A day's worth in LA? **All done - thanks! **

[Doc Holiday]

I'm planning to visit Southern California this coming March and would like to spend a day touring some spots in LA.

I'd like to see -

Rodeo Drive,
Hollywood (Grauman's, Hollywood and Vine, Whiskey-a-go-go, and the Walk of Fame),
Venice Beach,
Beverly Hills (including the Beverly Hills Hotel),
Sunset Strip,
Chinatown,
Dodger Stadium.

We're planning to visit Disneyland and perhaps Universal Studios on separate days.

Can we get to see all of those in one day? Obviously, we're not looking to spend a lot of time at any of these, just a drive to, perhaps take a picture and move along to the next.

Thanks in advance for you help!

 

[jlmarr]

Yes, that's doable in one day. You might order it from east to west (start in Chinatown, then Dodger Stadium, then Sunset Blvd westbound etc). You might see if you can work in The Grove and Farmers Market (both adjacent at 3rd and Fairfax).

 

[Doc Holiday]

Thanks jlmarr - that's a great suggestion!

 

[KCmike]

Anything after 2pm your going to start hitting major traffic. I would cut your list down to half of what you have unless your doing a drive by.

 

[LittleWoodenHead]

I'm planning to visit Southern California this coming March and would like to spend a day touring some spots in LA.

I'd like to see -

Rodeo Drive,
Hollywood (Grauman's, Hollywood and Vine, Whiskey-a-go-go, and the Walk of Fame),
Venice Beach,
Beverly Hills (including the Beverly Hills Hotel),
Sunset Strip,
Chinatown,
Dodger Stadium.

Can we get to see all of those in one day?

Where will you be staying? That could effect the order.

Otherwise, I agree with jlmarr -- start at Chinatown and work your way west. However, I'd also recommend you drop visiting Venice Beach that day. It's not very near your other destinations and so would be last on the list for that day. Which means that you'd be (a) hitting heavier traffic on the way there, and (b) possibly getting there too late to see much anyway.

Heading from east to west, here's my two cents:

I personally don't think much of our Chinatown, but the nearby Olvera Street and Union Station are worth a quick stop.

There's also not much to see at the intersection of Hollywood & Vine. Next door to Grauman's, however, is the Hollywood & Highland mall. And across the street is the El Capitan Theatre and the Disney Soda Fountain.

As mentioned above, it would be worth it to pop down to The Grove at 3rd & Fairfax. Rick Caruso, the Grove's developer, has acknowledged the influence of Walt's ideas and, especially, Disneyland's Main Street on this project.

A drive along Melrose Avenue can be easily worked in on the way to (or from) the Grove.

The Whiskey is on the Sunset Strip at San Vicente, so it's easy to drive by. The Viper Room is across the street, and the Roxy a couple blocks further west.

The Beverly Hills Hotel is off Sunset, just beyond the Strip. You can swing by, then drop down to Rodeo Drive and Wilshire Blvd. from there.

Save Venice Beach for another day -- along with Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade and other Westside locations.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[LauraAnn630]

We are planing the same trip for this June.

Does anyone know where I can get a tourist map ( not to scale) of all these points of interest?

I do not know what order to do them in either.

We are staying near Disneyland.

What beaches do you recommend.

TIA

 

[CBJHockeyNut]

Does anyone have experinece with a tour company to see the sights in LA?? Kind of like a double decker bus that drives you around and points out the sights???

 

[Doc Holiday]

We're back!

Our base of operations for this vacation has been San Diego.

We visited Disneyland and California Adventure on Wednesday and L.A. proper yesterday.

We had a huge breakfast at the Denny's across from the Disneyland resort entrance. If you go there, ask for Alex the waiter - he's awesome. We then headed up the 5 into L.A.

We started at Echo Park - got some interesting pictures of the skyline (it was very, very hazy) and then headed over to Dodger Stadium. The stadium is very cool and I'll be hanging a pair of Dodgers' fuzzy dice on my rear view mirror when I get home!

We drove through Chinatown (not much to see) and headed to Hollywood next. We walked along the walk of fame and went to the Chinese Theater. The place was mobbed, but it was a lot of fun. There are some really interesting characters there! We also managed photo ops at Hollywood and Vine, the Hollywood sign and at El Capitan.

We drove through West Hollywood and Beverly Hills and took plenty of photos there as well as drive-bys of the Whiskey and Viper, The Troubador and the Roxy.

We got on the Santa Monica Freeway, headed to that beach. Some photos and then off to Venice Beach. I'm not sure what I was expecting at Venice Beach, but it was different than what I expected. Still, pretty neat place.

We then headed down to Manhattan Beach to catch the sunset. It was spectacular. Just a few clouds to enhance to colors and there was a huge tanker sitting on the horizon as well. We stopped in to the Shellback Tavern for some munchies and the others in my party split a pitcher. I refrained, knowing that I had to drive back to San Diego and I'm glad I did.

We headed east, found the 405 and headed south. The 405 is a trip! Packed with traffic - all of it either going 80 or stopped. People changing 3 lanes at a time to get around slower drivers. Man - crazy drive.

The 405 took us to the 5 and back to San Diego.

A whirlwind tour of L.A.

I know we didn't see much and what we did see, we rushed by, but this visit to L.A. really deepened my love for San Diego.

 

[tink too]

Wow - you really did manage to fit a lot of sights into your day, Doc Holiday!

We're hoping to do something similar in May. We won't be hiring a car (we're not used to big city driving ) but have found a great hop on/off bus tour operated by Starline.

All I really want to see is the really touristy stuff - the Chinese Theatre, El Capitan Theatre, the Walk of Fame and the Hollywood sign of course!

 

[fairycat]

Wow - you really did manage to fit a lot of sights into your day, Doc Holiday!

We're hoping to do something similar in May. We won't be hiring a car (we're not used to big city driving ) but have found a great hop on/off bus tour operated by Starline.

All I really want to see is the really touristy stuff - the Chinese Theatre, El Capitan Theatre, the Walk of Fame and the Hollywood sign of course!

Just so you know everything you listed is on one corner. You will be able to do much more than that in a day just so you know