Sorry, ikemarrus, I missed your earlier mention of Scripps, so you haven't added another college....

As to the USC v. UCLA debate, things that are better usually cost more.

Jean, you may be right...USC paid Reggie Bush quite a bit.

okay, I'm outta here :-).

I'd re-schedule the appointments with Scripps and Pomona. Seriously, that's quite a drive to do twice. Or, spend the night near Claremont, although there's not much else to do there for tourists.

The idea to mapquest all this is a good one. For instance, you also plan to go from UCLA to the southern beaches. Why not go to the nearer beaches, like Malibu and Zuma? That would save you a cross-town drive. Traffic in L.A. is rush hour 24/7, you know.

I don't know when your trip is, but you might have time to get free tickets to Jay Leno's Tonight Show. It's fun to see it done live. More fun than a tour IMHO.

Your list of things to do is unique. No drive down Sunset Blvd., Bel Air, Rodeo Drive?? They are all close to UCLA, you know. Stop in Westwood for the kids to get a look at where UCLA kids hang, and to buy a souvenier, get a bite.
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I also think some days are ambitious, but you can decide which things are more important. (Jean, I'm right there with you about 3rd St. Promenade and SM Pier, but that's what most visitors want to see.)

The WB tour is only 2 hours, so you could technically do both WB and Universal on the same day. If your daughter likes the Gilmore Girls, she will love the WB tour. They show lots and lots of Gilmore Girls sets. It would be a busy and expensive day. I would switch it to Monday, though. This way, you could move your Getty then relaxing beach day to Tuesday, your last day. The South Bay beaches are closer to LAX, so you can check right into your LAX hotel afterwards.

Your hotel budget will be tight for your west side stay. For your night at LAX, check out the suite hotels on Aviation Blvd in El Segundo/Hawthorne (adjacent to Manhattan Beach). For your other days, you might try a Universal City hotel, or the Hotel Angeleno, right off the 405 freeway. Check Travelzoo to see what specials are running.

I believe you have to be 18 to get into Jay Leno and most show tapings. If attending a show taping interests you, check out www.tvtickets.com. You can see what shows are being taped when you are here, and the age requirements.

I'm not sure what's so strange about our college visits - we are going to visit 3 colleges with my daughter - she's interested in going to school in California, and she likes these particular small liberal arts colleges. 2 of them, Scripps and Pomona are in the same town - Claremont. While there, we'll also look at Harvey Mudd - another Claremont school that my son might be interested in when he's of college age - because we probably won't get back here. The other college, Occidental, is fairly close to Claremont (30 minutes?). While we're there, we'll see Pasadena and walk through Cal Tech. We are not really visiting UCLA - just thought it would be fun for the kids to walk around Westwood - but that's optional. These colleges visits and interviews are the main purpose of our trip. But we made it longer so that we could see a bit more of LA. We've already done Disney and the Hollywood things, which is why they aren't on the list.

Thanks for all the advice. We will mapquest this.

Any other hotel reservations or advice is most welcome. This has been very helpful.

Sara

There is nothing strange about the college visits, you just stepped into the UCLA vs USC rivalry. We toured Occidental and really liked it. It is about 35 miles from Claremont. Time estimate? 1 - 1 1/2 hours depending on (like all else LA) traffic.

I'm no expert on the LA area, but my daughter was living in Santa Monica, and now Century City neighborhood. We've stayed at the Best Western Gateway in Santa Monica - it's in your budget range - and the room was good for the money. Ask for a corner room for more space. My husband has also stayed at the Holiday Inn Express on Olympic in Century City. He said it was clean, comfortable and a bargain. It is centrally located and not far from LAX. As others advised, check a map. Both places are not that far from the 405.
Have a great time!
Keep in mind The Getty Center is closed on Mondays, but Getty Villa is open. The Getty Villa is wonderful. A fun dinner might be to get take-out food (from Whole Foods perhaps) in Santa Monica and have a picnic dinner on the beach.

Have you thought about staying in Pasadena? It's between Occidental and Claremont, more or less, and although it might be warmer than staying in Santa Monica, you would save some travel time. It's also fairly convenient to a number of the places you mentioned seeing (like Gamble House and Cal Tech, Olvera Street, Union Station). You could probably do much better there than on the westside with your hotel budget.

Could we stay in pasadena the whole time, or would we have to move for some of the sights?

Not really necessary to move if you would rather not. Pasadena is really centrally located for everything you have listed. It's about 25 miles Pasadena-Santa Monica as Pasadena-Claremont, and everything else you've listed is closer. Freeway convenient as well, best times to travel are approximately after 9:30 am and not between 4 pm and 6 pm.

You could stay at the Marriott in Pasadena...close to old town for shops and dining as well as the Gamble House Huntington Gardens and Cal Tech...don't know what type of a hotel your looking for but there is also the Ritz-Carlton / Huntington Hotel in Pasadena...great hotel...and only 5 min to Cal Tech and Lake Ave shopping

Did you go?

Did everyone have fun?

Which colleges did you most like?

Yes, what did you think of the Claremont McKenna schools in particular? We liked Pomona College pretty much, except it's so small.
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