DOCK

We fly in on 29/06 in the evening. We have to attend a wedding in the Anaheim area on the 1st July. We only have Saturday and Monday before we leave on Tuesday. It would be convenient to stay in Anaheim becos of the wedding, however the other places we would like to do would be WOF,Rodeo drive(my parents insist), Beverly hills to see some nice homes.I am not familiar with this huge city so need some help as to distances involved and best location to stay to minimise time in the car. thanks.

POlson

You should consider splitting your time between Anaheim and LA, maybe a hotel on the westside. A little more information would be helpful. What airport are you using? What is your hotel room budget?

hotticket

Agree with POIson...it's a big spread-out place. It sounds like most of your interests are on the Westside, so find a hotel there. You could take in Beverly Hills (drive N. of Sunset for the BIG houses) maybe the Getty? or the beach? Hollywood is a bit east of BH, but do-able . There are bus tours there or you could just take a look at Grauman's and the footprints. I guess you just need to narrow it down and decide what you want to see in a short time.

Jean

What's WOF? Are you involved in any wedding activities on June 30th? What time is the wedding on 7/1? What time is your departing flight on Tuesday?

If you're landing at LAX, don't plan on driving to Anaheim that evening. Friday night traffic will be a nightmare. Check into a hotel in the West L.A. area and spend Saturday being tourists. If possible, leave the drive to Anaheim for Sunday morning. Depending on the time of your departing flight, you should either drive back to the LAX area mid-day on Monday or on Tuesday. Traffic from Anaheim to LAX on a weekday will be extremely heavy before 9 a.m. and after 3 p.m.

janisj

WOF = Walk of Fame I presume

Anyway - w/o answers to some of the above -- mainly budget, and how much time do you actually have to devote to Anaheim - it is hard to give useful advice.

DOCK

Thanks for the feedback. Arrive LAX. Saturday is free except for a pre wedding dinner we have to attend by 8.30pm, which I believe is in Buena Park .Budget, preferably around 150-180 as we need 3 rooms, parents and 2 teenage kids are with us,but I would go up to 200 max. Wedding is Sunday so the entire day is accounted for.Tuesday leaving bright and early for trip to Grand Canyon and then onto Vegas. Fly home from Vegas. I just cannot seem to visualise the different cities/counties and their relationship to each other so it is making planning a bit difficult. Is there an area that could be central to all locationS.Thanks for the help.

lvk

If your flight arrives late in the evening on Friday, you should just consider staying near LAX. You will be checking out by 10am anyway, so will not be spending very much time there. I agree that Saturday will be a good day to tour all of the Beverly Hills and Hollywood attractions before heading down to Orange County for your 8:30 dinner.

Fri: LAX, Marina del Rey or Santa Monica hotel. The El Segundo Doubletree or Embassy Suites generally have good rates.

Sat: Tour BH & Hollywood (anything else?) and then head down to your Anaheim hotel in the early evening to freshen up before your 8:30 dinner.

Sun: Wedding, then Anaheim hotel

Mon: Orange County beach town, such as Laguna Beach, Newport Beach or Huntington Beach. All are an easy drive from Anaheim. Laguna Beach has a very nice downtown shopping area. Overnight in either your Anaheim hotel, or a beachside hotel in one of these towns.

Tues: Drive to Grand Canyon. You should consider leaving your Orange County hotel by 5am to avoid the traffic.

If you have a have a hard time visualizing the distance and relationships, try Google Maps or Mapquest, with different combinations of towns (El Segundo to Hollywood, Hollywood to Anaheim, Anaheim to Laguna Beach) This will help you get an idea of the lay of the land.

Good Luck, and enjoy your time here.

tracys2cents

I would just stay near Anaheim. You'll have a quick 35 min drive there from LAX if your flight arrives after 7pm. Just take a full day Saturday to see what you want to see in Los Angeles. The traffic usually isn't too bad on Saturdays...if you get an 8:30am start you can easily see Hollywood, West Hollywood, Rodeo Drive & the Bel Air neighborhoods. You'll probably want to stay away from the beaches it being somewhat of a holiday time period.

One point I'd make is that you should really mean what you're saying about getting an early start on Tuesday. Head for the Grand Canyon by 6:30am or else you are going to run into jam after jam. Otherwise wait it out until 9:45am.

DOCK

Thanks for all the info. I am leaning towards staying in Anaheim and just driving where we need to go.

Jean

With respect, I disagree with the estimate of a 35-minute drive from LAX to Anaheim on a Friday night, even after 7:00 p.m. The distance is about 40 miles, and this particular Friday could be considered the beginning of a holiday weekend. July 4th is Wednesday.

Anyway, I recommend against driving to Anaheim on Friday night only to turn around on Saturday morning and drive even farther to Beverly Hills and Hollywood (about 50 miles from Anaheim). You'll drive around most of the day in unfamiliar areas and then drive to Anaheim (again!). I'm L.A.-born, and this plan gives me a headache.

Because of the holiday affect, I'd nail down some hotel reservations very soon.

Sbustobante

I agree with Jean. LA gets a terrible rap because people plan poorly and spend too much time on the freeway - and the LAX/Anaheim/BH/Anaheim loop is a lot of freeway time. Add the holiday traffic into that and you've got the makings of a weekend spent sitting in a traffic jam.

I think LVK has a very workable plan.

DOCK

Thanks again. I am finding hotels becoming full already so I will book today. I have looked at a map and now can see exactly where places are. Part of our problem is that sites we wish to see are on one end and wedding and its functions are on another and being a holiday weekend I expect traffic will be horrendous. We are one of those who poorly planned on our last trip to LA and its taken 17 years for me to convince my hubby to return. I have had to up my budget as well and we likely going to do 2 rooms instead of 3, most name brands are in $220 -$250 range.

DOCK

Thanks for al the info can I just run thru our final plans so you all can tell me if it looks ok? Arrive LAX at 6.30pm on 29/06. We will need to pick up a car and then plan on staying at Embassy suites for the night. 30/06 wander around Hollywood, drive Beverly Hills and walk along Rodeo Drive. Need to be in Anaheim by 8pm for pre-wedding dinner, so will try and checkin to Anaheim hotel by 6pm. Stay in Anaheim for 3 nights.Wedding is Sunday evening(01/07) can I get some shopping done in this area as we need to get ready for wedding by 3pm (hair etc). Monday,(02/07) Queen Mary and what else can I do on this end of LA, or should we do Queen Mary on Sunday am and the have a full day to maybe do a theme park?Post wedding dinner at in Brea at 8pm on 02/07.We have kinda accepted that this trip is more about this wedding so are just hoping to get a little taste of the sights. thanks for all your input.Faye.

dedkends

The Queen Mary really isn't that great, unless you plan on visiting the nearby Long Beach Acquarium. Disneyland on Monday is an option, if you do the Queen Mary Sunday. I am not sure how long the drive is to the grand canyon but I know it is roughly 4.5 to 5 hours from Anaheim to Vegas.