>>which part of the itinerary that you think is a killer without a car?

The entire itinerary is what I think will be "killer without a car" especially if you stay in Santa Monica.

I see you have another thread started more recently about joining a Contiki tour instead of doing it on your own?

For Getty Villa:
Access by Public Transportation

Metro Bus 534 stops at Coastline Drive and Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) directly across from the Getty Villa entrance. Passengers exit the bus at PCH and Coastline Drive. You must have your Villa admission ticket hole-punched by the driver before exiting the bus in order to enter the Villa.

Get complete route information from the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (METRO): 323-GO-METRO (323-466-3876), or use the METRO Trip Planner at www.metro.net. Metro buses require exact change.

Note that bus 534 does not run all that frequently.

SuperShuttle will take you to Disneyland area hotels but it is a shared shuttle so may make some other stops en route.
Look into a closer motel than the ones you are looking at, the two closest to the park are Best Western Plus Park Place Inn and Park Vue Inn.

I agree that you do not comprehend how spread out the greater LA area is, especially some of the far flung places you want to visit.

Let's have a bit of a reality check here.

Leaving aside the other itinerary points (they're not impossible, but will take a good chunk of your day in travel time), let's focus on the Disneyland to Santa Monica jaunt.

That is a drive of about seventy km. Out of Orange County into Los Angeles County. At 3 AM that drive will take you about 50 minutes. During the day you're looking at one to two hours.

If you find an Uber driver who will tackle this trip, please come back here to post how much it cost you. You may have to find a real driver service for such a big journey.

I work up the street from the HI Hostel in Santa Monica. It looks nice (and lots of young kids stay there, so be prepared for rowdy tourists!), but I don't think they have air conditioning, which in July might be a big deal, especially if it's unusually hot this summer (right now it's a warm 24C/77F, which is unusually warm for winter). If the Expo Line opens the Santa Monica extension on time (May 20...?), the stop will be a short walk from the hostel. You'll catch most buses on Ocean Ave. (one block west) or Santa Monica Blvd. (one block north) or Wilshire Blvd. (three blocks north). Dining choices in SM can be pricey, so be prepared.

Do you REALLY have to do Disneyland AND Universal AND Magic Mountain? I think the last one should be struck off your list, given the logistics involved in getting there and back (way up there in Valencia/Santa Clarita, which incidentally is about sixty km from that hostel. That drive can set you back an hour-- or two or three hours. Yep, traffic can be (and often is) THAT bad.

For that matter, I'd give a pass to the Getty Villa. The grounds are lovely, but if you're there for life-changing, thrilling art, forget it. For that matter, the permanent collection at the Getty Center in West LA is IMHO a big "meh", but it gets wonderful visiting exhibitions, and the facility itself is superb, so I might suggest substituting the latter for the former. If you want some time with world-class art, you're better off going to LACMA or the Broad or the Norton Simon.

Before one comes to this area, one generally can't picture the vast distances between points of interest, nor the varied topography (from coastal plains to mountains within an hour's travel), nor the microclimates (a little chilly in Santa Monica? Go inland a few miles, it should be 3-5C hotter). I would focus on a handful of absolute must-sees, then leave the rest for another visit. You'll be back.

If you want some time with world-class art, you're better off going to LACMA or the Broad or the Norton Simon

And while you're in Pasadena for the Norton Simon, do not miss the Huntington Gardens and Library.

The Getty Villa has art antiquities, and a classic setting with gardens. We enjoy that. We also like the Getty Center's more contemporary approach. Both Getty's have beautiful views.

With the advice you are getting, you can make a realistic, fun and do-able itinerary. But probably also cutting out a site or two. And allow downtime to walk the beach.

Thank you all for your valuable reply to my post, I need to know which attraction/places that locals suggested as 'must' see for 1st timer.

I like scenery, shopping, and thrill rides.

As for renting a car, I've look at Hertz and Avis web, the economy car option (like ford fiesta or something) plus GPS will set me back almost USD 60 a day? Like one day rent for 8am to 6pm (this I think as a fun option to try outdriving in LA). Please advice which rental company is the best according to locals (but this is kinda tough question as I believe the locals never rent a car, you guys buy your car). And if I happen to drive in LA, that would be like the 1st time ever for me to drive on the other side of the road. Any smart tips of driving in LA safely, not pulled over by the police, etc? Which area is good for parking, I don't wanna get a ticket.
(do understand why I ask like this because if u drive in Jakarta, you WILL get pulled over by the police if you don't know what you are doing, even locals sometimes doesn't know the so called traffic regulation here in some unfamiliar areas. As for how I don't understand how vast LA seems to be, trust me guys, I understand. I'd done googling and mapping and all that and for me kinda doable with public transport just spare an hour or 2 each way and I'll be on my way to my destination. I understand your suggestion of having a car, my friend said that situation in LA, traffic/public transport wise, is kinda same with Jakarta and Bali, it's not that frequent, you have to really know which bus to take and literally standing on the bus stop breathing CO2 from other vehicles passing and get in to the bus hoping for the best you don't get mugged or kidnapped or raped or killed or all that, on the other hand, driving here for 1st time tourist from Europe or US is not advisable because the traffic will just kill you, that's that, not only traffic jam, but parking wise, road regulation, and getting your way to your destination aka not get lost is a real bitch here, but thankfully everything is cheap here so in Bali you can just rent a car+driver and off you go, and as for Jakarta, nobody visit to do tourism so it's mostly biz trip and your company will just rent you a limo plus driver for a mere USD300/12hrs or if your company is cheapskates or you are not that important enough, you get a nice town car plus driver.)

