LA recommendations, tours and sights for solo traveller

[dreamisawish]

Hi guys! I'm hypothetically thinking of visiting DLR sometime in the next couple of years, and it will probably be a solo trip. I wouldn't want to go all the way out there and only visit Disney, but I am a bit concerned about what is safe to visit as a female solo traveller.

Some things I do want to do

- Visit Universal Hollywood

- Go on either the warner brothers studio tour or the paramount one

- Do one of those cheesy Beverly Hills tour buses (I just feel it needs to be done )

- Go to some museums

So these are some questions I have:

- How safe is it to walk around alone in tourist-y areas. I probably won't be walking too far off from the more populated areas.

- I am thinking of splitting the trip in two and staying in Anaheim for the first half and then moving to be closer for the rest, is this a good idea?

- Is there anything I should definitely include on my to do list, or skip?

- I will probably try and do the trip without hiring a car, but it could be on the table as I am currently learning so I will hopefully have a license soon. Is hiring a car something you'd recommend?

I'm pretty street smart, I've lived in London my entire life, but I worry about stepping into the unknown.

[Lisa_Lollipop]

How exciting! I have been to LA on a work trip before and did do some exploring on my own and never felt uncomfortable... that said I stayed to the tourist areas and only during the daytime!

In terms of other things... I definitely recommend The Grove which is an entertainment complex with lots of lovely restaurants and shops... it has a bit of a Disney Springs feel to it as is very pretty!

I would also get up to the Griffith Observatory as it really gives you the most beautiful views of LA (including the Hollywood sign).

We visited both on our trip in 2017 and I covered them in my trip report (link in signature) if you want any further detail!

Also definitely a good idea to stay in Anaheim if you are going to be doing Disney and then move onto LA after, LA traffic is just horrendous so I definitely wouldn't recommend trying to stay in one location to cover both

[landandword17]

Yes as safe as London. There’s a recent thread here called “Looking for people who like Los Angeles” there’s loads of options there. I would stay in West Hollywod and Uber around but Hollywood hotels are safe and close to the Metro, the area just isn’t as clean and pretty as West Hollywod is.

Re. the car. It would be ideal but you can do all the things you mention using the metro and Uber/Lyft so it’s not necessary. If you’re just doing 3-4 days before moving on to Anaheim it might not be worth it. I’ve had a car because we’ve only been as part of road trips but I still left it parked up and took public transport to avoid parking charges.

[Colette-S]

We did a cheesy LA tour last summer, I loved it. It was a small convertible minibus and our tour was really good. I can recommend a f you like

[Chelsea21]

I’ve done an LA/Anaheim trip a couple of times and absolutely loved it!

We have never bothered to hire a car, just used Uber. Would definitely recommend staying in Anaheim if you are planning to do Disney, and then moving to LA, or the other way round.

In LA I’ve done the WB studio tour and thought it was brilliant, was so cool to be on set of lots of my favourite shows. Would definitely also recommend the Beverly Hills bus tour and Universal. If you are doing the bus tour and like the sun, the make sure you ask to be put on an open top bus, great opportunity to get a tan!

Hope that helps x