Final LA Itinerary
 

Can you advise on whether this looks do-able and OK? Also any suggestions for nice places to go in the evenings (bars, restaurants etc) would be appreciated - although we are on a fairly moderate budget.

Thanks all....

Staying at Sheraton 4 Points LAX

Day 1 - Venice Beach & Santa Monica (inc Pier)

Day 2 - Hollywood boulevard, Hollywood walk of fame, Manns Chinese Theatre, Farmers Market, Melrose Avenue, West Hollywood, Sunset Boulevard, Sunset Strip

Day 3 - Universal Studios

Day 4 - Wiltshire Boulevard, Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills, Brentwood, Getty Center

Does this fit everything in? Will I be getting the real feel of LA or is there anything blindingly obvious that I have missed out on?

Depending on the day of the week, Day 2 is a little ambitious. If you're not stopping to shop/walk on Melrose or Sunset, it's doable. Warning: There's a new shopping center next to the Farmers Market that may draw you in... I'd organize that day to do first what you're most interested in seeing in case you run out of time.

When is your trip? Rodeo and Beverly Drives in B.H. are undergoing a street beautification project through November. As of last week, these two streets looked like a disaster area in mid-cleanup. There are no trees, no vegetation of any kind, and sidewalks have been reduced to a narrow path between storefronts and a chainlink fence. Several stores are taking this opportunity to close for renovation.

If you want a real "feel" of L.A., I'd skip Universal Studios (unless you're bringing kids) and make B.H. only a quick stop. L.A. is the most ethnically diverse city in the universe. Try to see some of this diversity (which is not so noticeable on the Westside but more so in Hollywood).

I'd suggest downtown L.A. (yes, there actually is a downtown!) where you can see where L.A. began (Olvera Street) and some of the early ethnic neighborhoods (Little Tokyo, Chinatown), good museums (Japanese-American National Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art), the new cathedral and the new Gehry-designed Disney Concert Hall which opens in October.

If you want a good street for strolling, shopping, dining, try to get to Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena.

Lastly, although the Getty is in a spectacular setting and the gardens are unique, the amount of art on display at any time is quite small. If you're not particularly into art, it's enough. But if you love art, you should instead (or in addition) go to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art on Wilshire Boulevard. The collection is huge and varied.

On day 3, I'd advise skipping Universal Studios (unless you're with little kids) and instead taking the Warner Bros. tour. Rather than a theme park, it's an actual working studio. There's a great museum there and they take you all over the lot. Depending on what's shooting while you're there, they'll often take you onto a set. Later that day, you can pop next door to NBC and get passes to see Jay Leno. That's more interesting than Universal, in my opinion.

I think Beverly Hills is worth seeing. I recommend the Beverly Dr. area (a block east of Rodeo) for good shopping and dining. It's not going to take you much time to see this part of town, though.

I second the idea of going downtown at some point. There's a few things there worth checking out: the new Catholic Cathedral, Disney Hall (you can't go inside yet, it's brand new, but it's AMAZING on the outside), the Library, Olivera Street. It's just a totally different flavor than the Westside.

Going out at night.... it really depends how old you are and what kind of scene you enjoy. Really hot nightclubs at the moment (20-somethings, velvet ropes, trendy scenes) are White Lotus, Ivar, Joseph's and all the other spots in the Cahuenga area. I also like Bar Noir at Maison 140 in Beverly Hills. If you're in that area, Nic's Martini Lounge is nice. You should also check out the Silent Movie Theatre, a VERY L.A. place that puts on a great show on weekends. For a fun restaurant nearer where you are staying, check out C&O Trattoria. Be prepared to wait in line, but it's a lot of fun. Sit outside.

Thanks for this, as far as restaurants and bars go, we are 24 & 26, although we didn't really want to go to nightclubs, prefer nice restaurants and bars that are scenic or good for people watching. As I said before, we are on a bit of a budget, so anything moderately priced would be good!

Agree with SallyKAte--lots of very interesting areas and buildings downtown.

OK I think I have amended my itinerary slightly to:

Day 1 - Venice Beach, Santa Monica

Day 2 - Burbank for Warner Bros Tour, Hollywood (inc Manns Chinese theatre, walk of fame etc)

Day 3 - see the Hollywood sign, Universal Studios

Day 4 - Beverly Hills

Does this look OK? I have decided to skip the Getty Center as my boyfriend is not interested in visiting it, I thought maybe have it as a back-up if we get time...

I'm confused, on your modified day four schedule, do you mean to say all you've scheduled is Beverly Hills? I'd say maybe you could kill a few hours there, at the most. It's a small place, and unless you're searching out stars' houses, not really an all day thing.

