Has anyone been to LA?

[beeboo]

Finally spent the weekend with my west-coast roadtrip crew from four years ago and found out the name of a place that is really, really worth a visit:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hearst_Castle

Unbelievably opulent home of the fellow on whom citizen kane is based.

If you go, do it first thing in the morning. You have to go on guided tour, but get on the first one of the day, when it is nice and quiet. Also often as not the fog is in at the time, and as you go up the hill to the 'castle' you emerge into brilliant sunshine, as if you're on an island surrounded by a sea of cloud. Enhances the surreal fantasy feeling

And book in advance, or you won't get to go at all

 

[upsidedownwalrus]

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.

the image I get of LA is of somewhere where you absolutely must have a car, but where, if you do, and if you live in a good area, it could be a fantastic place, but if you lived in the wrong area, it would suck majorly.

 

[MightyAphrodite]

the image I get of LA is of somewhere where you absolutely must have a car, but where, if you do, and if you live in a good area, it could be a fantastic place, but if you lived in the wrong area, it would suck majorly.

That pretty much sums it up RD....

los angeles is a great place as long as (like RD said) you stay out of the wrong areas, im back there soon, want me to make/get you a list of stuff to do pip (well i'll get advice for you from people that live there, who know plenty about where to and not to go etc etc...)

oh and you do need a car imo.

 

[SpookyFrank]

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.

LA is a shithole. We drove the stretch of coast from LA to San Francisco though and it was wonderful. Go to Yosemite as well, it's fantastic. The US national parks make ours look like, well, like parks

 

[beeboo]

Yosemite is fantastic. Unless you've got camping gear with you, I recommend Housekeeping Camp if you want something approaching a taste of the outdoors - it's not wilderness by a long shot but it's camping of sorts and the only place in the valley that you can have a camp fire. Of all the places on our west coast trip, Yosemite was the one place I really didn't want to leave, it was absolutely stunning.

 

[THX]

Hi Pip,

I lived in LA for 28 years.

It can be a fun place to visit, a week maybe the most time you would want to spend there.

There is Disneyland (lol) and the beaches in Orange County like Newport are awesome.

Hollywood is fun if you like the rock scene, there are still some of the best clubs anywhere.

(I live in Seattle now btw.)

That coast highway is a very long haul... scenic, but takes about twice as long as the Grapevine.

THX

 

[Corax]

No.

Thanks for asking though.

 

[Spion]

Yosemite is fantastic. Unless you've got camping gear with you, I recommend Housekeeping Camp if you want something approaching a taste of the outdoors - it's not wilderness by a long shot but it's camping of sorts and the only place in the valley that you can have a camp fire. Of all the places on our west coast trip, Yosemite was the one place I really didn't want to leave, it was absolutely stunning.

I've always had bad luck/timing with Yosemite and found it too crowded when I've been there, but seeing as I didin't hang around both time I may not have found the best parts.

I really liked Sequoia NP, a day's drive further south in the Sierras. Try Mineral King campground. It's about 10,000ft up and near lots of high wilderness with miles of hiking to be done

 

[beeboo]

I've always had bad luck/timing with Yosemite and found it too crowded when I've been there, but seeing as I didin't hang around both time I may not have found the best parts.

We were there at a busy time and it IS crowded on the valley floor - but just get your walking shoes on and get off the main tourist trails and you soon have the place to yourself. It's deservedly crowded as it's absolutely stunning. It's just like the Lake District here - 90% of people don't stray more than a few minutes from their car - if you hang out in the centre of Windermere it's not much fun, but up on the hills you soon escape the crowds.

 

[DMark]

There is an old joke that says, "Los Angeles is 27 suburbs in search of a city."
Lots of truth in that.

I lived in LA for 14 years and loved it, but I lived in West Hollywood and could walk to movie theaters, bars, restaurants, Sunset Strip, etc. etc.

LA is very spread out, some places boring/dirty/dangerous - other places fun/upscale/funky. The trick is to get from one good place to another without wasting time and landing in the wrong place.

West Hollywood (very Gay, but fun and friendly), Beverly Hills (pricey, but interesting to go up and down Rodeo Drive), Century City (shopping mall is OK) Westwood (lots of UCLA students and cool shops and restaurants) Santa Monica (on the beach, nice pedestrian zone with shops and stuff).

