What to do in Los Angeles and San Diego?

Question

I'm planning to spend the end of December 2010 in LA and San Diego, CA. I plan on flying from Detroit (DTW) to Los Angeles Int'l Airport (LAX). Then, I would rent a car to drive in LA and to go to San Diego on. Here are several questions I hope you guys help me with:

1. Where to stay in LA? Do I need to be close to Downtown and Hollywood or you think I should stay somewhere else. Is there any recommended hotels for both (LA and SD).

2. What to do in the seven days I'll spend in LA?

3. What to do in the three days I'll spend in San Diego?

4. Shopping, theme parks, amusement and adventure, museums, attractions, tours, food !!

Help me plz ^_^

Answer 1

Obviously you can google or yahoo and find lots of things there. But sure I can give you my point of view.



1. LA you don't need to be close to Downtown or Hollywood. I mean you can, you be close by. But you can definitely go to hotels that is near by the airport or better yet in Anaheim. Or better yet go by Venice Beach or Redondo Beach or go to those Disney Hotels, or Universal Hotels or Knott's hotel, or look around those areas of those hotels, which you can find cheaper price, you know near the area of the themeparks, there all close by to L.A.. Those areas are great for travelers, especially by the beaches, their are a lot of shops, and interesting to look at. I would best think Holiday Inn are great good deals hotels, but hey it's up to you.



2-3. LA is an awsome place. Check out the grammy museum that is locacated in L.A., Walt Disney Concert area is also great to look at. Theirs the staples area where the lakers play, especially in basketball season.



Of courseeck out the comvention centers, b/c that where most famous singer celebeirties take place. But hey once near staples center,you would see a whole lot of shops that you will be amazed.



Ofcourse their is Hollywood, there too you would find a lot a famous clubs, hey why don't you try to find yourself a ticket to jimmy kibel live show, it's free to the public and located in hollywood. Check that out, b/c those tickets run out fast. You will be amazed once you enter the studio, i believe its on channel 7. In Hollywood, you'll disover the KODAk theater tour, stores are bacially right next to each other. The museums, the pantages theater *which is an awsome theater experiance, shops, and ofcourse the famous chinese theater,madum tussads *located right next to chinese theater, it's where you see a full body sculpture of hollywood stars, it's like meeting them in real person, it is unbelievable to see...overall you'll be blown away in hollywood city.



Once your there why don't you head up to Beverly hills, that's where the famous people live...or better yet when your at the chinese theater, there would be a bouth of tours, and from there on you can book your tour for the beveily hills tour, where you would actually go see houses of famous people you can think of, seriously no joke...:)



Theme parks

-Disneyland *located in Anahaim, about 15 miles away from L.A.

-Disney California adventure, litterly across, walking diswhiche to Disneyland

-Downtown Disney *walking distance, which connects to the Disney theme parks

-Universal Studios *located about 15 miles away from L.A.

-Uiversal walk *walking distance, which connects to the Universal Studio theme park

-Paramount Studio Museum- located at beverily hills

-Warner Brothers Studio Tour *located at burbank, i believe

-Knott's Berry Farm *located about 15 miles awaY from L.A.

-Lego Land *45 miles away from L.A.

-Getty Musuem *15 miles away from L.A.

-Malibu Beach-there you see like a carnival there at beside the beaches are beutiful *25 miles away for L.A.



As for San Diego, I'm not familiar there, but you can go on tours there, look at shops, like you will do L.A. but there isn't much activity like L.A. You can go to Mexico, and head into T.J. it's litterly right next by.

Answer 2

Balbo Park, Coronado and Old Town are the must-see tourist spots in San Diego.

Balboa contains several museums and the San Diego Zoo. The buildings and the setting are beautiful.

Coronado is a cute town that contains the historic Hotel del Coronado, stay there if you can afford it. It's also home to Naval Base Coronado and if you drive to that part of the island you can see the big Navy vessels, behind a fence and guard gate, of course.

The Aircraft Carrier Museum is a popular place to go.

On your way down be sure to stop and check out La Jolla. You can watch the seals and sea lions play. They are easily seen from the park above the Children's Pool which is actually a cove and not a concrete public pool.



Disneyland is very decorated for Christmas and is worth the admission fee.

Griffith Observatory offers a panoramic view of LA and a close up of the Hollywood sign.

The Disney-owned El Capitan Theater is a restored 1926 movie palace where you can watch the latest Disney movie. They have the lobby full of props and the inside of the theater is decorated in the theme of the movie. They even have an organ player.

Hike at the trails by Terranea Resort in Palos Verdes so you see can see the rugged bluffs that overlook the Pacific. You get a great view of Catalina Island and maybe migrating whales. You'll find it hard to believe you're only 20-30 minutes from LAX Airport.

If you like arboretums, very rare books and art museums than go to the Huntington Gardens. You must get there when it opens or you might not get to see everything.

Old Town in Pasadena is a fun place to go for bars, restaurants and shopping. Pasadena has the most beautiful city hall I have ever seen and is worth seeing.

The Grove/Original Farmers Market and the Americans at Brand are good palces to go for shopping. They really decorate for the holidays.

