My husband and I are arriving LAX on 12/20 and departing Christmas Day. We wanted to stay a day or 2 in Laguna area and the rest in LA (Santa Monica). What do you think of this itinerary: We wanted to stay in Santa Monica so we'd be able to walk to restaurants from hotel. Would appreciate comments or recommendations.

Arrive early LAX Monday 12/20 - drive to Laguna Beach and visit town and surround sites (stay at Best Western or Holiday Inn?)
Tuesday 12/21 - Drive up Pacific Coast highway and stop in Newport Beach on way to Santa Monica (stay at Sheraton or Holiday Inn?)
Wednesday 12/22 - Do the grand 5.5 hr tour on Starline Tours or LA City Tours? or do Hop-On, Hop-off Tour?
Thursday 12/23 - Getty Museum and Villa
Friday 12/24 - Griffith Park, Zoo
Saturday 12/25 - Depart LAX

Anyone have any restaurant recommendations in Santa Moncia area?

Stop at Balboa Island for a walk and lunch on your drive north.

I love breakfast at Gladstone's in Pacific Palisades (not far from Santa Monica). It's at the intersection of PCH and Sunset Blvd. The breakfasts are wonderful -- but the views are even better. It overlooks one of my my favorite beaches where you can walk off breakfast.

You'll be quite close to the Self-Realization Center on Sunset. That's a lovely place to stroll through the gardens. You might want to combine this with your day at the Getty Museum & Villa, as it's in that area.

Haven't been to the Getty Museum -- but the Villa is FANTASTIC! (Hope to go to the museum next week.) Enjoy!

Should be able to get some great room prices that week since it's "dead time" at the hotels. If you can swing "Laguna Riviera", that's the place to stay right on the beach.

One thing that's rough that week is TRAFFIC. You don't want to be driving from LAX to Laguna until 10:30am or so....and your drive up from Newport Beach to Santa Monica better be completed before 3pm, otherwise don't leave Newport beach until 8pm or later.

In Newport Beach, have lunch at The Crab Cooker, and definitely visit Balboa Island for a walk.

In Santa Monica, the Sheraton Delfina is a very nice hotel from which you can walk to the water and find restaurants, too.

Be aware of Joe's advice regarding traffic. It can be a nighmare to be caught on the roads at the wrong time of day.

I forgot to say that my favorite little hotel nowadays is the Inn at Venice Beach. From there, you can walk up and down the coast, seeing the craziness of Venice Beach, or go the other way down to Marina del Rey.

It is a nice little place, recently refurbished, includes a continental breakfast in a cute little courtyard, offers covered parking for about $10 or less a day.

C&O Trattoria is a decent family-style Italian restaurant right by the hotel.

Just noticed the Inn at Venice Beach has a sister property in Laguna Beach:
http://www.lagunacliffsinn.com/

Couldn't help but check your dates at Laguna Beach. The hotel has a King special for $109.65. I have not been to this hotel, just its two sister properties in L.A. Maybe you could post a question about it, if you are interested:


Traditional King
Newly Renovated guestroom features one King bed and faces our pool and open courtyard.Stay in a spacious room, decorated with a Mediterranean theme with rich fabrics, enhanced with a Perfect-sleeper king bed, a plush duvet, luxury bedding and a host of complimentary amenities such as flat screen TV’s and a Welcome Basket upon arrival. Our rooms offer views of our open air courtyard and pool.
Policies
24 Hour Cancellation required or credit card will be charged first night's room and tax.
All reservations require a valid credit card at time of booking
Room Charges: USD 109.65
Fees: USD 0.00
Tax: USD 13.16
Total: USD 122.81
View Price Breakdown

Ive stayed at THAT Laguna Cliffs Inn( there are a few properties in LB with similar names). Its a great value, with a modest walk to downtown or the beach. Its quirky though, but all of Laguna is a little on he quirky side.

Peaceout, took your advice and just booked the Laguna Cliffs Inn.

Joe, thanks for the traffic advice, we'll definitely keep that in mind.

Thanks to all for the recommendations.

Winnick, I hope you like it. Please report back, ok? I will be staying at the Venice Beach property soon. I hope this sister property in Laguna is a good deal for you, too. Website looked good. Price is excellent.

You are visiting one of my favorite parts of California, so have lotsa fun. (The Crab Cooker motto: EAT LOTSA FISH)

Going back to some of the items in your original post.

With regard to tours, I think your best bet would be a hop on-hop off tour. This will permit you to spend significant time at a selected few of the stops instead of just looking and taking a quick picture.

The Getty Villa is more interesting to me as a realization of an ancient Roman villa than as a collection of great art. For the Getty Center the attraction is the contemporary architecture of the complex. The art inside mostly reflects Getty's taste which leans toward the 1800's and earlier. Hmm. Now that I wrote that, it dawned on me that the Getty Villa is internally consistent but the Getty Center is not.

I wouldn't go to either the Getty Villa or Getty Center if the weather's rotten that day. Normally, our December weather is very pleasant, but you just never know any more. Visiting both involves walking outside. Added bonus: Driving anywhere in L.A. on a rainy day can be torture.

If ythe priority is seeing art, go to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Without knowing your budget or tastes, the following restaurants in Santa Monica come to mind:
Musha - on Wilshire near 4th - Japanese izakaya (pub food)
Cora's - on Ocean near Pico - breakfast and lunch
Father's Office - on Montana near 10th - known for their beer selection, the office burger and sweet potato fries, but the specials are always good. Must be 21+ to get in.
Bay Cities - on Lincoln near Broadway - Grab a Godmother sandwich and take it to the Palisades Park on Ocean for a picnic.
Huckleberry on Wilshire near 10th - breakfast and lunch.
BP Oysterette - on Ocean - Seafood
Penthouse at the Huntley Hotel - on 2nd, north of Wilshire - Go for drinks only and an amazing view
Gjelina - not in SM proper, but in Venice on Abbot Kinney
For Italian, I would avoid C&O. Via Veneto on Main, LaBotte on Santa Monica and Drago on Wilshire are much, much better, albeit much more expensive.
Josie's on Pico at 24th - American - rather expensive.
Melisse on Wilshire at 11th - French - very expensive.
Wilshire on Wilshire near 24th - lovely patio.
Tacos por Favor on Olympic at 14th - really a dive, but great chorizo and cheese tacos.

PeaceOut: We'll report back on our experience at Cliff's Inn.

Thanks so much to all for your recommendations. We will definitely be checking out those restaurant recommendations (except maybe the very expensive ones!)

Have a fun trip!

PeaceOut - The Laguna Cliff's Inn room was great. It's not a fancy hotel, more like a motel but we had a large king room very nicely decorated plus breakfast basket. We were only there 1 night during the heavy rain storms so missed visiting the town, but the hotel was conveniently located and had underground parking.

Thanks for the recommendation. We were happy with the place.

You were so lucky. I watched on CNN and some parts of Laguna Beach (which looked like those downtown stores) had around 4' of floodwater sweep through.

While I liked the hotel, I must object to the term 'breakfast basket.' Its really just a small basket of some very simple snacks