Also, I would not miss Farmer's Market as a wonderfully ambient place to have a great cheap meal--many, many little places to eat under one roof so you can each have something different if you want. Maybe you could do this on the BH day?

Finally, for a really funky museum experience, check out the Museum of Jurassic Technology (www.mjt.org)...it's near Venice, on Venice Bl at Robertson...it's a strange, dark, funky, fascinating collection of superstition, strange dioramas, the history of trailer parks, and fascinating and bizarre innovation, all in a dark, cool, moody and strangely calming environment. It's only like $5 each or something, well worth an hour or two when you're near Venice.

love
roxy

Melrose is better for people watching than BH. BH is very small. You can get than done in no time. I wouldn't miss a walk down Melrose. You can fit it in and it's close to the Farmer's Market as well. Enjoy your trip here to LA.

Most bars serve food. In fact, most have restaurants attached. In your budget, there's a number of good places in Hollywood and West Hollywood that don't break the bank. They include Barney's Beanery, Red Rock, Cat & Fiddle, and the Rainbow. For a typically L.A. food experience, and institution, try El Coyote on Beverly (there's also one in Santa Monica on Wilshire).
In Santa Monica, try Topper's on second for cheap food and great views of the Pacific. On the S.M. Pier, Rusty's Surf Ranch is another place that serves decent food along with bar and nightly local bands.

The Farmers' Market is an excellent suggestion. Lots of atmosphere, plenty of variety. FOr Mexican try Loteria, for wine and cheese Monsieur Marcel, you want crepes? La Creperie You want jambalaya? The gumbo Pot.How about Brazilian bar-b-que or Malaysian sate?
You get the picture, plus pizza and sandwiches and lot of stands selling fresh fruit, meat, poultry, etc. I love the place. It's near Melrose, too.

We're close to the same age, so I might have some dining ideas you'd like.

The Sunset Plaza area up in West Hollywood has a bunch of great restaurants where you can sit outside and watch people go by. Especially fun on a weekend night. Try Cafe Med or Chin Chin.

On Fairfax, Lola's is a good place to have dinner and a martini. In fact, they have a martini menu that is three pages long. It's a young crowd here and gets full on the weekends.

For breakfast, I highly recommend Newsroom on Robertson Blvd. Also Kings Road Cafe.

Pink's Hot Dogs (on La Brea) is a L.A. institution and is worth the wait in line. Also, cheap! If you like sushi, Sushi Roku on 3rd Street is great and quite popular.

And I must reiterate how awful Beverly Hills looks right now. I work just off Rodeo Drive and today there were large piles of dirt between the chain link fence and the roadway. You have to walk more or less single file along the sidewalk because it's only 4 feet wide. Unless you think you're never, ever coming back to L.A., I wouldn't spend more than an hour in B.H. The street project continues until approximately mid-November 2003.

We just returned from California (including LA) this week). Depending on where you come from and your past experiences I would recommend some other alternatives. First, shopping in LA is very upscale and more varied than most of the United States, but it's shopping. Unless you intend to buy or you come from a rural area where you haven't seen Hermes, Bally, Chanel etc., it is still shopping. Rodeo Drive is broken up and therefore disappointing, but if you can't resist you can drive down the street just to see, or even park at the end (it's one way) for free, for two hours. We needed lunch at that point in our day, so we parked in the lot under the end (4th street lot I think) went right upstairs for lunch, took a quick stroll and left. I would also suggest the La Brea Tar Pits. There is parking in the back, it is a quick drive from the Farmer's Market, and you can do the museum which explains the area and shows rearranged skeletons, or just show up for the one o'clock tour (which meets just inside the museum-before you need to pay. If you are on a budget, this is perfect. The outside area and the tour are free, the tar pits, which trapped pre-historic animals, are still active and it is something you can't see anywhere else. For evening, we took in Kathy Griffin at the Laugh factory, Sunset Boulevard, on Wednesday night. If you like humor about Hollywood and the stars and some topical and political, she was great. We went next door to Greenblatt's Deli for a late bite and saw other celebs there also having a late night bite. We also opted to reserve tickets on Audiences Unlimited to see a show taping in lieu of a studio tour. It takes a little less time and you avoid touring empty studios, the stuff which you see at the taping anyway. It does take time and takes up some of the day but the tour will as well. Most tapings are early evening so you can go out clubbing afterward anyway. They have a website under the above name which explains it all. And the Farmer's Market - if you have an outdoor market where you live, this is very diappointing. My small town market is bigger. But it adjoins Grove Street shops. It is cute and has a little cable car that runs down the middle. We did all that and ate at a street table in a little Italian restaurant next to the outdoor fountain. It was very nice, and twice an hour the fountain is choreographed to an Italian song which was very romantic even in the middle of the day. And outside of the typical LA things to do, we stopped in at the Roosevelt Hotel while on the walk of fame in Hollywood. It's down the street from the Chinese theater. You can stop to have a drink or just stroll through. It's where many of the stars stayed in those glory days, before they became stars. As long as you are there, it is nice to see. It gives you a real feeling for the ambiance of those days.
I would also strongly suggest that you pick up a "Where" magazine. You can get it in most hotels. The maps in the back are the best I found anywhere. By using the maps and eating and touring at slightly odd times, we avoided every bit of of LA traffic so it never cut into our time. Hope this has been helpful.