If you like old cars than visit the Peterson Automotive Museum or if you like art than the Los Angeles County Museum of Art is a great place to go. The nearby Page Museum contains the La Brea Tar Pits and that is cool to see since you don't expect an archeological dig to be in the middle of Los Angeles.

The Getty Museum is worth going to just for the view and the tram ride up.



Traffic is as bad as you've heard in LA so plan accordingly.

Answer 3

San Diego

Answer 4

There are literally hundreds of things to do here. Here is my list of “must sees”, (that can fit in this limited space). Visit as many as you have time for:



Disneyland: The Happiest Place on Earth. Half a billion visitors can’t be wrong. #1 Destination.

Universal Studios: A theme park that grew out of a studio tour. #2 Destination.

Even if you don’t visit Disneyland or Universal Studios Tour, Downtown Disney District and Universal City Walk are very fun places to visit for shopping and eating. And they’re free to visit. If you’re adventurous, try the indoor skydiving (www.iflyhollywood.com). It’s a blast!



Hollywood: Enjoy the Walk of Fame, Entertainment Museum, Chinese Theatre and more. The Hollywood & Highland complex has lots of shops and restaurants, and the Kodak Theater. The El Capitan Theater, right across the street, is where Disney shows their movies. And the Hollywood Bowl is a GREAT place to listen to concerts outdoors.



Other theme parks include Knott’s Berry Farm and Six Flags Magic Mountain, which are both more geared towards the fast-ride teen crowd.



Olvera Street/Union Station: Olvera Street is the birthplace of LA, and it emphasizes our Mexican heritage. In addition to the Avila Adobe (oldest building in LA), you can eat at some pretty good Mexican Restaurants, do a little shopping, and taste a churro. If you don’t want to go to Tijuana, this is as close as it gets without going there



Rodeo Drive, 90210: Packed with exclusive shops, full of gawkers. They all came to enjoy the excess. Free, unless you intend to buy something.



Venice Beach: Here you'll find Muscle Beach, street performers and tacky shops galore. Fun, VERY interesting, but I avoid it after dark, when it gets a little TOO interesting for my taste.



Santa Monica: Beach and Pier: Great beach scene and a classic seaside amusement park, complete with antique carousel that has been in a lot of TV and movies. After visiting the pier, you can ride a bike south a couple miles to Venice Beach.



Sunset Boulevard began as a route between the stars' posh neighborhoods and the Hollywood studios. It runs from downtown to the ocean, passing through the "Sunset Strip" on its way.



Farmers Market and The Grove - A new shopping complex right next to a Los Angeles landmark, It is right next to CBS, so walk across the lot to see if they are taping "The Price is Right".



Griffith Park - Home of the Los Angeles Zoo, Griffith Park Observatory, Travel Town, the Greek Theatre, and Gene Autry Museum of Western Heritage.



Getty Museum - The Getty's architecture is so beautiful that it keeps me fascinated. No matter whether you like their art, architecture, or view better, the Getty is sure to please. Free.



Attend a TV taping - You can get free tickets at audiencesunlimited.com, tvtix.com, or see the booth at Universal City walk. It's very interesting to see a show being taped. The most popular, by far, is the Tonight show.



Places to eat:

In-N-Out Burger: Multiple locations, best burger in LA, ask anyone.

Pink’s Hot Dogs: 709 N. La Brea, just north of Melrose. You might even see a celebrity. Maybe.

Tommy’s Chili Burgers: Look for the shack, an LA tradition. The original location is at Beverly & Rampart, a couple miles west of downtown.

Canter’s Deli: 419 N. Fairfax, between Beverly & Melrose. Near CBS, you might spot a celebrity.

Phillippe’s: 1001 N. Alameda. Great roast beef sandwiches. Near Union Station and Olvera Street.

Tito’s Taco’s: Voted best tacos in LA, even though it’s in Culver City. King Taco is a good alternate if you can deal with East LA.

The Pantry: Corner of Figueroa and 9th, downtown. Huge portions, they never close GREAT steak and eggs.

Medieval Times and/or Pirate’s Dinner Adventure: Dinner and an adventure show, both are on Beach Blvd in Buena Park, you get to eat with your hands.



Places to Stay:

Since LA is so spread out, there is no single place that is close to EVERYTHING. Most people who come here tend to stay in Hollywood, Santa Monica, or Anaheim. In Hollywood, I recommend the Orchid Suites, Hollywood Celebrity Hotel, or Hollywood Heights (formerly Holiday Inn Walk of Fame), all near Hollywood and Highland. In Santa Monica, the Holiday Inn Santa Monica is close to the pier and reasonably priced. In Anaheim, I recommend the Howard Johnson (HoJo) Anaheim, and the Candy Cane Inn. There is also a nice place in Burbank called the Best Western Media Center, very close to Warner, NBC, and Universal Studios.



Places to Shop:

Third Street Promenade, Santa Monica

The Grove, Los Angeles

Americana @ Brand, Glendale

Beverly Center, Los Angeles

Citadel Outlets, Commerce

Brea Mall, Brea

The Block at Orange, Orange

South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa

Fashion Island, Newport Beach

Santee Alley, Los Angeles



For San Diego, go to localwally.com. He's great.