Need help choosing hotels and location...

[aydeepee]

I need to decide where we base ourselves for the first part of our trip - and need a West Coast guru to help (as we've never been before!).

I need to find somewhere north of LA that can access the following;
Universal
Warner Bros
Six Flags
Bev Hills tour
LA Tour

The plan is then to head south and base ourselves at Disneyland for Disney, Knotts Berry and chill time!

What hotels/area do you recommend that is relatively safe, touristy and has (relative) ease of access to the above?

Thanks in advance xxx

[jdouds]

Hi how long are you planning to stay in this area.

[aydeepee]

7nts I think

[Bad Pink Tink]

Originally Posted by aydeepee

I need to decide where we base ourselves for the first part of our trip - and need a West Coast guru to help (as we've never been before!).

I need to find somewhere north of LA that can access the following;
Universal
Warner Bros
Six Flags
Bev Hills tour
LA Tour

The plan is then to head south and base ourselves at Disneyland for Disney, Knotts Berry and chill time!

What hotels/area do you recommend that is relatively safe, touristy and has (relative) ease of access to the above?

Thanks in advance xxx

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How are you travelling around? Are you hiring a car?

There are 2 options for you

1. Stay near to Universal Studios or in Burbank area
2. Stay in Hollywood Area

.

Having a car will make life easier but its all still doable on public transport / Uber / Lyft as long as you plan and allow for travel time between point A and pint B

Universal
Warner Bros
6 Flags are in the Burbank area

There are 2 hotels beside Universal Studios

1. Sheridan
2. Hilton

The tours all pick up / drop off on Hollywood Boulevard in the general area of Hollywood and Highland Mall/ Chinese Theatre.

Many people stay at Lowes Hotel which is just behind Hollywood and Highland Mall.

I stay in budget Motels, which may not be to your taste. I stay in very basic but safe places which are near to the Red Line Underground Metro as I don't drive.

If you want advice and a step by step How To Use Public Transport in LA let me know.

For Disneyland, it depends on

• your budget
• how near or far you want to be from the park
• if you have a car or need to use a shuttle
• what you are looking for regarding hotel amenities

[jdouds]

Hi again for many that’s to many nights but others not enough. For Disney as it’s not that big usually 2/3 days is enough. Just bare in mind LA is about 100 miles across with 4/5 lane motorways through it so at time’s is hectic. With there being so many things to see on the west coast we would suggest maybe 5/6 max nights. What else have you planned or thinking off.
How many in your party,ages for better advice.

[aydeepee]

Ok - heres the 'plan' at the mo (albeit a naive one!)...
7 nts somewhere 'up north' to access universal, warner bros tour, six flags, beverley hills/LA tours
3/4 nts beach condo to chill
5 nts anaheim (for disney and knotts berry) - prob in Disneyland Hotel for nostalgia purposes

Just me, DW and 23yo DS (tagging along for the rides! )

[Bad Pink Tink]

Originally Posted by aydeepee

Ok - heres the 'plan' at the mo (albeit a naive one!)...
7 nts somewhere 'up north' to access universal, warner bros tour, six flags, beverley hills/LA tours
3/4 nts beach condo to chill
5 nts anaheim (for disney and knotts berry) - prob in Disneyland Hotel for nostalgia purposes

Just me, DW and 23yo DS (tagging along for the rides! )

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I would eliminate the 3/4 nts beach condo to chill and work your beach days into your LA days or your Disneyland days. For the timescale, a 3 location plan is way too much. You need to consider that your arrival day, your departure day and your relocation day will all be "wasted" days as due to distances involved and acclimatizing to new experiences and the heat will take a lot more time than you expect.

In both locations, LA /Burbank / Hollywood or Disneyland / Anaheim there are accessible beaches approx an hours drive.

If seeing the Pacific is a bucket list, then you could take a drive along Highway 101, either north to Santa Barbara, Malibu or to Santa Monica or Venice when you are in LA or to Long Beach, Huntington Beach or Newport Beach when you are Disneyland / Anaheim

Which each of the beach towns have their own unique aspects, they are all basically the same and a first time visitor is not going to miss much by choosing one over the other.

Also regarding Disneyland Hotel. California is not like Florida. In California there are only 3 onsite hotels and they are wildly overpriced. They would be comparable to Delux at Walt Disney World. However they are hotels , not resorts and have less amenities and are a longer walk to the park entrance than many offisite hotels.

Most people stay off site in California.

[jdouds]

Hi again I sort of disagree with bad pink. With an adult group and having 15 days you could maybe start in San Fran ,
Possibly
3 n San Fran
1/2 n Monterey whale watching a must do
1 n cambria or Santa barbera
After this then do your LA etc
It would be a pity to go so far and not take in a little more.
Other option would be adD some time in Las Vegas 4.5 drive or sandiego

[Bad Pink Tink]

Originally Posted by jdouds

Hi again I sort of disagree with bad pink. With an adult group and having 15 days you could maybe start in San Fran ,
Possibly
3 n San Fran
1/2 n Monterey whale watching a must do
1 n cambria or Santa barbera
After this then do your LA etc
It would be a pity to go so far and not take in a little more.
Other option would be adD some time in Las Vegas 4.5 drive or sandiego

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Always good to have a different viewpoint gives first timers lots of options.

However I look at an itinerary like that and I just think goodness, thats a huge amount of travelling.

I have done San Francisco, then LA then Disneyland over a 2 week timeframe. However I flew Ireland to San Francisco, then flew San Francisco to Lax, then LAX back to Dublin.

I have also done Dublin to LAX, drive to LA to Vegas and back and then LA

I understand the trying to cram in as much as possible, but when I see the itineraries with 2 days here, then drive for a day, then 2 days there, then drive for a day etc, I just think, people underestimate the distances and times and how much it takes out of you to relocate every few days.

Also while the nature parks and scenery in California is stunning, not every wants to do that. Some people are quite happy just being in LA and Disneyland and the beaches. There is a lot more to LA than just Hollywood, even after 10 years there is so much I havnet seen or experienced.

One of my most memorable experiences was in June 2019, when I went to the Holocaust Exhibition at The Museum of Tolerance. One of the free events at the museum was a talk by a Renee Firestone, a woman who is an Auschwitz survivor. I sat in a small lecturer theatre and heard her tell her story and afterwards shook her hand. I know that something like that is not to everyone's taste but it just shows that LA has so much more to offer than grimey seedy Hollywood Boulevard.

[jdouds]

Bad pink understand but what I have suggested for them only has one day of more than 3 hours dr.
San Fran to Monterey is a short dr which we have done a few times.
Monterey to cambria or Santa Barbara is a long day but we feel well worth it and some great places to take short stops, ie elephant seal beach at San Simeon.
After that it’s not a long dr to the north LA attractions
Ps we have flown from Dublin on several occasions As it’s easy for us from NI
If you have done west coast a few times which we Have and want something Different then try Yellowstone and Lake Tahoe which we did along with Monterey and San Fran in 2018.
All good info whatever anybody decides and great to help.