La And Surrounding Area

[csisson]

Me and best friend have just decided since the men are considering going to las vegas to watch the boxing sometime this year we want to do something so we thought of going to la and then doing trips to surrounding area can anyone give me any tips at all as we are a bit clueless on where to go stay etc!!!:grin:

[Diamonddog]

The theme parks are in Anaheim, the other area most stay is up north on one of the beach areas. Just to explain - LA is vast. 90 miles long, 60 miles wide. Massive.
You must drive - public transportation in LA is a joke, and a not very funny one at that. Obviously, you have Disneyland in anaheim. You also have Knotts Berrys Farm - a family run them park that is lovely and sedate. You have Universal in the north - but it's 45 miles or so from Disney. All of the parks are smaller than their Florida counterparts. I actually prefer Universal in LA, but many don't. You must visit the beaches - Newport in the south, Redondo, Huntingdon and Santa Barbara (to name but a few) further up. You've also got Venice Beach - also known as 'muscle beach'. The queen Mary is docked at Long Beach too.
For shopping - you have Rodeo Drive. The most expensive shopping in the world, I believe? There are numerous malls too. The area north of Hollywood Boulevard and Sunset Strip (Topanga Canyone etc) is superb.
Abbout 100 miles south of LA is San Diego - north San Diego features the wonderful La Jolla Shores, my fave beach in California. You can also catch a bus and hop over to Tijuana,Mexico from here.
To be honst, I found LA to be a sprawling, soulless metroplois - a city without a real heart or an identifiable character. Didn't stop me visiting five times though, so it must have something good about it.....;)

Best of luck.

[Rio]

We are going on our 3rd trip this year and I don't drive, so it's not a must.
We are staying in Anaheim but we will do coach tours to Universal (this is a must) also Hollywood and Beverly Hills are a must for the shopping and Rodeo Drive is worth seeing and you CAN buy stuff there, it's not all expensive.
You have Knotts Berry Farm, Seaworld (in San Diego) and of course Disneyland and California Adventure.
Santa Monica is a beautiful place with a lot going on at the pier and again great shopping there.Newport beach is beautiful (O.C. is filmed there) and Fashion Island is lovely(even more shopping...lol).
Theres a lot to do and see and you can even take a day trip to Tijuana, Mexico from Anaheim.
We love it there!!!
Love Rio

[sleepy]

You should definitely go. Here's some pics of my trip to Palos Verdes last summer.

http://www.123imagehost.com/uploads/235-4-coast.jpg

http://www.123imagehost.com/uploads/235-587-flowerview.jpg

[chris5117]

We too love Santa Monica & stayed right on the beach at the Bayside motel. It was very reasonable approx $120 per night & the view was amazing. Love Las Vegas as well as got married there in 1999 & have do the west coast twice for 3 weeks each time. Loads to see & do.

Loz

[csisson]

thanks so you can travel around by coach easily to the places like newport! (we are both o.c fans!!!) where is best to stay then ??? we thought hollywood cos we fancy a few nights out but didn't know wether to just stay 2 nighst there and then go to the coast for rest of time!

[Rio]

We always stay in Anaheim and travel from there using Coach USA or Starline. If you fancy a few nights out, theres Downtown Disney in Anaheim, but for clubbing etc, I suppose Hollywood and Beverly Hills would be your best bet.
You will be able to get public transport to Newport Beach, but it does go all around the houses. We usually ask the concierge the best way to get anywhere, theres usually some coach company running a coach there.
Visit the Anaheim Visitor Centre website
http://www.anaheim411.com/vacation_planning_assistance.html
theres a lot of information on there.
Love Rio