Me and my man are talking about at some point driving down the West Coast, from Seattle to San Francisco, to California. The thing is, he's talking about spending about a week in LA whereas it strikes me as somewhere you'd lol at then want to leave after about a day. Am I being unfair? Is it really that bad? Thanks.
For a start it's huge. You can't just write it all off. Therer are lots of areas worth seeing, but you have to like driving around a fair bit (it can be 20 miles from one part to another). If you've ever watched many movies you'll be constantly surrounded by 'sets' you've seen. Hollywood, Korea town, Santa Monica, Venice and more. I stayed in Santa Monica for 2 weeks once and liked it, great beaches, good town centre (shops, ice cream, coffee, bookshops, nice atmostphere). Admittedly LA is a 'city experience' but it's unlike any city you'll ever experience anywhere else. We also did things like went to the baseball, drove inland to the edge fo the desert (for a vintage car meet ). I just liked being there and driving around seeing stuff I'd unconsciously taken in via 1,000 movies.
There's quite a bit to see and a lot to eat there. As mentioned, Santa Monica & Venice are nice. Also it's worth going round the shops at Rodeo Drive for the lulz. I was in my element looking at the many old car-dealers there. If you like big rollercoaster & cool rides, there's Magic Mountain to the North of LA I think (it's been 16 years since being there), which will scare the life out of you. Plus of course Disneyland or Disneyworld, can't remember which one it is. And of course the Universal Studios. It's worth spending a couple of days there to be fair then take the Pacific Highway, up to San Francisco preferably in a decent car with the roof down.
hmm - do the hoollywood stuff (handprints, drive up to the planetarium thing to see the best view of the sign / have your jimmy dean moment), maybe have a look at rodeo drive in the afternoon - dinner at the formosa.. job done.
Wot Spion sed really ^^^ I agree that it's a unique city experience - the exprience of being a city that's actually a giant suburb. Very, very weird. Not as fun as SF tho.
I'd keep the roof up for the mornings where the fog doesn't lift til noon Driving LA to SF inland via the edge of the Mojave desert, up the eastern side (Owens Valley) of the Sierra Nevada and then cutting across the mountains and down to SF via Tahoe is my fave, but you gotta do the coast route too
Well I did the triangle of landing in LA, driving to Vegas (in a Cadillac with the King on the radio ) then up to SF then back down along the coast road back to LA.
Didn't like it much. SF is sooo much nicer. If you do go, see if you can find the outdoor cinema that runs once a week or so in a cemetery. That was wicked
I LOVE driving in the desert. With the Doors on the stereo. Some music just seems to work so well there
Heh, at some point in time my missus and I have had exactly the same conversation, with me taking your side and her taking his! It definitely doesn't look like a place you'd want to be for more than 24 hours.
Downtown LA is one of the more depressing bits of america. I'm not sure why anyone would want to be there for more than a day. Hollywood is a triumph of failed expectations. It's shit. Pasadena was a nice leafy suburb, but again, why would you want to spend a holiday there? Not been to the beach so perhaps that's better.
LA is California's Birmingham. Like Birmingham, it's not all shit, it's just that most of it is. I'd try and tweak the tour dates to stay in places like Santa Barbara or Laguna Beach. You can pretend that it counts towards staying in LA.
I loved LA - I've got more of a hankering to go back there than SF. The touristy bits of Hollywood were dire though, like Leicester Square but worse. Los Feliz was my absolute favourite area, I could live there and go to the Good Luck Bar every night
God I really want to go on holiday to America. So much to see.........I'd like to spend a couple of months there.
I hear both of you. I grew up in Birmingham, btw Really tho, it's mostly the geographical sprawl of the place that's like Brum (more like the whole West Mids really). Brum doesn't have the sun, the strange familiarity you have from so many movies, the ludicrous wealth next to the downright scuzzy, the desert, the beaches, the variety (and extremes) of neighbourhoods.
err yeah, agree. you could probably spend a fun couple of days there but a week would be pushing it. also helps if you have a local who knows where very specific cool stuff is. when i was there we went to a bar that was pretty much someone's front room, a punk rock radio station, a squatted music venue, a bicycle co op and some great food places... all great fun but none of which were the kind of thing i'd have found without supervision.
LA's like Marmite. You either like it or you don't. That said, if you know someone there or are resourceful enough to find your own way around there is tonnes to be seen and done
LA is awesome. Most people pass through for a quick trip and hate it but thats another plus point as far as I'm concerned. Firstly you have to have a car. Not having one will make doing anything a proper pain. The Getty museum is a really incredible site way up in the hills overlooking the city. Whatever you do get there. Downtown is like nowhere else in the world. Some would say its grim, but I love it, every corner has a dilapidated old theatre or a cool mural. At night there are a ton of rock clubs, bars and lounges. (Find out about one before you go down there or you'll just drive around missing them). Venice is an exp in it self. Like an unselfconscious Camden. gets crowded though. Santa Monica is a nice up market shopping district with a beautiful long beach. V crowded on sunny wkds holidays/though. The sunset strip is pure, clubs, bars and drunken girls and frat boys. Worth a trip for the exp. If you feel like seeing some b list movie stars leering over beautiful willing woman go to one of the upmarket clubs on the strip and give the bouncer a hundred. They'll be only too keen to accept it. Drive up to mulholland drive, get out and walk around the hills overlooking the city. La has great Mexican food, its cheap and everywhere. eating in a restaurant is also a lot cheaper than in the UK for the quality of food on offer. O and the thai food is legendry (its even mentioned in the Pulp fiction script) Its also cheap and everywhere. The best advice I could give you about la is to pick a few places you want to see and just head there. Its not really a city you can wander round and find stuff interesting things. Its too spread out.
If you're into clubs Avalon is the best of a bad bunch in LA. Americans just aren't bery good at clubs unfortunately.
