Hey

Hoping you guys could have a read over this and let me know what you think! I'm travelling in August by myself and this will be the last week of the month there. It's almost finalised but I'd love to hear if you think I should adjust anything and also if it won't work with timing. I would've already been to LA earlier in the month and done the standards (walk of fame etc)

Day 1 Wednesday; arrive in LA midday and get to hotel around 1/2pm. Would like to visit the museum of death, and hopefully see a stand up or comedy act that night. I'm not sure if I should add something else to this day as I'm also not sure how long the museum would take. I'm also interested in the holocaust museum but not sure if I could fit both in before closing time.

Day 2 Thursday: Warner bros tour and paramount pictures tour. (Is anyone able to let me know which would be better to get done in the morning?). Also want to visit the Nike Store. I have a horseback ride booked to see the Hollywood sign which starts at 5pm so I need to be there about 4:45pm. After that I'd like to go to the Griffith observatory. I'm not sure if it's worth also going to see the Hollywood bowl this day.. Would only be for some photos? If it is a good idea should I do this after the observatory?

Day 3 Friday: Pick up hire car around 9:30/10am and drive to South Coast Plaza. Will probably hang around there until 1pm or so then drive to San Diego. Would like to make a few stops but haven't decided which places are worth a stop. I've heard La Jolla is great but haven't researched much into this yet.
I'm not sure what time to expect to arrive in San Diego so I haven't planned anything more for this day. The other thing I did want to do is get to Sunset Cliffs Park around 6:30/7pm.

Day 4 Saturday: Visit San Diego Zoo. Unfortunately will be on a weekend but I don't want to have to change hotels again to start in SD and finish in LA so Saturday it is! I've heard you can get a stamp so you can head out, visit balboa park and then go back in. I'll definitely be doing the backstage pass tour. That night I was thinking about walking through Gaslamp (yes or no?) and maybe just having an earlier night.

Day 5 Sunday: I'm not sure if I should give myself until around 11am in San Diego as I'm not sure what could be done in that short amount of time. I was then going to drive up and go to the aquarium of the pacific. Considering the behind the scenes tour on this one. I fly out this day and have arranged to drop the hire car off at LAX at 7pm as my flight leaves at 10:30pm.
If I have time to spare between the aquarium and dropping off the car I would most likely have another walk around Santa Monica.

Anyway that's it! If you can let me know if you think it will work or if I need to change anything it would be much appreciated!

In regards to Paramount/WB/Griffith/Nike all in one day....where will you be staying? Are you relying on the bus or Uber or using taxis or what (I see that you don't pick up your car til next morning?) There is no bus that goes to Griffith Observatory.

Day 5 take a walk up & down Manhattan Beach strand if you have time to kill, not Santa Monica. MB is more convenient to LAX for you. However, Sundays in August can be hella trafficky near the beaches.

I'll be staying in West Hollywood, near the In n out burger.
Uber will be my means of transport whilst there's no car

Thankyou I will definitely change away from Santa Monica as I would've visited earlier on but thought it might've been easiest to kill time at.

West Hollywood to WB is a little trafficky in the morning, but still I suppose you should do that first since Paramount will be more convenient to your horseback ride and the Observatory. Maybe choose a 10:30am WB tour and get a 9:30am uber ride. Then a quick grab-lunch at the WB café and then schedule a 2pm Paramount tour? Paramount to Sunset Ranch should take you 15-20 mins but I'm not too familiar with Uber and how quickly they arrive to pick you up.

I don't think the Hollywood Bowl is a spot "just for photos" , if you could even get in without a ticket to that evening's show. Also check if there is a show you might like to see at The Greek Theatre which is just beside the Observatory.

Traffic on a summer Friday afternoon down to San Diego will be quite troublesome. I'm not sure what you want to see along the way but you might find that a 10:30 to 12:30 drive is your best bet....then shop once you are in San Diego. Or at least get down as far as La Jolla good and early.

Thanks for your thoughts I've read you'll generally have to wait 5 minutes for an Uber car however I'd probably give it an extra 10 to be safe.

I will have a look at the Greek Theatre thanks.

Yeh, I was told you want to get to La Jolla by no later than 2:30 but I'm not sure if anywhere in San Diego has a shopping complez matching South Coast Plaza, had a look and there seems to be quite a few sports clothings stores as well as loads more others, which seems ideal! I'm not a big shopper but I just think it would be awesome to see so many different stores, especially when you come from a place where every shopping centre has the same 15 shops haha

Well in West Hollywood you're very close to The Grove which should definitely be on your radar if you want an interesting shopping plaza.

www.thegrovela.com

For san diego......shopFashionValleyMall.com

Just had a look at both and The Grove seems a bit too nice clothes store-y! I'm not much of a clothes shopper unless it sports brands. The Fashion Valley Mall however looks like it could be a good replacment for the Plaza!

Shopping at the malls in San Diego is a waste of time IMHO. Our malls are the typical big box stores (Sears, Macy's, Charlotte Russe, Nordstrom's, JC Penney's, etc). We have so many other things to do that you can't do in your hometown.

There is the beautiful island of Coronado (visit the historic Hotel Del Coronado), Old Town (with fun Mexican restaurants), Point Loma with the Cabrillo Monument (where the Spanish explorers first landed), San Diego Zoo and Balboa Park, the Birch Aquarium in La Jolla, Torrey Pines Nature Trails, neighborhood small shops in Del Mar & La Jolla. The USS Midway Museum and naval ship at the Embarcadero downtown, a day at the La Jolla Cove (snorkeling), or La Jolla Shores doing a kayaking or dive tour of the ocean area which is also a protected perserve and home to the famous Scripps Institute of Oceanography.

>>We have so many other things to do that you can't do in your hometown.

I was actually looking at Coronado but I think I would've needed an extra day to add other things like that on, I feel like I'm gonna be quite busy with the itinerary I've mentioned so don't want to get too overwhelmed by adding too much more! I was considering the Birch aquarium in place on the Aquarium of the Pacific but from reviews I've read the latter has a bit more going on. How do you compare the two?


Janisj is right - good picking up on! I'm from Australia so all those stores actually sound exciting haha.

San Diego- rather than Gaslamp, go to Little Italy, great food and deinks and not all Italian.

In San Diego, there are several malls all in a row in the Mission Valley Area:
Fashion Valley (more high end), Mission Valley East & West (Mixed with stores like Macy's, Target,American Navy, Tj Maxx, Nordstrom Rack, etc and outlets) and several smaller malls with Ross, Staples, Ikea, etc.

Macy's has a deal where if you are from overseas you can go to guest services and show your passport and get 10-11% off (excludes cosmetics). Worth looking into.

That's great to know, thanks heaps!