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(Post-trip Update!) Things to do around LA in 3 days.
Basar
IstanbulRegistered User regular
IstanbulRegistered User regular
Hi all,
I am traveling to the US on Saturday and I'll be in Vegas for a week to attend an industry event. After that, I am flying back to Los Angeles to spend 3 full days there. I have been to San Francisco & Napa in the past and liked it but I want to do something different this time. I land at LAX on Monday the 5th in the afternoon and fly back home on Friday the 9th in the evening. I'll be renting a car for the entire duration of my stay in CA and I would like to see some coastal towns, enjoy the scenery, relax, have a steak or two, some sushi, etc. I don't mind driving up to 150-200 miles a day and I haven't booked accommodation so I will just do Airbnb along the way. Any recommendations? What are some coastal towns that I should not miss ? I may spend a night at San Diego if I should but I am not sure if need to. I am not a fan of zoos (don't find them ethical) so if there's anything else I have to see there, I'll visit.
Please let this Turk know what you recommend. Many thanks!
I am traveling to the US on Saturday and I'll be in Vegas for a week to attend an industry event. After that, I am flying back to Los Angeles to spend 3 full days there. I have been to San Francisco & Napa in the past and liked it but I want to do something different this time. I land at LAX on Monday the 5th in the afternoon and fly back home on Friday the 9th in the evening. I'll be renting a car for the entire duration of my stay in CA and I would like to see some coastal towns, enjoy the scenery, relax, have a steak or two, some sushi, etc. I don't mind driving up to 150-200 miles a day and I haven't booked accommodation so I will just do Airbnb along the way. Any recommendations? What are some coastal towns that I should not miss ? I may spend a night at San Diego if I should but I am not sure if need to. I am not a fan of zoos (don't find them ethical) so if there's anything else I have to see there, I'll visit.
Please let this Turk know what you recommend. Many thanks!
i live in a country with a batshit crazy president and no, english is not my first language
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I still feel like a tourist here, though.
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Edit: You're going to be in Vegas on business? Try to hit the Pinball Hall of Fame - they have an amazing collection of video and pinball games. Also, I'd recommend going to eat at the Hoffbrauhaus, for delicious German food and beer.
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Santa Barbara is a nice drive also - both that and San Diego make for a nice view up the coast. But I don't have too much to recommend in Santa Barbara though its a bit shorter drive I think
maybe i'm streaming terrible dj right now if i am its here
Nothing San Diego or Orange County has to offer is worth leaving LA for, unless you see something very specific (marine barracks, Disneyland) LA probably does the same thing better or close enough thst it’s not worth blowing half a day to get there. Look for places to stay in Santa Monica or Culver City.
In terms of breaking up your time:
a day in Santa Monica and the beach
a day in Hollywood and it’s environs
A day exploring nature in malibu or the canyons
A day in Downtown/little tokyo.
For steak I’d suggest Mastro’s or pacific dining car or CUT. Other places to eat at: Hollywood, mar vista, and Santa Monica farmers markets, Rustic Canyon,cole’s, bottego Louie, Republique, popular Korean bbq places. That’s a random smattering but if you start searching for lists that include those names you’ll calibrate to many other good restaurants too.
Most good sushi is not in little Tokyo because the audience for forward sushi is further west than thst. Last time i thought about this i used this list. Not sure everything is still open but you can’t go wrong: http://www.laweekly.com/restaurants/10-best-sushi-restaurants-in-los-angeles-2378063
Of the museums in LA, only do 1 or 2 top
the Getty villa is a recreation of a Roman villa with historical objects
Museum of jurassic technology in Culver City is a bizarre performance art piece of a museum and my favorite museum, if that idea interests you
LACMA if the exhibits interest you
MOCA in doe town if the exhibits interest you
What kind of stuff interests you? Can give you more ideas if you can provide some more about what you want to do.
Hang out on the beach. Hermosa, Redondo, Manhattan are all good and all next to each other. Rent a bike and ride up and down the coast.
Hike up to Griffith Observatory in the late afternoon and catch the sunset and night views.
Enjoy traffic. If you're west of downtown LA there will almost always be traffic.
Go eat late night Asian food in the San Gabriel Valley. Hong Kong-style cafes open late. I recommend Baccali's. Get their namesake chicken and unlimited refills of ice lemon tea (expect poor service; be delighted by average service).
If you're in downtown LA go to the International near 7th and Figueroa. Ride the elevator up to the 74th floor for a rooftop bar that overlooks west LA to the beach.
Catch a Kings hockey game at Staples Center.
Noted and will definitely do both.
