Favorite thing to see in Los Angelas

[KENANDPAT]

If you had to pick one thing to do in Los Angelas, what would it be? We are arriving the day before our cruise and then will be there in between on b2b for the day.

 

Night before the cruise we are staying in San Pedro.

[Curt Jerome Wild]

There are so many great things to see and do, but what is great for some people is not good for others.

 

What are the numbers of people, and age ranges in your group?

Any certain things that you are more interested in than other?

Tourist attractions? Movies? TV Shows? Nature? Museums? Art? Science?

[Splinter]

Popular things to do. In one day you can do one or sometimes two of these, but certainly not all. Most would require a rental car as public transportation is not convenient and taxis are very expensive:

 

Go to Farmer's Market for lunch and shopping.

 

Visit the Getty Center (art and gardens)

 

Visit the Museum of Tolerance

 

Visit the LA County Art Museum (easy to combine with Farmer's Market above)

 

Visit La Brea Tar Pits

 

Drive along PCH in Malibu and visit the boardwalk and beach in Santa Monica

 

Visit the Huntington Library and Gardens in San Marino (near Pasadena)

 

Window shop on Rodeo Drive

 

Drive to Hollywood to see the Hollywood sign and the Walk of Stars

 

Visit Mann's (Graumann's) Chinese Theater to see the old movie star foot and handprints in the cement.

 

Disneyland (not really Los Angeles...Orange County, in Anaheim) or Knott's Berry Farm (Brea in Orange County) amusement parks

 

Visit the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach

[Bruin Steve]

To Splinter's list you could add:

 

Stroll the Venice Beach Boardwalk

 

Visit the Santa Monica Pier

 

Visit the Getty Villa (the antiquities collection--different location than Getty Center)

 

Universal Studios

 

See a TV Show taping

 

Go see a concert at the Hollywood Bowl...or a show at any of a number of small clubs in Hollywood/West Hollywood

 

The list could go on and on...

 

But, also note that a lot of these things can be grouped together and done in the same time period...

 

For example, the Venice Beach Boardwalk and Santa Monica Pier are not far apart--and can be done in the same afternoon after spending the morning at the Getty (either one)...

 

Or you could visit the Grove/Farmer's Market after shopping on Rodeo and before watching a taping at CBS Studios nearby...

 

Or you could check out Grauman's Chinese and the Walk of Fame on your way up to Universal...or to an NBC tour or taping in Burbank...

 

It all just depends on what you want to do or see most...then you can start planning a day around it...

 

Of course that perfect day would be different depending on who you are and what you like...LA has something for everybody...

[furluvcats]

Disneyland followed by downtown Disney is always fun, but a bit far from LA

[wizard-of-roz]

If I were just visiting....FIRST AND FOREMOST: You must have your own transportation.......L.A. is ONE BIG FREEWAY.....really spread-out. And, our Taxi system and public transit stinks!

We're not like New York where everything is within a certain radius of each other-Taxi's aplenty and the subway.

You need a good map and a car. There's so much to see and do!

All that everyone has mentioned is wonderful.

You must go to Wilshire Blvd. (off the 405 Santa Monica Freeway-go east to Beverly Hills. Down a few miles to Rodeo Drive and Reg. Bev. Wil. (Regent Beverly Wilshire-Pretty Woman-Sit on the patio, have a cappuchino and watch the stars and Rolls Royce's go by!)

Then down to La Cienega Blvd. (Restaurant Row)- then up to Sunset Blvd. Turn left and see the most amazing homes you'll ever see.....don't go too far because you're going to want to come back (east) on Sunset to La Brea - left to Hollywood Blvd. Turn right and drive up Hollywood and just take in the sights on both sides of the street. Amazing!

[Cruisin' Chick]

If you had to pick one thing to do in Los Angelas, what would it be? We are arriving the day before our cruise and then will be there in between on b2b for the day.

 

Night before the cruise we are staying in San Pedro.

 

A major factor is how long will you actually be here. If you're getting in the late afternoon the day before your cruise, then you will have not a lot of time to be doing any sightseeing (and would have to squeeze that in on your turnaround day on your BtoB).

[deepnite10]

depending on your interest..there s plenty to choose from..

 

expect it to be plenty croud d in any of the amusement parks..

for a single day activity..we d probably do Universal Studios..LA

is just to spread out to try to do alot of things in a single day..

[spearmint]

We will also be there for one day on a b2b; I noticed that no one has indicated a tour company. Is that type of thing out of the question? We have never been there before, and probably will not be there again, so a general sightseeing inventory would be our choice, I think.

[SelectSys]

...You need a good map and a car. There's so much to see and do!

 

I would recommend getting a GPS with your rental car. This takes a lot of the guess work out of navigation and LA is a really big place.

 

We will also be there for one day on a b2b; I noticed that no one has indicated a tour company...

 

You're getting local input so it isn't surprising that people are listing places rather than tour companies. The only time I hear of tours are for specialty items - e.g., star home tours. I think it has to do with the fact that things are so spread out.

 

The lists provided above are more than enough for your time availability. I would recommend just digging into those options (e.g., Splinter's list) via the internet and making your choices.

[Cruisin' Chick]

If you are going on a BtoB on the same ship, that means you have just the morning and early, early afternoon. You may want to double check what time you have to be back on the ship. Once you know that you can start checking tour companies in that's what you want to do. But unless you're going on a ship's sponsored tour, you may need to catch a cab to a pickup spot (which may be just hotels).