lulys

Hello all. I've posted before and have gotten some help. Now I think I've narrowed things down some more and was hoping for some more advice. We will be arriving in late July (family of 4 includes 2 teenage daughters) into Burbank airport. We get in about 2pm on a Tuesday. We'd like to hire a car to tour us around LA, seeing stuff like the Kodak Theater, the footprints at the Chinese Theater, Rodeo Drive, etc. From LA, I was thinking about heading towards Beverly Hills and then to Malibu. From Malibu take the coast down to Santa Monica. If time permits, stop at the 3rd street promenade for a little while then head down to hotel on Hermosa Beach. On day 2, we'd like to hang out around the beach, ride bikes, check out Venice Beach. Perhaps we could have dinner at the Ivy? Don't know how hard it is to get reservations there or how hard it would be to drive there in the evening and back? May not be worth it?
Day 3, we wanted to do the Warner Brothers VIP Studio Tour then come back to Hermosa Beach until it is time to head to LAX for our flight out. Don't know how much of this is really possible or how the transportation would work? Are taxis for the ride into and out of LA too expensive making a car rental a necessity? I hate the idea of doing my own driving as I get distracted trying to take in all the sights. So the question is do we take a taxi from Hermosa Beach to LA for the studio tour or plan to rent a car? After the tour (about 2 hours starting at 8am) is there time to hang out at HB again, then pick up luggage before going to airport? (Need to be at airport by 5pm)Our flight leaves about 7pm.

lvk

For that itinerary, I really think you need to rent a car.

Day 1: www.viptoursandcharters.com will charge you $450 for a custom 5-hour limo tour. Most limo companies in LA charge a $150/hour with a 2-hour minimum. (It will take wayyyyy more than 2 hours to complete your day 1 itinerary.) If you would like to eat at the Ivy, I would recommend you do so on that first day, skipping Santa Monica & Malibu.

On day 2, you could bicycle along The Strand and through from Hermosa Beach to Venice and Santa Monica.

It's day 3 that is most problematic with no car. If you have a car, you can check out of your HB hotel and store your luggage in the trunk, eliminating the need to return to HB for your luggage. With a car, you could even see Malibu and Santa Monica on day 3, before heading back to LAX.

A taxi from HB to WB Studios in Burbank would run you well over $100, then another $100 back to HB, and $20-30 back to LAX.

janisj

This is just about a 100% rental car itinerary. A hired car/driver will probably cost even MORE than what lvk estimates. Plus -- w/ a 2 p.m. flight arrival, you will be doing much of that Day 1 tour during the HEAVY commute. Paying $150-$200 per hour to sit in traffic not my idea of fun.

I'd personally try to get to the beach right after landing and be settled in before the commute starts.

stumpworks73

I agree with the rental car advise.

Day One is more than you can get done. By the time you get your luggage, car and drive to Hollywood, you will get two items from your list done at best. Driving to Hermosa directly, let alone side tripping to Malibu at peak of traffic is a long hour at minimum.

All your stops are worthwhile, but traffic is a 24 hour obstacle in SoCal these days.

lulys

I did find a limo service - A Classy Ride Limousine - that charges $400 including gratuity for a 5 hour drive. If the limo picked us up at the airport, do you think I could see most of what I want on day 1? I would just have the limo do the whole thing and drop us off at HB hotel. Then do day 2 as Ivk said. Day 3 is the problem. I guess I could rent a car, check out of the hotel, do the early WB studio tour and have lunch at the Ivy. If I get reservations at 1:30pm, do you think I can be at LAX by 5pm?

janisj

You need to understand traffic in LA. By the time you got into the limo you'd have maybe/barely 30 minutes or so before the afternoon commute starts to get really ugly. You might get 5 hours - but that will include nearly 3 hours of stop and go traffic almost anywhere in the LA basin

lulys

janisj, that's unbelievable! It really messes up my plans. What if I skip Hollywood, go to Beverly Hills, Santa Monica and down along the coast to HB hotel on Day 1? Is the traffic bad along there, too? Day 2, we hang out along the Strand. Day 3, leave early and do WB tour, skip the IVY, and tour LA sights before heading to LAX? Does that work?

DeniceRG

If you get into Burbank around 2, and have a car/driver, you'll be able to see alot of Hollywood .... it's really easy to get to ... the driver probably won't even take the freeways to get there. Do Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and then I'd head down to your hotel. I would do the beaches on your next day. And Warner Bros and the Ivy for lunch on your third. It's doable.

