My husband and I have a one day layover in LA next week with our 3 teenaged daughters. We have a rental car but no itinerary. Any suggestions-we need a rainy day and a sunny day plan...thanks

Are you flying into LAX? Do you have a hotel overnight? Plenty to do with teenagers but would help to know what area you will be in - LA is huge!

We are flying into LAX and staying overnite near the airport-thanks!

In one day you can do what I refer to as the whirlwind tour. It gives you an overall view of the popular tourist attractions. You can start in Hollywood on Sunset Blvd. and continue all the way down to the PCH into Malibu. On the drive you will pass Mann's Chinese Theater with the famous footprints, Avenue of the Stars with all the celebrities names, and the new Kodak Theater, which is home now to major award shows. You can stop in at Mel's Drive-In on Sunset for a bite to eat. Great fun for kids and good burgers, fries, and shakes. Get a window seat facing Sunset or sit outside, weather permitting for some great people watching. From there, you can continue into Beverly Hills and take a walk on Rodeo Drive and browse the lovely designer boutiques. You can also buy a map of movie star homes from several people selling them along Sunset and take your own tour. You can also do this without the map and just take a look at the houses. My niece and daughter got out of the car once when they spotted a mailman on Roxbury Drive to try and get the scoop on where all the 90210 stars lived. Obviously, that was years ago. Anyway, you will also pass UCLA along this route. Continue on into Santa Monica and visit the pier and then you can finish the ride in Malibu. Another option would be to add Melrose into your itinerary because your daughters may enjoy the shops. LA Farmers Market is fabulous and Robertson Blvd. also has many new trendy boutiques. As a matter of fact, there's a boutique there ( I am sorry I just can't recall the name right now) that the WB channel 11 actresses favor. You will great many wonderful ideas from others that post on this board. I went with a general fun type tour because I don't know if your daughters would prefer to spend the day in museums, etc.

personally, i found hollywood, sunset blvd. etc. all a waste of time. but, i don't really care about people's hand prints in the side walks or looking at shops on rodeo drive that i can't afford anything in. so, if that doesn't interest you consider...
driving south down to laguna beach. it's a lovely town with good restaurants and funky galleries. enjoy the day on the beach.
or, venice beach or santa monica is not too far from lax. if it's a hot day, enjoy the beach, walk on the peir, lunch at one of the beach restaurants.
or, if you are into museums, you could go to the getty. it's very good.

I give Merilee's idea a thumbs up in terms of what many teens want to see and do in LA. Itt said she didn't care for the usual tourist stops in LA, but I think margib is looking for recommendations that will appeal to girls in their teens. Unless they are very sophisticated and unaffected by celebrities they will enjoy Hollywood Blvd., (which is where Mann's Chinese Theater and the Avenue of the Stars is located), Sunset Blvd., Beverly Hills and the beach. My nieces and nephews were thrilled to be in all the places they had heard about and had seen in movies and tv. There's a great little restaurant in LA called El Cholo. Delicious Mexican (the real stuff) food and a great place to spot a celebrity.

I live in LA, so I'll give you some of my thoughts. One day is hard, but if you are staying near the airport, you will be closer to Santa Monica. You could rent bikes down on the beach and ride either towards Torrance or Malibu. Take a little walk around Venice beach. There are all kinds of little shopping booths down there and places to eat. You could shop on the Third Street Promenade which also has restaurants and movie theaters. There is also a mall across the street from there if it's raining. If you wanted to go into Hollywood, you could take them to Universal which my nieces really enjoyed or go take a stroll down Melrose which has loads of shops, restaurants and coffee houses that teens would like. You could also shop at The Grove at the Farmer's Market, which also has movie theaters if it's raining or the Beverly Center which is close by. If you wanted to do museums, you could do the Natural History Museum downtown LA or the LA County Museum. There is a Six Flags out in Valencia, but that would take up a good part of your 1 day. If you want to see the stars handprints, go to the Hollywood & Highland shopping complex. Parking is only $2 and there are shops and restaurants there and you could take a stroll down the street to see some of the stars. The handprints are in front of the theater. Take a drive to see the Hollywood sign and drive up in the hills on Mulholland Drive. I still love it up there. Have fun and enjoy your stay here.

My husband and I have learned that things we like to do and see on vacation are not necessarily what teenagers enjoy! Having been in LA a few weeks ago (without our kids), I think Merilee's ideas are great. The only thing I'd add is buying a map of the star's homes and then cruising by a few of them. I talked my remarkably patient husband into finding Ozzy Osbourne's house just so we could take a picture to show our kids. I know--pretty infantile, but it WAS vacation. Have fun!

Tess - where did you get the map for Ozzy Osbournes house. My husband and I watch that show and would love to cruise by when we are there....

Are the famous house tour maps easy to find?

You can find the maps at any tourist/souvenir shop in Hollywood. They're less than $10. Some of the maps are fairly old but any of the newer ones will list the Osbourne's address. The house was easy to find--it's in the hills of Beverly Hills. Coming from the west where our house lots are huge, I was surprised at how small the Osbourne's actual lot was. No Ozzy sightings, I regret to say.