Two days in LA. Looking for suggestions.
I'm going to Los Angeles in early November. I'm going out for a friend's wedding that weekend, but I'll be getting there Wednesday afternoon. I've never been to LA before, so I wanted to make a vacation out of this trip. Of course I've Googled it, but the searches tend to come up with celebrity worship nonsense and articles about where to shop, neither of which are interesting.
I'm a guy in my mid-20's, of decent means, and will be traveling alone. What are some can't miss places to see or eat at? What are some fun parts of town to stay in?
Santa Monica and West Hollywood are the primary areas young locals hand out. Tons of great places to eat in LA...if I had to eat alone I'd go to Urth Cafe or Lemonade or the bar at a full service restaurant. People here are very laid back and you won't be out of place dining alone.
As for hotels, there are several good ones in Santa Monica, less so in West Hollywood, depending on your budget and any preference to rewards program/chain.
Things to see depends a lot on your interests and time. Beverly Hills is nice to walk around especially if you like shopping, as is Santa Monica. Griffith Planetarium & Getty Center are both high on my list and have great views of the area (plus smog).
Definitely plan to rent a car, and if you aren't a regular driver and carry your own insurance, by law you are required to purchase liability in CA.
Where are you staying? Stay in Santa Monica. I'll post more based on your response.
Definitely have to eat at In-N-Out.
this place is so vastly overrated it makes my head spin.
I'll second that. It's good. But maybe its the animal style that makes me regret eating it.
Hermosa / Redondo beach. Nice beach bum scene with some cool divey bars.
Stay away from Malibu, unless you want to get hit by some drunk rich person in an expensive car.
Wurstkuche in Venice is a great spot for beers and brats if you're in that area. Definitely hit Venice beach / muscle beach on the weekend for some entertaining people watching.
Santa Monica, Bev Hills, & downtown.
The consensus seems to be Santa Monica. I've done some more searching, and I think I agree. I'll definitely be renting a car. I'm from Texas, so naturally I believe public transportation to be a communist conspiracy.
The Getty Center sounds interesting, as does Venice Beach. Are there any worthwhile hiking trails around there?
For hiking, there’s Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area just north/west of Santa Monica.
great...
A couple recs for you then.
Hotel: Fairmont Miramar Huntley Shutters Casa Del Mar Viceroy
Bars: The Bungalow Harvelles (music venue) Copa d'Oro Penthouse Shangri-La Hotel Erwin The Brig Chez Jay (if you want to drink alone and not be bothered with other people drinking alone)
Restaurants: Sugarfish (must-do) Gjelina/Gjelina Take-Away/Gjusta (all the same owner) Blue Plate Taco Blue Plate Oysterette Hillstone Tasting Kitchen Fathers Office (highly recommended) Wurstkuche La Scala Sunin
To-Do: Abbot Kinney (must do) beaches 3rd Street Promenade Malibu Venice Beach Boardwalk museums/art galleries Will Rogers State Historic Park (walking/hiking trail - I believe it's polo season so try to go during a match) Runyon Canyon (hiking) Sunset Blvd.
This is very Santa Monica-centric. If you'd like any recs for other cities or like me to opine just let me know. Hope this helps.
+1 on Sugarfish - so dank
El Chato Taco truck. These $1 tacos will literally change your life
This! If you're around the Mid City/Miracle Mile stop by here after 9 pm.
Orange County - Asian Coffee shops with girls either naked serving you drinks or in lingerie or body paint serving you drinks.
Oh yeah, they're practically import models.
I haven't spent a ton of time in LA, but here are a few highlights:
Hotels: I've stayed at the Mondrian and the W Hollywood, and I enjoyed both experiences. The Mondrian's SkyBar is a pretty great venue. Food: Chosun Galbee was probably the best Korean BBQ I've ever had. Go to Urth Caffe so you can feel like Vincent Chase. Grab a juice from Body Energy Club to beat back the morning hangover. I haven't really explored the fine dining scene in LA, so I'll defer to others on that. Daytime: LACMA is huge, so definitely spend a few hours there. Go to Wi Spa and get a full-body buff. Explore Restoration Hardware and walk around Rodeo Drive; they'll give you motivation to improve your lot in life. Miscellaneous: go to Bungalow on a Sunday at 1 or 2pm. The talent is top-notch, and you should be able to close pretty easily.
Venice Beach is super trashy; avoid it in favor of Santa Monica, Redondo, and Hermosa.
The Bungalow is a must.
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Beach
Restaurant: Spago (this is OG Wolfgang Puck. order the rabbit if they're doing a special)
Bar: I'll echo Bungalow (gets a 909 crowd on the weekend but you should be safe with locals if you go Wed/Thurs)
Venice beach my friend. One of the most interesting places in the country. You've got muscle beach, tons of pickup b-ball, amazing beach, skatepark and tons of weirdos.
Do NOT go to Venice Beach. It's a total dump. The entire boardwalk smells of piss. Also, do not stay at custom hotel. It's a motel 6 disguised as a 3 star.
Like lots of others are suggesting, go to Venice Beach, but don't just stop at the beach, go for a walk through the neighborhood where the canals are. Lots of beautiful houses and little boats. Also, I second The Bungalow in Santa Monica. Huntington Beach is a bit of a drive, but very clean. Probably my favorite spot in the LA area. (I also second the don't go to Malibu comment... not worth it.)
In N out is amazing. Everybody is going to say Santa Monica/Venice.
