We will be in LA for three days in October. Considering not hiring a car. Want to do:
Disneyland
Universal Studios
General tour - star tour or go to the beaches.
Can you suggest a hotel and/or location that would be OK. We fly into and out of LAX.
Thanks for any help

Hi kobecat, without a car how do you plan on visiting Disneyland then Universal Sutdios and then possibly the beaches. LA requires a car to get anywhere. What did you have in mind for trasportation?

You should do a search of the forum; there was a thread in the last week or so which spelled out just how difficult it is to get around L.A. without a car.

The amount you would spend on shuttles/taxis would far outweigh a car rental. You need a car in L.A., especially since all the places you want to see are fairly distant from one another.

Have a good trip.

We had looked at shuttles - a day trip to Disneyland would cost $86 each incl. transportation and entry, Universal Studios $80 entry and transportation.
So undecided. We are from Australia; have driven in LA before but just wondered if we could get away with it. Insurance on hiring a car is outrageous for us because we can't use our own insurances.

If you put the word "calamity" into the search above, a big L.A. thread will appear talking about hotels with no car.

There should be agencies in Australia that get decent car deals that include insurance for USA.

Kobecat, with all due respects to the other posters, may I take another approach to this and first of all say that your no-car plan is not only doable, but in the long run might just be the preferred route for your to take. If you were planning on spending a week touring the entire Los Angeles basin, and visiting off-the-beaten places places, than a car might make your life easier. But you are spending one day at Disneyland, one day at Universal and a third day on another tour. A car would cost you the rental fees, insurances, taxes, parking and the time you spend driving. One of the many tour companies that operate will charge you one fee, including your admission tickets. You do not have to read a map, remember where you parked, fight traffic, or pay the parking fee at your hotel, and you can even nap on the way back to your hotel after a long day at the parks. There are several tour companies and offer tours leaving from hotels in downtown, the airport area, Anaheim, Hollywood and the westside. They pick you up, they drop you off. Starline offers hotel and tour packages at many of the area hotels from the beach to Pasadena. Others may also have such packages.

Since you are considering one day at the beaches, maybe a beach city hotel would be best, and you can book tours for your two theme park days. Or, if you want to have a full day at Disney at your own pace, stay near the park and book tours for the other two days. Have you researched tour companies?

Thousands of tourists come to Los Angeles every day without renting a car. Many more people actually live in the LA without a car, or who have a car but still utilize public transportation. The average American may find waiting for a bus or train to be an inconvenience, but many others do it every day, even in LA. I did it for years, I taught my daughter to use public transportation. I'd much rather spend my commute in public transit than fighting the traffic and dealing with parking, and walking from Metro and bus stops to my final destination never killed me.

kobecat: I agree with 'here today...'. We have a car while out in CA because we go for longer visits, but we have signed up for tours so that we do not have to drive while trying to look around at the sights. We always have the tour company pick us up at the hotel. I believe all tour companies do that. Ask the concierge or research online before you go. I would suggest staying in a place like Santa Monica for nearness to LAX and beach. It is a good location without a car. Lots of shopping, restaurants, easy to walk. I'm not sure about distance to Disney or Universal (they are in opposite directions of each other), but I know that someone else will post about that. It really is possible to visit, especially for a short stay, without a car.

I was about to say you need a car, until I read that you're from Australia (don't you drive on the other side of the road?) and after I saw here_today's reply, I would agree that you probably don't need to rent a car after all for only 3 days.

Do the tours and I think you'll be fine. I would suggest probably staying near one of the two resorts - so as to cut down on one day of travel time. You would only need to travel 2 of the 3 days, versus every day.

In October, I would choose to stay near Disneyland.

Kobecat, we are from OZ and are taking the kids to L.A. in late december, we have made the decision to do the organised coach tour thing for all the reasons detailed above, we also intend to split our accom between Anaheim and Hollywood, mainly looking at shorter daily transits . There are plenty of companies that you can book from here and the prices are not that bad ! (even with our exchange rate !)

Thanks everyone for your help. Just when I decided OK we need a car I read your lovely responses!! If I decide to book hotels with Priceline or Hotwire what areas do you suggest?

Just for 3 days, rent the car. If it is a Fri sat Sun, cars are very inexpensive at LAX. Even if you have to buy the insurance, it would be less or equal to 2 shuttle round trips to Hollywood...plus you'd have the freedom to explore.