willywood90

I've driven in the US for about 7-8 months now, but only in Portland, OR, and some of its suburbs. Based on what I hear I don't think the Portland traffic compares to the LA traffic. I would classify myself as a careful driver but honestly I really can be a little careless at times due to which I'm not feeling too confident about driving in a 'big' city.

I want some advice on whether it's a good idea to drive in LA. I intend to travel from San Diego to LA and spend 2 nights in LA. During this time, I want to visit Universal Studios, the usual LA tourist spots (Hollywood Walk of Fame, Griffith Observatory, etc.) and go to Santa Monica Pier.

If for some reason I cannot convince myself to rent a car and choose to go the public transport way, how is the public transport scene in the city? I'm looking at staying in a hotel near Dodger Stadium, so I wont be too far from Universal Studios and Union Station (and I believe there is public transportation from Union Station to Santa Monica Pier?).

Any advice will be much appreciated...

Thanks in advance!

emalloy

Put "LA without a car" in the search box at the upper left for lots of threads on this.

happytrailstoyou

The express ways can be a challenge, but we enjoy driving on LA's many major avenues on which traffic moves along but which are not super highways. Study AAA's great LA maps to see if you can figure out a routing with which you would be comfortable.

I am a very experienced driver, but I never look forward to figuring out which bridges to take when I drive through Portland on I-5. If you can negotiate that, you can deal with whatever LA has to offer.

Some of the other drivers will be less experienced than you are.

HTtY

clarkgriswold

I don't think there are many decent hotels near Dodger Stadium, stay near Hollywood/Highland instead, there are several affordable places to stay (Trylon Hotel, Coral Sands, Orchid Suites, Motel 6) and you will have easy transport from Amtrak train station (take from san Diego), metro subway up to Universal, and easy (but long...1.5 hour) bus ride to Santa Monica Pier. Don't worry about the long bus ride, it serves as a nice little tour. Take a different route on the way back for more of a "tour".

janisj

>>Put "LA without a car" in the search box at the upper left for lots of threads on this.

nytraveler

The overall search feature doesn't work any longer - but you can select CA posts and run through those - some will be useful.

jamie99

I'd get a car, you should be fine as long as you avoid rush hour (7-9am and 3:30-6pm). Also the public transport to Griffith Park and Observatory for example only runs on weekends so while things are getting better it generally takes a lot longer using the buses and may involve changing buses as well. Have a good trip.

Jean

Even with a car, I think you'd have a hard time seeing everything on your list. Two nights equals one full day plus some time on your arriving and departing days. Are you driving back to San Diego?

I don't remember how long the Universal Studios tour is, but you could easily spend a half day or more at US on the tour and seeing other attractions.

If you're coming to L.A. on a weekend, you might find the parking lot at Griffith Observatory full when you get there which would force you to park some distance away and walk uphill to the observatory. The GO is closed on Mondays and doesn't open until noon Tues.-Fri. It's open until 10:00p Tues.-Sun. You should look at the observatory's website to plan your visit. Unless you don't intend to go inside, you could easily spend a half day or more there.

The Hollywood WOF is almost 1.5 miles long, so I assume you want to see Grauman's Chinese Theater, the hand and foot prints in front and perhaps a few blocks of the WOF.

Crossing L.A. to get to the Santa Monica Pier could take anywhere from 45 minutes to 90 minutes depending on the time of day and day of the week. I would love to agree that "rush hour" is only 7-9a and 3:30-6p, but I think it depends entirely on which direction you're going at what time and what day of the week. Also, traffic on summer weekends can be busy all day.

You can reach most (if not all) of these sights using only public transportation. The Metro Red Line runs from Union Station in DTLA to Universal City and stops at Hollywood/Highland. If you're coming to L.A. on a weekend, there is a shuttle between the Red Line station at Vermont/Sunset and the Observatory. You can take Santa Monica's Big Blue Bus rapid line #10 from DTLA to Santa Monica in about 75-90 minutes with no change.

logandog

There are at least three million of us who are licensed to guide a motor vehicle on the freeways.
At least 37% of which are complete idiots.
If you can manage a post on this forum you are well qualified to drive in LA.