Going to L.A. at end of April

kingtut

Hi everyone.

I am staying in the Best Western Hollywood Hills Hotel (6141 Franklin Avenue, Hollywood, CA 90028-5205 US) in L.A. for 8 nights at the end of April.

It is my first time in L.A. so I was wondering if people who had been could advise me as to what to do, what not to do, what they liked, didn't like, what they saw etc...

I have looked at many websites but any official ones make all these places out to be the best thing since sliced bread....Also we do not plan on hiring a car but I heard the public transport is rubbish...Can anyone confirm this?

Thanks in advance!

Ponster

Public transport is not rubbish. For something to be bad it must first actually exist

I lived in LA for 6 months. For the last 2 weeks I had no car and was pretty much confined to my hotel. Can't say what it's like around Hollywood though.

http://www.metro.net/ should sort you out.

maryh086

spent 5 days in LA and absolutely loved it. While we were there all public transport were on strike so cant tell you much about that. We booked our tours before we went and got collected from hotel which was handy. Loved movie star homes/venice beach/ theatre district/disneyland/universal etc. We found all tours great and well worth doing. We went there before the huge facination with shopping so not able to tell you much but I assume great value. The hotel we stayed had a hotel car which we just asked if we could use and just for tipping the driver, he brought us to various clubs in a stretch limo!! Couldbe worth asking.....

bocha

i was there for a couple of days and didn't like it! but i was staying on venice beach - santa monica was nice though.

jackofalltrades

kingtut wrote:

Also we do not plan on hiring a car

I'd strongly suggest you reconsider that plan. Lived there for 2 months and didn't have a car, it seriously restricts your mobility. As Ponster said the public transport system is pretty crap.

Even the homeless people go around on bicycles due to its size.

Savman

TripAdvisor is your friend.

8nts in LA might drive you bonkers without a car tbh.

Vegas...

unklerosco

You'll need a car... I was there over xmass n stayed with my cousin. Had a car the whole time I was there. To get from his house to universal studio involved a 2 mile walk and 2 hours on a bus with a change over(each way)... I drove to it in 40 mins.

If you have a car you can get out of LA too, U gotta drive along the coast road through Santa Monica,Malibu n see Santa Barbara... U could drive down to San Diego too.

Driving over there aint so bad, the Highways/Freeways are a bit mad but its a great experience. Also, car hire is dirt cheap too..

LA is H U G E... Its just a giant sprawl, unless ur content with staying in the one area I'd rent a car///

Juran

I lived 1 hour from LA for 6 months in 2007 ( on a work transfer) approx. mid way between LA & San Diego... I had use of a company car and i can honestly say I could not have managed a day without it. I did go through LA a few times to make my way up the coast, which is beautiful .... I just drove thorugh LA, Holywood, etc.. as I didn't see of find anything that interested me there ... I spent my weekends hiking in national parks, dessert trails etc..
I would highly recommed that you hire a car so that you can see some great sites outside LA ... as someone already mentioned, Santa Monica, Santa Barbara and the north coast ... The coast south of LA is really nice as well like Laguna Beach .... worth a drive down these windy hilly roads ..

If you have a day to spare, take a drive to Palm Springs (over an hour east) to get a taste of dessert life ... you can take a cable car to the top of San Jacinto mountain, the views are unreal ...well worth a day trip ... Palm Springs itself is a cute sleep town, you can park up and walk around it in about 30 mins ...
http://www.pstramway.com/

kingtut

Thanks for all the great replies so far!!
It seems a car is a must so can someone tell me how much it would cost to hire a car for 8 days? Also, I have a full Irish drivers license so can I drive over there no problem.

Oh and another thing is there a new security thing in place? I think I have to fill in a form called an ESTA or something like that...I'll take a look at google.

Anyone been to somewhere in LA that they wished they didn't go to?

Ironbars

kingtut wrote: »

Anyone been to somewhere in LA that they wished they didn't go to?

Dont want to rain on your parade but the answer to this question is ALL of it.
Doesnt mean you will hate it but it is the biggest ****hole on the planet IMO. Get out of it, anywere up or down the coast. San diego south or santa barbaba north. California is amazing , its like a beaiutful woman but LA is the area were all the **** comes out.
You should be able to see anything worth while in 1/2 days max.

Sorry just my opinion

Savman

Ironbars wrote: »

it is the biggest ****hole on the planet

For crying out loud, it's nowhere near that bad. It's a large city with some nice parts and some dodgy parts and that's hardly unique to LA now is it?

Doing the Hollywood thing is good fun if you're a movie buff, Santa Monica is nice too. Biggest s***hole on the planet? Not even close.