Sounds good but I would plan a bit more extensively or you will end up driving around looking for things to do.

Also, if you can get a good hotel deal in Santa Monica I might switch hotels so you will be closer to the action. Staying near LAX is fine but if you are in Santa Monica you can step outside your hotel and be in the center of the action.

Day 1 - Venice Beach, Santa Monica

Drive to Venice in the morning, walk around and buy some cheap sunglasses. Maybe grab a bite to eat at a cafe--the "Sidewalk Cafe" is usually great for people watching. It is on the Northern side of Venice Beach--just ask someone where it is. Get a table on the patio. You could rent roller blades or bikes and ride down the strand.

You could walk or bike up to the Santa Monica Pier and ride the ferris wheel or the carousel. Or go South and see the boats in Marina Del Rey.

Then, go back to the hotel, throw on some evening clothes--casual, black pants are always good--and go back to Santa Monica. Park at one of the big structure on fourth or second street--there are several and hit the Third Street Promenade.

There are several bars and restaurants. I think Monsoons (on the North side of the Promenade) is cool--fun ambiance and a cool bar. Lots of times they have a band playing upstairs. Food is decent, a little pricey-think 15 bucks each plus alcohol. But it is cool. I took some out-of-town friends there and they loved it.
Or grab a slice of pizza or a burger and spend your money on drinks or a latte.

There are tons of shops and small clubs the you can go to. I am not up on the scene but I am sure some other Fodorites can help out here.

I agree with a previous poster that recommended the C&O trattoria in Marina Del Rey for dinner. Really fun and relatively cheap with HUGE portions. People sing "That's Amore" with the waiter and the garlic rolls are awesome. Be prepared to wait for a table. Go early and hit the Promenade after.
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Day 2 - Burbank for Warner Bros Tour, Hollywood (inc Manns Chinese theatre, walk of fame etc)

The one problem here is traffic. Getting to Burbank in am rush hour will be no fun, believe me. Although a studio tour is fun I might consider other options. Or, arrange for a tour in the afternoon. Since you are going to Universal Studios, I might skip it.

Maybe check out Hollywood. From LAX, take the 405 Freeway or a beach road to Sunset Blvd and then drive inland to Hollywood. You'll drive past huge mansions and the Sunset Strip. Check out the Walk of Fame, go to the new mall on Sunset where the hold the Oscars.

The hop on the Freeway and go to Olvera Street for a late lunch. It's fun, you can do it in a couple of hours with lunch.

In the evening I woul perhaps go see a show. A comedy club would be great fun. Try the Comedy Store on Sunset Blvd. You can buy advance tickets. Plan something or otherwise you will end up wandering and bored.
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Day 3 - see the Hollywood sign, Universal Studios

Great. This will take all day and will be fun. I personally prefer Disneyland but... In the evening maybe get tickets for a show taping. This would be the day to see a show taping in Burbank as you will already be in the Valley at Universal Studios. Get advance tickets so you don't have to wait in line. There is an original Bob's Big Boy which has car service sometimes near Burbank. Grab a bite there before or after the taping.

Universal studios has a big entertainment complex with some cool restaurants so you could go there after your day at the theme park. Go to the Hard Rock Cafe.

Day 4 - Beverly Hills

I agree that Beverly Hills doesn't take long. This might be the day to get up in the am, go to the Farmer's Market for a late breakfast and wander around the grove. Then drive to Melrose to look at the shops. Or go to the La County Museum for some culture. For you boyfriend, the Petersen Automotive Museum is right across the street which is cool. The tar pits are there, too.

Then drive around Beverly Hills, go down Rodeo, grab dinner at a restaraunt there. Check a guide book for some suggestions.

Maybe drive to Malibu in the evening and get dinner with a view at Gladstones.

I hope this helps. Let me know if you need more information.

Just wanted to add that in LA it is really important to plan activities. It is a big place. Driving around looking for a cool restaurant or place to people watch will make you miserable.

Welcome to LA!

Thank you so much for taking the time to help me out here. It is so kind of you.

Let me know if you are visiting London (UK) at any point and I would be more than happy to return the favour!