I am here on business. I have been to Germany 6 times in the past year so I think I'll skip the German food but will try to see the Pinball Hall of Fame : ) Thanks.
Thanks, this I'll definitely do. I am not planning on doing anything crazy. I just want to relax. Hopefully.
Thanks for the lengthy recommendation. I really want to rent a nice car from Turo, go to the beaches, chill, have some drinks, eat some good food and then in between all those relaxing activities, spare some time to some of the attractions like the Getty Villa or see the Hollywood sign, etc. I am not really interested in going to Hollywood just to say I have been there.
I'll also be doing Airbnb on a daily basis (so I'll book that night's place in the morning) so I'll prefer to be outside the main touristic areas to save some money.
Thanks!
Though, the Spruce Goose hasn't been in Long Beach in decades. Queen Mary is still around, though.
Largest wingspan of any flown aircraft. Slightly longer than a football field and made almost entirely of Birchwood. I think I will have a more thorough appreciation for it now.
Still recommend the Queen Mary. Also pick a pier and find a truck selling Mexican food and just chill out for half an hour.
I live in LA and have for years, so please believe me when I say that renting a nice car will be a waste of money unless you want to sit in bumper to bumper traffic on the 405. You will not get the chance to go fast while you're out here.
Haha, I believe you because I live in Istanbul and it's the same. I am not going to speed or anything, just a convertible because I cannot drive one in Istanbul due to air pollution and I plan on being around the beaches mainly.
You have any recommendations ?
Just from browsing around there are several rentals around LAX where you can rent a reliable convertible. You'd want to check out what the different competitors (Hertz, Enterprise, Fox etc all have places within a reasonable distance of the airport) offer and what the extras cost. For example, I'd want a GPS, and the companies charge extra (and different amounts) for that.
-Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
Spent my first afternoon in Santa Monica and Venice. After airbnbing in LA for the night, next day I hit the PCH and found out Getty Villa was closed on Tuesdays, oh well, I have seen my fair share of Greek and Roman artifacts in Greece and Italy as well as back home in Turkey. Then I drove to Malibu, had late breakfast watching the ocean and feeling poor. Kept driving to Santa Barbara, which was damn beautiful. I recommend having food at Los Agaves, it was incredibly good and very cheap for the quality as well as the quantity. I airbnb'ed in SB that night and hit the mountains next morning, wanted to see Knapp's Castle but there was almost nothing left, I wouldn't waste any time driving there if you are not into the mountains and stuff. I kept driving for another 4 hours on top of the mountains, enjoying the scenery and feeling poor again between mansions. Then I decided to get back to LA to meet up with friends and as I was driving I saw a beautiful Husky on the side of the road. I pulled over on the frickin interstate to see if I can get him to come to me and see if he has an owner's number on the name tag or the very worst if I could get his chip scanned and guess what, it had the owner's name and number! I called the owner and found out he ran away from home when they were moving a couple weeks ago! So lucky that he was not picked up by someone who wouldn't want to return that beautiful dog to their owners. Anyways, I put him in the back of the car and drove him to Oxnard. Now that I think of it, how stupid of me to not take any photos. Damn. I was pretty tired by the time I got back to LA, so instead of airbnb, I just checked in to a hotel in Santa Monica to get some rest. Next day I hit Long Beach and Huntington Beach but it wasn't that interesting to me as they were pretty much just beaches like Santa Monica and Venice so then I hit Hollywood and Beverly Hills in the evening. Feeling my poorest in BH, I checked to see if I can airbnb in a rich person's house, lol, and actually did stay in a private room in a huge house occupied by the gay boyfriend of some rich guy in Hollywood. I suspect the owner doesn't know his boyfriend is renting out the place so I was sworn to secrecy. Haha. Anyways, next day I went up the Griffith and it was beautiful but they do charge for parking apparently, $4 an hour. I checked the view, walked around inside, saw all the cool stuff but didn't stay for any shows. I had some nice dinner at Little Tokyo that evening and found a house near Redondo Beach to spend the night. Last day was just packing and relaxing, driving around aimlessly and having as much junk food as possible before I get back home to my eternal diet.
Just a note: traffic in LA is nothing compared to Istanbul. You have traffic in LA during rush hours or when there's an accident. We have traffic in Istanbul all the time even if all conditions are perfect because (1) the city is thousands of years old with narrow roads, (2) even the newer parts of the city have just 2 lane highways as we are much poorer than the US, no money = no infrastructure, (3) Turkish drivers are crazy.
Thanks to everyone for their help & suggestions.
Glad you had a good time. That's a great story about the dog too!
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