I say go to Hermosa Beach pier. Santa Monica is okay, I like Manhattan/Hermosa Beach way better. Just checkout Manhattan Beach, most beautiful upscale beach city in LA county/area. Every house minimum a couple mil, similar to Hermosa Beach. Hermosa Beach Pier is a pretty popular spot, that would be my #1 recommendation.
I'm from Boston, when I first came to LA I was shocked at how shitty Venice is. It's all you ever hear about, but it's trash IMO so hyped up. Same thing with Hollywood. Santa Monica is okay -extremely touristy. Hermosa Beach Pier & Manhattan Beach are must see's IMO.
Hope this helps.
My tip would be to NOT go to the touristy spots. This includes Venice Beach, Hollywood Blvd, or Santa Monica 3rd Street. Primary reason? Traffic and ... well... tourist. If you want good Japanese food, check out Sawtelle and Olympic in Santa Monica. If you want drinks check out The Standard (cool rooftop view of Downtown LA) or The Edison (an old printing press shop turned into an underground bar with cool shows). For korean food, obviously Ktown. Check out Kang Ho-Dong Baekjeong (KBBQ, good quality stuff). If you do go to Santa Monica, check out streets a little away from 3rd. You'll find cool little spots and good local food. Someone mentioned Sugarfish...Yes... you should try Sugarfish. But go earlier in the day because they run out of some of their fish by dinner. If you were to stay anywhere I would say Santa Monica at some airbnb spot. The public transportation is better there and cleaner than DTLA. Sucks your travelling alone though. I'd be down to meet up if I'm still here. Just a different way of networking is the way I see it.
4play. I think it's in Westwood somewhere.
Also, Polo Lounge at BHH, ask for extra blue cheese bread.
Not sure about these people on here, but I've lived in LA since 1991, drove for Uber & Lyft around the city, and now work in finance in Century City. I'll break down the whole city for you.
-Divisions in Los Angeles are made by the freeways. (LA's version of train tracks). 1. The main freeways are the 405, 101, 110 [Which go North & South] 2. and The 10 (Which goes West & East] 3. Don't go south of the 10, unless you're west of the 405 (So areas like Venice & Manhattan Beach), unless you like to see what the ghetto looks like.
-The busiest areas during nightlife hours are (In order of activity) 1. Hollywood (Lots of clubs & annoying people) - The more east you go in Hollywood the grimier it is. 2. Downtown LA (Lots of cool bars and clubs, you'll see more hipsters and asians here then you will in Hollywood) 3. West Hollywood (this is where the LGBT community largely parties, just a fyi) 3. Santa Monica (Would say more white people in general, has a lot of chill bars on main street). You should check out the bungalow.
-There are 3 main arteries that go west to east, which imo are 1. Sunset Blvd (Which goes from Downtown LA, through silverlake (hipster town), through Hollywood, through UCLA, to the ocean around the Malibu side 2. Santa Monica blvd (Which goes from downtown to Santa Monica 3. Wilshire (which is the best 1 road to see all of LA imo, it takes you from Downtown, through MacArthur park, Koreatown, Beverly Hills, Rodeo drive, through century city, westwood, to santa monica
Santa Monica & Venice beach is probably the best place, it is touristy but its not bad. Hollywood is pretty crazy and trashy, but it has a lot of clubs and bars to go to. The best places are probably 1oak & hyde in hollywood, but are very hard to get in. Downtown is pretty crazy too but the bars and lounges make it worth it, would recommend checking out Perch [rooftop bar]
If you're going to stay in West LA, Hollywood, or the Downtown area, I would recommend not renting a car and just use uber or lyft. Driving in LA traffic sucks, and looking for parking sucks. Especially in those areas.
If you were going to drive out of the core of LA, then I would say renting a car might be ideal, but honestly just use Uber or Lyft.
Also, Inn n Out is something you need to try. Mexican food is really good. Koreatown also has a pretty cool nightlife & food as well.
If you're into museums, then check out the Getty museum by UCLA, or the broad museum in Downtown LA.
If you can, go hiking or surfing. Try out some of the coffee shops such as intelligentsia & stumptown.
Also, the best website I've found for checking things out in LA that isn't crap & celebrity related is probably LAist.com
A lot of great suggestions here. I live in Century City and I would add the following: - Food: agree with Urth Cafe (typical LA experience) and Korean BBQ food in Koreatown. Sawtelle is great too. I would say Asian food in general is some of the best you can find in US (Japanese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese etc). Double Double Animal Style in In N Out is a must try. - Drink: Good times at Davey Waynes, No Vacancy, Dirty Laundry are all really cool old school bars in Hollywood. Roosevelt Hotel has some nice bars. If you are more into clubbing check out Argyle and Le Jardin. Wherever you go it's hard to get in without a table if you are a guy. There are a few really nice bars in Santa Monica: 31ten Lounge, Bungalow, Victorian. Check out Penthouse at Huntley Hotel for the best view. - Museums: The Broad in Downtown LA has an amazing infinity mirrored room. You have to get there really early if you want to get in. Also check out MOCA, LACMA and Getty Center. - Beaches: Huntington/Newport/Manhattan are probably the better beaches if you don't mind driving there, but Santa Monica is fine too if you don't mind tourists. - Go to Malibu just to have lunch at NOBU. - Hike to the Hollywood sign
Spend a night or two at Cecil hotel
Four years late bud
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