@suze no, the contiki or trek america tour I'm asking on other subject is like additional trip on the top of this one week+ in LA.

@rjw_lgb_ca thanks for ur reply! yes, I know, the aircon thing kinda concern me a bit so actually right now my plan is either am channeling my tropical island girl inside me and stay at the beautiful Santa Monica in HI and stay longer (because it's so damn cheap for the location) like 6nights or so to really soak up the city.

or

Book myself a room in Crescent Beverly Hills, gritted my teeth and shorten my stay in LA (like maybe down to 4days 3 night in beverly hills plus 3 days 2 night in Disneyland, so like I will have to scratch some of my itinerary, however can't decide which one!).

Another option is to book a 'package' from tour company but I will stay near Union station (Miyako Inn), but I've read in some forum that saying in downtown is not that nice.

What do you think?

Some of my friends that had stayed in LA previously for study or work also insisted that I stay either in Beverly Hills or Santa Monica (they said might as well blow my bank since I'll fly almost 10.000 miles away from home).

For food, I don't mind if it's cost me more in Santa Monica as long as it's good, I don't eat that often anyway when am travelling (I like to eat local snacks to fill me up rather sitting down and have a proper meal 3 times a day in a restaurant).

On that note, of course if I decided that like the city of LA and will visit again next year, I might wanna rent a car next time (after familiarising myself with the situation there).

just a quick comment -- overseas visitors can get better rental car rates all inclusive of insurance/mileage/and usually drop off fees. There are several brokers that specialize in renting to foreign visitors and offer better deals than what you can get booking directly.

Now that I know you are a left-side-of-the-street driver, I would highly recommend you NOT rent a car in LA!!

>>Now that I know you are a left-side-of-the-street driver, I would highly recommend you NOT rent a car in LA!!

I like downtown Los Angeles a lot. Of course it's quite different than Santa Monica or Beverly Hills (more upscale residential areas).

As far as places/attractions, I personally like some of the old-timey Los Angeles places. On that list I'd include: Olvera Street, Chinatown, Walk of the Stars, Hollywood Sign, the Grove/Farmers Market, La Brea Tar Pits, Griffith Park observatory to name a few.

If you're in downtown LA, a really good and very moderately priced Italian restaurant is Maccheroni Republic, behind the Central Market (which is also worth a visit).

Janis, this poster doesn't want to drive in LA at all. She'll have no time to get used to driving on the right. Add to that LA traffic and I think it's a disaster waiting to happen.

I also take back my car rental suggestion since she doesn't know how (has no experience) driving on the right hand side of the road.

The freeways of Los Angeles are NOT the place to learn!!!

I know she doesn't want to. That is fine - but then she'll have to modify her plans/wish list. That's all.

Just for a point of reference - none of my friends from Australia had ever driven on the right before hitting LAX or SFO for the first time. Some (maybe most) of my UK friends had driven on the continent before diving in the States for the first time -- and most claim it is easier for them here than in Europe.

If you do decide to rent a couple of points:
Standard rental cars have automatic transmissions so no worries about shifting gears.
People from overseas can usually get good rates using a third party broker such as rentalcars.com who will provide a rental car with all insurance included.
Parking is plentiful since LA is a car culture. Prices vary, Universal is about $15-16, Disneyland is $18, MM not sure. Hotel parking is much more expensive than motel parking.
You may want to wait to decide to rent when you get here, or rent next time whatever you are comfortable with.
Police do not stop people unless they have committed a violation, in which case they give you a ticket or the court sends it to the car rental company who will pay the ticket and rebill you with a fee for their efforts.

I see...

@suze one of my friend who did live in LA for a while said the same thing like 'LA is not the place for u to learn how to drive on the other side of the road!'

Maybe I should learn to drive on the right side somewhere else 1st. Just to ensure so I wudn't bother the local with 'stupid-tourist-driving-style' LOL

Just a quick question:
I might want to buy a prepaid SIM card for Internet Mobile + the plan, which company you guys recommend? Do u have any suggestions on which plan I should buy? And where to buy, direct in the states or online before my trip?

Long time ago, I tried the tours who come to pick you up at the hotel and bring you to the main attractions. I suppose they still exist (check leaflets in lobby).They were good: en route, we would stop, let us say at Farmers market, Hollywood and would be dropped at Universal with plenty of time to enjoy.
Because I would agree : terrible with public transport and need to get used to driving around (even if there are places much much worse !)

@rouelan thank you for sharing. I can't wait to share my 'survival' story in LA without a car! It's kinda excite me a lot LOL