Tourists in Los Angeles

[thirdman]

My wife and I are going to be in Los Angeles as tourists, for a week next month. We are in our mid sixties. We will have a rental car. Suggestions on where to stay?

We have the book, "Discover Los Angeles," by Letitia Burns O'Connor. We plan to visit museums, campuses such as the Art Center School of Design, architecture such as the Schindler House, the aquarium in Long Beach, the Iowa, and the Maritime Museum. We would like to take a tour of a real studio such as NBC in Burbank. Other suggestions?

Thanks.

[Mudpuppy]

You should put the Getty on your list of museums: http://www.getty.edu/visit/

There's also the Griffith Observatory, which is near Burbank so you could combine visiting it with visiting Burbank: http://www.griffithobservatory.org/

[stan1]

I would consider staying in two locations (some nights in West LA/Santa Monica and some nights near Long Beach).

LA traffic is unpredictable and not enjoyable. You'll have to decide whether you want to stay someplace that is walkable vs. someplace that has free parking. I'd pay for walkability in Santa Monica or Westwood -- but you should be able to find a hotel closer to Long Beach that has free parking.

If you don't want to change locations and don't care about walkability you can usually get pretty good daily rates at the hotels near LAX and El Segundo.

[thirdman]

Thanks Mudpuppy. We have not been to the Getty Villa, or the Griffith Observatory.

Thanks stan1. Good suggestions.

[LynnC]

If you get a chance for a play, the Pantages Theater is the grandest of all.

Try for tickets for Dr. Phil or Ellen's show, filmed in Burbank. Go online to order them. Lots of fun and something different.

Don't forget Malibu...I would personally stay at the beach.

LynnC

[kenyan]

You might check out the Huntington Botanical Gardens near Pasadena as well. The La Brea Tar Pits are another tourist destination, but I've heard they're underwhelming (haven't seen them myself just yet).

As a general guide, "rush hour" is from approximately 6 am until 10 am, and again from 3 pm until 7 pm. It'll be at its worst toward the middle of those windows. As noted, don't be surprised to see traffic outside of those times as well. There are corridors that will generally be worse than others, but they're really too numerous to mention. Don't plan your whole trip around the traffic, but be mindful of it and avoid, say, driving the Sepulveda Pass (405 between the 10 and 101) at 5 pm. You'd be in for a nasty surprise.

[JMacDonald]

Here are some links as suggestions;

http://www.tonightshowinfo.com/TonightShowTickets.htm

http://www.nortonsimon.org

http://www.musiccenter.org

Have a great time.

[wesleymouch]

I lived in LA 9 years
I would try to visit the following
Getty museum, Norton museum (Pasadena), Hungtington Museum (Pasadena)
Santa Monica pier and Main Street Santa Monica
Melrose Boulevard (trendy shops and great people watching
Beverly Hills
Farmers Market
Sunset Drive (for a drive, great views)
Olvera Street
Koreatown
Little Tokyo
Griffith Park and Observatory
Try to drive part of the coast highway to Malibu (the Getty is on the way North out of town)
It all depends on your interests and what you want to do. With planning you can get tickets to various shows such as Tonight Show which are filmed in the afernoon
If you are political buffs the Nixon library in Orange county and the Reagan Library in Simi Valley are great too.
If you get a chance The Music Center complex near downtown is stunning. This includes the Dorothy Chandler, Mark Taper, Disney Music Hall and Ahmanson pavilions
La Brea tar pits off Wilshire is great too.

[wesleymouch]

Oh I forgot the Gamble House in Pasadena is great if you like Arts and Crafts type architecture (has been featured in many movies)

[sscritic]

avoid, say, driving the Sepulveda Pass (405 between the 10 and 101) at 5 pm. You'd be in for a nasty surprise.

What surprise? There is no surprise about getting stuck in traffic on the 405 through the pass. You should check for closures related to the HOV lane construction on a regular basis.
http://www.metro.net/projects/I-405/daily-updates/

P.S. If you do get stuck, that's a great time to stop at the Getty.

[sscritic]

Try to drive part of the coast highway to Malibu (the Getty is on the way North out of town)

That's the other Getty (the old one).
http://www.getty.edu/visit/index.html

[investor]

We have the book, "Discover Los Angeles," by Letitia Burns O'Connor. We plan to visit museums, campuses such as the Art Center School of Design, architecture such as the Schindler House, the aquarium in Long Beach, the Iowa, and the Maritime Museum. We would like to take a tour of a real studio such as NBC in Burbank. Other suggestions?

You might also consider the 'Lane Victory', a WW II Victory ship; about two miles down the road from the USS Iowa and Maritime Museum. Also there is the Fort McArthur Military Museum just a mile or so away (few hundred yards from the Korean Bell). All depends if you like military History or not. While you are at it, take a drive along PV Drive, the old Marineland (now Trump Golf Course, etc) and see the coast line and perhaps Catalina Island (on a good day). Perhaps a 20 mile loop. A very picturesque view of the south bay that many tourists never see.
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investor

[thirdman]

Thanks LynnC, Kenyan, Joe/JMacDonald, Wesleymouch and investor. Great information.

[froman118]

Can include the new Endeavour exhibit/IMAX show in your museum visits:

http://www.californiasciencecenter.org/Exhibits/AirAndSpace/endeavour/endeavour.php

[anonenigma]

I live in L.A. and am a native. Check http://www.quikbook.com for hotels - nice aspect is that for most you don't have to pay in advance. You can cancel as long as you stay within the hotel's cancellation policy.

Several worthwhile places mentioned by others are close to each other: Farmers Market (and The Grove), the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the La Brea Tar Pits, Melrose Avenue (though it is not as interesting as it used to be), a drive through Beverly Hills (Rodeo Drive), the Sunset Strip - though the last two would fit well with a visit to the Getty Museum or the Getty Villa. For the Getty museums, I believe that you'll need to make parking reservations in advance. You'll probably enjoy a visit to the UCLA campus (sculpture garden, inverted fountain, lovely brick buildings) more than Art Center.

If going to Pasadena, see the Norton Simon Museum (terrific collection) as well as the Huntington Library. Wear comfortable shoes, as the Huntington has over 200 acres of beautiful gardens.

I'll be glad to go deeper on this if you have more questions.

[chaz]

A nice campus: UCLA, in Westwood. Close to Santa Monica and the ocean.

[btenny]

Can anyone really visit LA without going to Disneyland and/or Knotts Berry farm amusement parks? Plus Disney now has added all kinds of stuff that even is fun if you are older. Just my opinion.

http://travel.nytimes.com/2012/07/22/tr ... d=all&_r=0

Have fun what ever you do.
Bill

[thirdman]

Thanks all.

thirdman

[magician]

If you like magic, the place to visit is the Magic Castle in Hollywood. For the price of dinner (about $40 - 50, plus a $20 cover charge) you can see as many as half-a-dozen shows in an evening, all world-class acts. You can only get in if you're a member, or the guest of a member.

I'm a member.

If you'd like to go, let me know and I can get you a guest pass.

[Mudpuppy]

I also forgot to mention that if you're a history buff and you don't mind driving, you can head up the I5 through the mountains to Fort Tejon. It's a restored Army outpost that is used quite often for Civil War and Dragoon drill reenactments. Here's the 2013 schedule of reenactments: http://www.forttejon.org/events.html

[gkaplan]

La Brea Tar Pits

[thirdman]

Thanks All. Great info.

Magician, I will send you a PM if we want to go to the Magic Castle. I looked at their website. They even have a hotel!

Thanks again,

thirdman