LA locals please tell me where best location to stay is.. I'm on a pretty tight budget ($70/night for a double) and the places I'm looking are:

* N Orange Drv (off Hollywood Blvd, opp the Roosevelt) - Orange Manor
* Hollywood Blvd (near cnr N Bronson Ave ie near where Hollywood Fwy crosses) - Vibe Hotel
*Cnr N Fairfax Ave & Beverly Blvd - Rodeway Inn

Ideally I want to stay near West Hollywood (but the places I've looked at there ie. the Standard - are too pricey), I read celeb gossip sites and watch The Hills etc and they seem to frequent this area the most.

I want somewhere safe, that's fairly close to walk to Melrose etc for shopping and near cool cafes (I'm vego), wholefoods etc and somewhere good for people watching!

The guidebooks I've read are kinda old and say that West Hollywood is predominantly a gay area, is it still? - not that it bothers me, I'm just curious.

Oh and I might hire a car, but I'm really nervous about driving on the other side of the road and the crazy traffic!!

Thanks in advance

 

[Erin]

Glad this thread was revived...

I grew up in Iowa, so I definitely had my negative views and thoughts about LA before moving here. Living in Chicago at the time, I met my now-fiance, who happened to be a screenwriter. Last September we moved here from Florida (after grad school).

So, what is LA REALLY like?

Well, the litter is out of hand in the lesser desirable parts of the city. It's rather sad, really. Many times I see people just toss a wrapper or something while walking, and each time I still cannot get over it.

The traffic CAN get bad, especially on the weekends. So that's annoying. The smog is present pretty often, but on the clear days you can appreciate the beautiful snow-capped mountains to the east, and the Hollywood sign to the north.

Besides the trash and traffic, there are many good things.

There is always a new city to explore... Pasadena is great, Santa Monica, and even Glendale has its charm... and a new area to explore... Larchmont Village, Los Feliz, etc.

I have yet to take the train/subway, so that's what my fiance and I are planning on doing one of these days. Take the train downtown and exploring. We just bought a primo camera, so we'd like to take a million photos, especially of Broadway.

I like to think of LA as a city full of hidden treasures. Though it's not a *true* city like Chicago or New York (unfortunately), there are so many things to see. And the ocean is beautiful.

 

[misstiz]

Cool! Thanks for the insight Erin. I can't wait to get there!

Does anyone else have any thoughts on which part of LA to stay in, per my post above?

Cheers

 

[lmelanie]

i just came back from LA last week..we stayed in beverly hills at the avalon hotel and we saved a ton of money by booking with expedia.. i rented a car..it was a great location.but we also had friends out there who took us around..we went to venice beach, lng beach, satna monica, melrose ave. sunset blvd...i live in NYC now but me and 3 of my friends are moving out to LA this fall/winter...

any info on a NYC girl moving to LA?

 

[Erin]

^ Yeah... you're going to LOVE the weather.

 

[V|Bruce]

Hi I'm off to LA in two weeks, any tips on vintage stores and good clubs? Can you get in to clubs even if youre (I'm 20) under 21?

 

[meeks]

Hey guys.. I'm refreshing this thread as I'm heading over to LA in June (soooo excited!)

Can any lovely LA locals please tell me where best location to stay is.. I'm on a pretty tight budget ($70/night for a double) and the places I'm looking are:

* N Orange Drv (off Hollywood Blvd, opp the Roosevelt) - Orange Manor
* Hollywood Blvd (near cnr N Bronson Ave ie near where Hollywood Fwy crosses) - Vibe Hotel
*Cnr N Fairfax Ave & Beverly Blvd - Rodeway Inn

Ideally I want to stay near West Hollywood (but the places I've looked at there ie. the Standard - are too pricey), I read celeb gossip sites and watch The Hills etc and they seem to frequent this area the most.

I want somewhere safe, that's fairly close to walk to Melrose etc for shopping and near cool cafes (I'm vego), wholefoods etc and somewhere good for people watching!

The guidebooks I've read are kinda old and say that West Hollywood is predominantly a gay area, is it still? - not that it bothers me, I'm just curious.

Oh and I might hire a car, but I'm really nervous about driving on the other side of the road and the crazy traffic!!

Thanks in advance

I haven't stayed at any of the places that you've mentioned, but in case you didn't know, yelp.com is a good place to read well-written reviews from users for hotels, clubs, bars, restaurants etc. You can search by location or look up the hotels by name. I never really thought about how tourists get around independently in L.A. but imo, a car is a necessary evil. Driving here is something that I will never get used to (worst drivers ever!), get a car with a GPS if you can.

 

[chel4mdavali]

this website should help if you're looking for Hills areas... http://www.mtvthehillslocations.com/

i recommend swingers for a diner feel and Toast for a really casual hipster atmosphere

 

[chel4mdavali]

also M cafe has been popular as the vegan cafe to go to. also a tip if you're going to be in the Hollywood area take Franklin st. instead of Hollywood blvd. it runs parallel to hollywood blvd. and usually has less traffic

 

[misstiz]

thanks for the info guys, but this is in reply to a post made a year ago!

