My friend and I (two ladies 23 years old) are planning a weekend trip to visit another hometown friend who now resides in the LA area. She has been blue due to some personal problems, so we want to really go out and do fun things while we're there, not just hang around the house.

The plan is to depart DFW very eary friday morning (jan 11), which puts our arrival time at 8am friday at LAX. We will have a car available to us. Departure will be sunday afternoon/evening

Any favorite touristy things to do in January in LA? We like the idea of the "maps of star's homes", but heard the ones for sale in Hollywood were kindof a joke. What is Venice beach like this time of year? My friend was wondering if we could go to a movie premiere. Is that something weekend visitors can get into?

Please let me know of anything you are fond of in the area.

I think you all would get a kick out of Venice Beach. You could rent bikes or just walk to the Santa Monica Pier from there. Go Friday, as whenever I have seen filming along the beaches it is M-F. There are funky shops and resturants and always lots of colorful people there.

If you can stay over Sunday night try to catch Jay Leno at the Comedy and Magic Club in Hermosa Beach. Go early, sit in the front and he will probably talk to you in the show.

I think you also would enjoy shopping and people watching on Rodeo Dr.

Have fun!

Going to the Getty is a must. Try to get there for lunch. The restaurant is very good and the views are amazing.

I wouldn't recommend the star homes tour, by yourself or with a tour. All you see are gates and trees.

You can do Santa Monica Pier/Promenade and Venice beach boardwalk in a day. They're within 10 mins of each other. Make sure to wear warm clothes. I would also recommend driving out to Malibu from Santa Monica, only 15 mins away, to have dinner at one of the seafood restaurants along the beach (Moonshadow's, Duke's, Geoffrey's etc). You can have drinks there too if you'd like that.

Going to Griffith Park Observatory is a good idea too. Also, check out The Grove and have dinner there and shop a bit. You can spend an hour or two on Hollywood Blvd checking out the Kodak Theater, Chinese Theater and Walk of Fame.

If you're looking to try to spot some stars, walk around Robertson Blvd between Melrose and 3rd Street. There are lots of designer shops there like Kitson where they shop.

If you have time, you can also go to Downtown LA and walk around Olvera St, see Disney Hall, Union Station, etc.

Also, spending a couple hours walking around Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills is a touristy thing to do.

You can combine the following based on proximity:

The Getty-Venice-Santa Monica - Malibu

Hollywood-The Grove-Rodeo Drive-Griffith Park

Downtown-Griffith Park-Hollywood

If you like shopping, there are lots of areas and types of shops you can check out.

Thank you for all the great info everyone... our trip earier this year went quite well! I just realized I never did a follow up! Sorry .

We ended up hitting Venice Beach, Sunset Blvd, Santa Monica, ate PinkBerry frozen yogurt on Rodeo Dr., Pasadena for clubbing, the Grove for shopping and eating at the farmer's market (delicious Falafel!).

Thanks for the heads up on the star's homes thing, we skipped it and saved time for other adventures.

A Few Absolute Musts:
-Lunch at the The Ivy on Robertson Blvd
-Shopping on Robertson Blvd
-Getty Museum
-Trip to Malibu and lunch at Geoffrey's; incredible view.
-Spa service at La Prairie at the Beverly Hills Hotel
-Dinner & cocktails at Chateau Marmont
-Cocktails at Teddy's
-Coctails at the Standard (downtown) rooftop
-Shopping at The Grove

The tour at Warner Brothers is a cut or two above the tours at other movie studios.

eating at the farmer's market (delicious Falafel!)

I recently had falafel at the farmer's market and it was great! Glad you had a good time.

Steelygirl's ideas are fine, if you have an unlimited budget!