5alive

lulys,
When we arrived at 3 pm at LAX two years ago, we just planned on eating dinner nearby with a friend at Marina del Rey, basically hanging out until 7ish and then heading down to Orange County.

I think the previous advice to get a rental and go straight to Hermosa Beach and enjoy your hotel is the best bet. After dinner head out in your rental to one of your choices.

paula1470

janisj was very accurate in giving you a picture of the traffic situation in LA. Rush hour traffic starts around 3pm and the freeway you would be using (the 405) is one of the busiest in LA. Since Burbank is a smaller airport, it might be possible to get your luggage by 2:30 if your plane is on time. My suggestion would be to go to Santa Monica, spend some time at 3rd Street Promenade, check at the beach and then head south to Hermosa Beach. You could make a little stop at Venice Beach if you wanted.

Just to give you some perspective-I am a sales rep who often works in the LA area(driving from San Diego County). My daughter, 20, lives in Redondo Beach right at the border of Hermosa Beach. When I am in Santa Monica, I will often leave there about 4:30 and stop to see her for dinner. I usually do not get on the 405 freeway but take side streets. The distance is about 19 miles. Last time I visited her I was excited because the traffic was moving along so felt like I was making good time. When I looked at my watch, it still had taken me 45 minutes. Usually at that time of day it takes an hour. And this is if there is no accidents.

So you could probably visit Santa Monica from 3:30 to 5, give yourself an hour to get to Hermosa Beach, check in and then enjoy the beach there. Hermosa is such a fun area for young people, your daughters will love it. Right next to Hermosa is Manhattan Beach which is a little more upscale and an older crowd but is really fun to walk around and has some good restaurants.

I would then spend Day 2 doing your five hour tour. Don't know if you'd have enough time to get to Malibu but you could do Hollywood, Beverly Hills, etc. I would actually suggest skipping Malibu. It is very nice along the beach but you really won't see much there. You mostly see the backs of homes that face the beach and then other homes on the hills above you. You will have plenty of time to see the beach in Hermosa. If you do the tour between 9-2, then you could still have the afternoon to ride bikes, etc on the strand. Then Day 3, do your Warner Brothers Tour. You would definitely want to rent a car for this day. I don't know if you will have time to stop at the Ivy. Do you have to be at LAX by 5pm or does your plane leave at 5pm? If you have to be there at 5pm, then you would probably have time for lunch. If you were done with lunch by 3:00, that gives you 2 hours to get to LAX which should give you a good cushion of time.

Your daughters would enjoy looking at the shops on Melrose Avenue which is just a little north of The Ivy but don't know if you'd have time to stop there.

Have fun. My daughter loves living in the Redondo/Hermosa Beach area and I love visiting her there.

lulys

Okay, let's see if this works. Day 1: arrive in Burbank airport about 2 (flight lands at 1:11pm). Drive a rental car to Santa Monica and enjoy that and the ride down to Hermosa Beach, through Venice Beach, Marina del Rey, and Manhattan Beach Day 2: Take rental car for early WB Studio Tour (8:30am) then lunch at Ivy. (If I can get a reservation?) Head back to HB and enjoy the afternoon there. Hopefully, there is still time to enjoy the beach and surrounding area. At some point, we need to drop off the rental car this day. I wonder if I can have them pick it up at the hotel? Day 3: Check out of hotel about 11:00am. Have limo pick us up (with all our luggage) and head into LA for sightseeing tour of LA - Hollywood, Beverly Hills, UCLA, etc. Our flight leaves at 7:05pm. We need to be at airport by 5pm. What time should we head to airport, allowing for traffic? Do you think this works?

paula1470

I like your idea of using the limo the last day and getting rid of the rental car but I am still trying to figure out the best way for you to do everything. The problem with Day 2 is that to make the 8:30 tour at Warner Bros, you will have to leave Hermosa around 6:30 am just to be safe. (Others step in here, I am more familiar with the evening commute than the morning one). Then by the time you have lunch at The Ivy and drive back to HB, you probably won't have much time to enjoy the beach.

I am wondering-why are you staying in Hermosa Beach? Don't get me wrong, I love the area as I said before, but it's not the best location for all the sightseeing you want to do. You are going to be spending so much of your time driving on the freeway from HB to Santa Monica, Hollywood, Burbank, etc. Plus I hate for you to stay at Hermosa and not have some time to enjoy the beach there.