 

[Erin]

^ How was your trip? Where did you visit?

A side-note, a must-try place in LA is bld... delicious blueberry ricottta pancakes!

 

[Erin]

To people who live in/are familiar with Los Angeles...

Where are some cool/unique coffee shops/eateries... need to try something new.

 

[Sav_]

Erin, I love trying new restaurants so I took reccomendations from people on which ones to try in LA (I don't live there, but visit often). Here's the entire list


Father's Office
Gjelina
Toast Bakery Cafe
Clementine
Pizzeria Mozza
The Little Door
Millie's Cafe
La Creperie Cafe
Home
Joan's on Third
Sugar Fish
The Bagel Broker
Philippe's The Original
Milk
Food + Lab Cafe & Marketplace
Swingers Diner
Grub
Madeo
Cecconi's
Tavern
Osteria la Buca
Katsu-Ya (Studio City)
Nate'n Al
Scoops

Hope this helps some!

 

[Erin]

^ Thanks LiveByTheSun

I've been to:

Clementine - loved it so much that I took a bunch of photos
Home - $4.99 huge breakfast plates before 11am on weekdays - awesome deal... I always get the French Toast with bananas and walnuts
Scoops - awesome, and you'd never know it was vegan

Of course, I know of Joan's on Third and Katsu-Ya... but they're fairly pricey for what they are (but hey, I'm cheap). I'm really aiming for something that is a bit more affordable... a bakery or a cafe... a diamond in the rough, even. I'll have to definitely look into a few that you listed, though. Thanks.

 

[chel4mdavali]

i second Toast and Milk! try milk's hot vanilla... itsss soo good with their blondies. and Toast is just my fav atm

 

[iluvaar]

Hey guys, bumping this thread, what are some things to do in Hollywood area, LA? I've booked a few things like Universal and Disneyland, as its my first time. Anything else worth recommending? what are the best beaches, any other tours, places that a must-sees?

 

[Erin]

^ If you don't mind the touristy stuff, then Universal Studios and Disneyland are must-sees. Add the Pier and Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica to that list, as well. There's Knott's Berry Farm, too.

There are always the bus tours - though I don't know anybody who has road on one. Also, the movie studios have tours.

On Sundays there's a great farmers market in Hollywood: http://www.farmernet.com/. If you have time, hike to the Griffith Observatory in northern LA for (on a clear day) great views of Los Angeles. If you want to see a celeb hiking, though, you may have better luck in Runyon Canyon.

Check out the Getty if you're into museums, or MOCA downtown.

Zuma Beach in Malibu is nice - definitely check out Malibu if you're wanting the beaches. If you're lucky, you can often find an area where you're fairly by yourself (Malibu is almost 30 miles long). If you don't care how busy it is, I'm partial to Manhattan Beach, which is south of LAX about 5 miles... and Bill's Pancake House is delicious... and if you eat outdoors, you get great views of the ocean... if you eat inside, you can still feel the sea breeze.

If you want the chance for a celeb siting, many frequent Joan's on Third in LA, and once in a while you see them in Marina del Rey and Studio City.

What are you hoping to accomplish in LA? Where are you staying, and how long are you here? Happy to help.

 

[iluvaar]

Oh, thanks so much Erin, all that info is great...I really want to cover as much as I can, I'm wanting to do all the touristy stuff, but I was wanting to check out some shopping places aswell, not so expensive ones, more thrift stores, I like buying second hand clothes. My sis is into photography, aswell so we're hoping to take photos of random stuff, lol...I'm just worried about transport, I won't be able to drive, so how would we get from Hollywood area to Getty Museum in LA?Is public transport easy to get around?
I'm going over from 28th June -11th July, spending one week in O.C. and then LA.

 

[Erin]

^ I'm not too sure about public transportation in LA. It's definitely not as cool to take it here as in, say, Chicago. The train is actually very clean and good, but the routes are not that extensive - you'll want to look at Metra online to see where the routes are. As far as buses, I have yet to take a bus in LA... so I can't help you there, unfortunately.

I'm into photography as well. I always see a bunch of cool things in the Silverlake area and in Santa Monica. But there's so much here, though it may be a bit spread out.

Any more questions, just ask.

 

[misstiz]

iluvaar, I visited LA last year, after a few days I ended up hiring a car as it's not overly easy getting around via public transport (though I only caught the metro, not buses).

The hollywood area is on the red metro line (train), which is good for getting to downtown LA, and for going a fairly short way to Loz Feliz etc which takes ages to walk.

Re: Getty Centre, I had a quick look at the Metro Trip Planner on the website for you. To get from say the corner of Hollywood Blvd & Vine to Getty Centre, you'd need to take the Metro Limited Line 302 bus (or the Metro Local Line 2 bus) from Hollywood and then transfer to the Metro Rapid 761 bus to Getty Centre. It would take about an hour.

Go here here for more details: http://socaltransport.org/tm_pub_start.php

There's loads of buses in LA so I'm sure you'll be able to get to wherever you want to go, it'll just take organising as to which bus to take. You'll just have to get familiar with the metro trip planner!