LA for a day and a half
 

Help! I'm headed to LA this November for a day and a half before flying to Vietnam (very excited about that!) and we're looking for things to do. There are 2 of us (late 20's, early 20's) and we'll have a car. We plan to fly into LAX around noon on a Sunday, stay the night with a friend, and be back at LAX for our international flight around 8pm on Monday. So far, we'll definitely be going to the Getty Center. Any other ideas? I'm a bit overwhelmed by the vastness of LA. We like museums, zoos/aquariums, great food, outdoorsy stuff like hiking, and window shopping (but not high end stuff...). We love to not spend too much but will make an exception for a great meal. Thanks!!

Sorry- ages are late 20's, early 30's...not that it really matters. Thanks again!

Getty is closed on Monday fyi.
Griffith Observatory too, so go on Sunday night. On what side of the city are you staying Sunday night?

Clarkgriswold, thanks for the info. I'm not sure where the friend lives. They're friends of my friends. I imagine we'd like to slowly migrate back toward LAX on Monday, regardless of starting point.

Griffith Observatory sounds like a cool idea. I like the price ;) Is the LA Zoo worth a visit? For contrast, we live near the DC Zoo and I go regularly.

Thanks!

http://www.getty.edu/visit/

The Getty Villa is open on Mondays. We like it a lot.

Don't overplan it, as you don't really have that much time, considering you will probably be returning your rental car around 5 p.m.

It sounds goofy, but look into a Gray Line city tour... riding the bus eliminates driving and parking and hits some of the high spots around LA...

The LA Zoo is good, but you can skip it. Now if we were talking about the San Diego Zoo.... Then you might carve some time out to see that.

But LA has so much to offer, and in just over 24 hours (sorry, that's more like what time you really have to work with) you'll barely scratch at the dust on the surface of the city. Or cities, since "LA Metro" is a collection of well over 100 cities spread out over two large counties and an island. The Getty Villa will take up a chunk of your morning, so bear that in mind and don't overplan the rest of your time. And don't forget, you'll need to squeeze in some kind of meal....

For museums, head out to LaBrea Tar pits on the corner of La Brea and Wilshire, very interesting and there are other museums in the area.

I like the Los Angeles classics including: Griffith Park and observatory, Walk of the Stars, Hollywood Sign, Chinatown, Olvera Street, The Grove/Farmers Market, Melrose Ave, LaBrea Tar Pits.

The Zoo is good, and across the street is the Gene Autry Western Heritage Museum which is terrific and has a nice lunch café. There is also plenty of good dining in the Los Feliz neighborhood just south of the Observatory and the Zoo.
5pm on Monday is not a great time to be heading to LAX to return a car so yes, work your way west after lunch. Maybe a stroll around Manhattan Beach Village (Pier area) in the afternoon or happy hour in Marina del Rey. Both spots would be just 10 mins to car rental return.

If you want to go to Getty Center you'll need to visit on Sunday or else visit the Getty Villa instead (very pretty) up in Malibu. You need a reservation since their parking is limited.
LA Zoo to me is just OK, San Diego Zoo is much better.
You might like the Petersen Automotive Museum which is fairly close the the Tar Pits if you decide to go there.
Also agree with Clark about Manhattan Beach being a nice town close to the airport, lived there for 19 years. Lots of nice restaurants and stores, you can watch the surfers and beach volleyball players also.

Just so you are clear--there are two Getty museums, the Getty Center and the Getty Villa. The Getty Center is closed on Mondays, so as Jamie said, you'd have to visit on Sunday and you'd need to book your parking reservation in advance. Personally, I would skip the Getty Center and visit the Getty Villa on Monday. I found it much more interesting and you aren't tied to any "parking time".