If you absolutely have to stay in Hermosa, maybe you should just head straight from Burbank airport to HB. Get checked in and enjoy The Strand for the rest of the afternoon. The next morning get up and do your tour of Warner Brothers, lunch at The Ivy and then over to Santa Monica. That does make for a really long day. Are you really set on The Ivy? If you don't do lunch at The Ivy, you could do the WB tour, come back to Santa Monica and have lunch somewhere at The Promenade and you wouldn't be rushed.

The thing is by going to lunch at The Ivy after leaving Warner Bros, you will drive right through Hollywood to get to The Ivy. If you take the Cahuenga Pass over into Hollywood/Beverly Hills, you will drive right by the Kodak Theater and Chinese Theater. And then you plan to go back to that area the next day with the tour.

Day 3 would be good to do the tour with the limo and have them drop you off at LAX. I wonder if you could arrange to have lunch at The Ivy while you are on the tour since that is the area you are going to be in. It would probably be pretty expensive, though, to have the limo sit and wait while you have lunch.

Sorry for making you more confused. I am trying to prevent you from doing lots of back and forth driving in heavy traffic. Definitely everyone in LA, please chime in.

lulys

paula1470, you are right about everything. I'd like to stay at HB because it seems to be the place to really enjoy California (aside from the Hollywood stuff.) Back and forth and limo vs rental car are all arguments that have been driving me crazy. Perhaps we should just drive by the Ivy and not do lunch there as you said for day 2. It would have been an experience but I suppose we have enough going on. The WB tour is only 2.25 hours but I didn't think about heading out at 6:30am. I guess a tour any later in the morning just means more time wasting in rush hour traffic? It would be good to do it on day 3 but then the limo is idle for so long. The limo tour is my way of not worrying about directions or parking and seeing everything we want in and around LA. Having said all that, maybe there is another hotel we should stay at in the Hollywood area? If I used the LA/Hollywood area as a base then the itinerary could go as follows:
Day 1 - Limo picks us up at Burbank airport, do grand tour of LA/Hollywood, UCLA, Beverly Hills and get dropped off at hotel (please suggest). Day 2: Rent car to drive to Santa Monica and down along coast to Hermosa Beach, exploring and enjoying the sights along the way. Day 3: WB studio tour, lunch at Ivy or where ever and rental car to LAX. How does that work? Thanks in advance for the additional advice. You have all been so great and I'm really taking every suggestion into consideration.

paula1470

Well I was actually going to suggest you stay in Santa Monica but don't know if you can get a place at this late date and it would be expensive. So if anyone else has ideas, please let lulys know.

Again, the problem with the first day is that you won't be arriving until the afternoon. As janisj said, having the limo pick you up at Burbank airport at 2pm and having it for 5 hours will result in you mostly sitting in traffic. I still like the idea of the limo on the last day so you don't have to worry about your luggage and can just sit back and relax.

The other option would be to forego the limo and just drive all 3 days. That gives you more flexibility in your schedule. If you had the car the whole time, you could spend Day 1 at the beach in Hermosa, Day 2 at Warner Bros, Hollywood and late lunch at The Ivy. And then Day 3 enjoy the beach a little in the early morning, do Rodeo Drive, UCLA, Santa Monica and around 3:30, leave Santa Monica for LAX. This way you are not running back and forth and are making the best use of your time.

janisj

paula1470's last itinerary makes a LOT of sense. It fits all of your "wish list" w/ less hassle. If you are driving at all, why not just drive all 3 days??

janisj

Meant to add - w/ what you'll save by not hiring the limo for 5 hours will pay for the Ivy and some serious shopping.

paula1470

janisj-Anytime you can save money and put it towards serious shopping, that's a really good thing!! That would convince me.

EllieMayLynch

A note about the WB VIP tour... at that time of year most TV shows are on hiatus and even movie production slows down. You'll likely see sets and stages where shows have been filmed that you'll recognize - and that's always fun - but the chance of seeing any live sets/production is very slim.

Have fun!

lulys

Okay, one last question. Is there a hotel you can recommend that would be more convenient to use as a base for sightseeing in Hollywood area? I still would like to spend one day along the beaches but the other two half days would be filled with sightseeing from Santa Monica to LA. I'd like to explore this option a little before I decide that I need to just get the rental car and do paula1470's last itinerary suggestion.

paula1470

What is your budget? Are you thinking of staying at the beach one day and then switching hotels? I don't know how time effective that would be. Let us know what you are thinking.