Los Angeles Travel Forum

Hi

Myself and my boyfriend will have a 1 nights stopover in LA on our way to New Zealand, I was wondering if there was any good tours people could recommend of the city? or is it worth our while for such a short period of time?
We will probably be tired so won't want to do anything too tiring, neither of us has ever been to LA before, also we will be on a tight budget so nothing too expensive.
Is there any nice cheap hotels/motels near the airport anyone could recommend?

It would be good if we could see some of the cities highlights in the little bit of time we will have there

Thanks

Teresa

My boyfriend's best friend from Germany could only spend 10 hours with us one day. We took him to Venice Beach. He really got a big kick out of that. You see people from all walks of life there. Lots of tourists and locals. You can shop and eat very inexpensively there. You can check out my Venice page for pics.

You can hop on a tour that takes you to Rodeo drive were if you are lucky can spot famous actors shopping ,fishermans market,Hollywood and belair were you get to see the privat residences of the famous actors and all of this will take approx 2 hrs and can be booked direct near the chinese theatre.... enjoy

Many of the hotels have info. about the tours mentioned above and give a good overview of the city including Farmers Market. We booked a 2-hour tour and tacked on a visit to Universal Studios. I thought I wouldn't enjoy a 'theme park' atmosphere but it proved interesting although too long (5 hrs) because we waited for our pick-up instead of using a taxi to return to the hotel.

Santa Monica is also very pleasant if you're not too tired to do some walking.

The only hotel I've stayed in near the airport is the Residence Inn; approx. $150/night.

Depending on exactly how much time you have, and how limited your budget is, I'd recommend two options:

One is Grace's recommendation of Venice Beach. It's a wild, Bazaar like strip, right on the sand, and a famous center of counter-culture....the beach area is dicey at night, but glorious by day. Just a few blocks inland is Abbott Kinney Blvd., which is, arguably, the hippest shopping street in LA. Hopping and safe at night. Budget: Cab fare from LAX is a minimum of $17.50, and it would likely cost you a bit more. And, your only realistic option is a cab.

Same for Santa Monica, which is a more polished version of Venice, with a classic pier amusement park and pedestrian only Downtown. Punks in Venice, families in Santa Monica.

Another budget possibility is to do Hollywood. You grab the "FlyAway" bus marked "Union Station" under the green sign at LAX, and for $4/pp & 40 minutes or less, it takes you directly Downtown to Union Station(which is gorgeous). You can walk across the street to Olvera Street(oldest street in city; mexican themed) and over to sights such as Disney Hall, MOCA, etc. Or, you might just want to jump on the red line subway, which will take you to Hollywood & Highland in approx. 22 min. Here is the "Times Square" of LA, and the Chinese Theatre, Walk of Fame, etc. A bit honky tonk at times, but usually at the top of visitors' lists. So, for 5.25, each way, pp, you can do Hollywood, and you'll see a fair share of the Downtown skyline on the journey.

If it were me, I'd do any of the above. Anything more aggressive on a layover might be a bit of a headache.

Welcome!

GC