If you like hiking, I can recommend two that I recently did: 1) the hike to the area behind the iconic Hollywood sign and 2) the hike to the site where they shot the TV series "MASH" and other movies. For directions to the Hollywood sign, Google "Hollywood Sign Hike" and/or "Hollyridge Trail". Be aware that there is little-to-no shade on this hike, so doing it in November would be just about the perfect time of year. The "MASH" site is located in Malibu Creek State Park, which was used for filming lots of movies and TV shows. There is a small visitor's center there that shows a film about many of the movies shot there--just ask them to run it for you. There are picnic tables at the MASH site if you want to take lunch with you.

Thank you all so much for the suggestions! I think we'll tentatively plan for a bus tour and maybe the observatory on Sunday and the Getty Villa and Marina Del Rey on Monday. I've wanted to visit the San Diego Zoo but the driving time seems prohibitive, unfortunately.

Thanks again! I really appreciate everyone's help.

Lunch and activity options on Sunday:

You can drive 15 minutes south to the Redondo Pier and choose from 20 or so casual restaurants in the marina, then walk south on the beach path.

You can drive 20 minutes north on PCH to Gladstones for Fish and have lunch on a bench with Pacific Waves breaking next to your table. Or:

Drive 10 more minutes north to the Reel Inn, a super casual locals spot restaurant with Pacific fresh catch at the corner of Topanga Canyon Blvd. and PCH

The LA Farmer's Market is open on Sundays on Ward St. in LA.
Several dozen food stands and gourmet shops adjacent to a destination SoCal shopping mall. A popular spot.

You could drive 45 minutes south to Laguna Beach and have lunch at Las Brisas. Excellent Mexican on a bluff overlooking Laguna Beach and Dana Point.

Is an In N Out 5 minutes north of LAX on Sepulveda Blvd.

You could hike to the Hollywood Sign.
Hike an easy trail along the ridge of the Santa Monica mountains.

I'd minimize the driving myself. You can't really predict traffic in LA, and when you most need to get there quickly, you run into a jam.

Like driving down to Laguna Beach? I wouldn't recommend it for you on this trip, although we love it there. The drive times given are under supremely ideal conditions, which rarely exist.

Your friend will probably have ideas, too. I'd follow his local's advice.

If you go to the Getty Villa, the grounds and expansive views are as gorgeous as the antiquities inside. And there's a nice cafe to have a bite and eat outside.

From there, you could continue up the PCH, and visit Gladstone's or something around there. But I'd allow more than 20 minutes to drive from there back to LAX.

The first thing you need to find out is WHERE the friend of friend lives. The LA basin is enormous and it can take (literally) hours to get from some parts to other parts.

Once you know where you'll be, it will be a LOT easier to make p,ans.

Gladstone's? Yuck - I far prefer Duke's although Moonshadows is pretty nice also.

We like Gladstone's for the outdoor patio is all. And it's the first one you find at PCH, where Sunset ends. Also because we used to go there many, many years ago, when it was a splurge for us, so it has memories.

Moonshadows is good enough. More expensive. Never tried Duke's, because it has always been swamped with people when we have driven by.

The Charthouse is another vintage standby in that area, where we like to go for its location on the beach.

Just to be clear about admission and parking at the Getty Villa, here's an excerpt from their web page.

Admission to the Getty Villa is always free; an advance, timed-entry ticket is required. - See more at: http://www.getty.edu/visit/villa/pla....dVq1y46S.dpuf

And I know that you're not planning on the Getty Center, but here's what they have to say about parking.

Parking reservations are neither required nor accepted. - See more at: http://www.getty.edu/visit/center/pl....mZydaN9f.dpuf

Next. The Observatory and a hike.

You already deduced that admission to the Observatory is free. But I urge you to spring for the planetarium show. I recommend "Centered in the Universe".

http://www.griffithobservatory.org/b...bcentered.html

There is a 3 mile round trip hike from the observatory to Mt. Hollywood that would not be too time consuming. It was featured on one of the Huell Howser TV shows.

http://www.thetrailmaster.com/hikes/...-mt-hollywood/