One day in LA
 

I will be attending an all day event at USC with my high school senior son on Monday. Our flight gets into LA at 10am on Sunday and leaves early Tuesday. We are not planning on renting a car, just taking the shuttle to the Radission located at USC. We will have the day and evening on Sunday to come up with something to do. We have been to LA before and have seen the major tourist sites. Any suggestions for spending the day on Sunday without a car? Thanks.

Been to The Getty?

It might be a good idea to take the metro (LA's version of the subway) to maybe Chinatown? you can easily spend the day exploring that area. There's some info on this site re. planning your trip using public transportation:
http://web-app.usc.edu/scampus/metro-trip-planner/

from Chinatown, you can take the goldline to Pasadena where you can have dinner, shopping, etc...
www.metro.net

take a look at all of the Bus tours offered through Gray lines... we had a similar situation and had a fun day on the bus that stopped all over town... the driver was fun and we made some great friends on the tour....

Also Venice Beach can be a real experience on the weekends... if you want a single destination... rent bikes and head up to Santa Monica for shopping and food... that can be a fun day...

With only one day and no car, I would stay in the USC/Downtown area, unless you want to eat up a good part of your day riding public transit. Check out yk's great trip report for ideas.
http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...ember-2008.cfm

You could do the museums right there at USC in Exposition Park, tour the Walt Disney Concert Hall and the downtown MOCA, eat your way through Grand Central Market, take one of the L.A. Conservancy's architectural tours. Chinatown, Little Tokyo & Olvera Street are options, too.

Radisson USC does not have a shuttle from LAX....or are you taking Supershuttle or some such independent service?

Yes, we are taking the supershuttle.
Thanks for all the ideas!

Would going to the beach be a possiblity? Do you think we should rent a car since we will only be using it Sunday?

you may want to check with your hotel and see if there is a car rental either in the hotel or close by. Then it would be easier to rent the car for the day. LA is much easier with a car than not. Or maybe you could pick the car up at the airport and drop it off at a location near your hotel.

Sun afternoon... it's supposed to be sunny and in the low/mid 70s so I would definitely head to the beach if you aren't interested in the tourist scene. I would recommend this. Pick up the car at the airport. drive to either manhattan beach or venice beach. have a nice lunch, enjoy the beach. then head to your hotel in the evening either before or after dinner. have a nice dinner and then return your car Sun evening. Or drop it off at the airport after the beach and then take a shuttle to the hotel.

RE: Manhattan Beach - plenty of places up and down manhattan beach blvd 1-3 blocks from the pier. A few of my favs:
Rock 'n' Fish lunch or dinner
Petros (greek) lunch or dinner

Venice Beach -
Piccilo Restaurant - I think dinner only but you may want to call - great italian - on the north end of the boardwalk at 5 Dudley Ave just before Rose Ave (next to the Cadillac hotel). Small quaint place with a 2-3 tables outside or a ~10-12 tables inside. http://www.piccolovenice.com/

Sidewalk cafe - it's about 1/2 way up the boardwalk and a great place to people watch and take in the VB culture. Get a table outside even if you have to wait.

If there were a place at the airport where you can store your luggage - you could actually take a cab to either MB or Venice and then cab back to the airport before going to your hotel. MB is 5-10 min south of the airport. Venice is 10-15 min north of the airport. MB is a clean neighborhood with a charming town - my personal fav of the LA beaches and might be a bit easier with this type of plan; Venice beach is more artsy and colorful and uniquely LA - probably my 2nd fav of the LA beaches - requires walking the boardwalk to really take the whole thing in.

Just a suggestion - make sure to have a jacket - it can get cooler in the late afternoon / evening.

Thanks so much, a great idea!!