The above tour, from West Hollywood to Santa Monica, is a straight shot down Santa Monica Boulevard, quite safe, very pretty for the most part, and you cannot get lost. Although it is only about 10 miles, depending on time of day and traffic, could take you from 1 hour to 4 hours to drive it non-stop. (Traffic is a bitch!) Just stay on Santa Monica Blvd. from West Hollywood and go west...or start in Santa Monica and go east to West Hollywood. However, you should stop and check out the sights as you make your jaunt down the boulevard.

There are lots of other places (as noted by others in this thread), but for a newbie on their own, this is a very simple driving tour that pretty much covers the gambit for a quick visit.

 

[editor]

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.

I worked there for a few days. Hated it.

My office was about a mile from my hotel and they couldn't get their heads around the fact that I turned down their limo offer and wanted to walk - yes walk - to work.

Despite me being surrounded by houses, the footpath was about the size of a hedgehog track, and anyone walking the streets is presumed homeless/mad.

I usually take hundreds of pictures of places I visit, but LA was so dull I only managed about 40.

 

[upsidedownwalrus]

Thank you everyone for all your replies, very interesting

Yelkcub, I don't really give a shit about American clubs tbh, sampling clubs in Miami was one huge WTF. The less said about South Beach's take on New Rave the better

This yank was recently trying to tell me that New York 'wiped the floor' with London as far as nightlife was concerned, and that really, in terms of nightlife and clubs, London was about the same as a 'fourth tier' (whatever that means ) US city.

 

[editor]

This yank was recently trying to tell me that New York 'wiped the floor' with London as far as nightlife was concerned, and that really, in terms of nightlife and clubs, London was about the same as a 'fourth tier' (whatever that means ) US city.

New York is fucking great - I'd move there in an instant if I could - but London still has the best club scene by miles. Saying that, the cheesy disco scene or the 'upmarket' bars might be better in New York, but London kicks NY's ass when it comes to the wild and wonderful.

 

[upsidedownwalrus]

New York is fucking great - I'd move there in an instant if I could - but London still has the best club scene by miles. Saying that, the cheesy disco scene or the 'upmarket' bars might be better in New York, but London kicks NY's ass when it comes to the wild and wonderful.

Yeah, that's very much the impression I get.

Never been to NY. I wasn't offended by him saying NY's club scene was better than London's, more the insinuation that London was about the same as a 'fourth tier' city, by which I understood nowheresville with not much going on...

 

[beeboo]

I worked there for a few days. Hated it.

My office was about a mile from my hotel and they couldn't get their heads around the fact that I turned down their limo offer and wanted to walk - yes walk - to work.

Despite me being surrounded by houses, the footpath was about the size of a hedgehog track, and anyone walking the streets is presumed homeless/mad.

I usually take hundreds of pictures of places I visit, but LA was so dull I only managed about 40.

It's definitely the most car-centric city I've ever been in - the entire infrastructure is set up around it.

I initiallly found it quite strange that shops/restaurants etc don't seem to be very clustered together - but they don't really need to be, you just drive to one, then hop back in your car and drive to the next.

Driving in LA was a slightly terrifying experience - it's all multi-lane madness, and whatever "lane discipline" they use (or don't) takes some getting used to.

 

[MightyAphrodite]

It's definitely the most car-centric city I've ever been in - the entire infrastructure is set up around it.

I initiallly found it quite strange that shops/restaurants etc don't seem to be very clustered together - but they don't really need to be, you just drive to one, then hop back in your car and drive to the next.

Driving in LA was a slightly terrifying experience - it's all multi-lane madness, and whatever "lane discipline" they use (or don't) takes some getting used to.

Jesus, thats true, there are some real idiots on the road...i have to drive to LA from Las Vegas tomorrow and im dreaaaaaaaading it.

I HATE driving in Los Angeles.

 

[phildwyer]

New York is fucking great - I'd move there in an instant if I could - but London still has the best club scene by miles. Saying that, the cheesy disco scene or the 'upmarket' bars might be better in New York, but London kicks NY's ass when it comes to the wild and wonderful.

Pish what nonsense. New York's nightlife isn't what it was, but there are still more "wild and wonderful" bars and clubs in the East Village alone than in the whole of London.

 

[editor]

Pish what nonsense. New York's nightlife isn't what it was, but there are still more "wild and wonderful" bars and clubs in the East Village alone than in the whole of London.

Says Phil who neither lives in New York or London and - as far as I can recall - barely ever posts about going out clubbing in either.

What were the last clubs you went to in London?

 

[weltweit]

I landed at LAX at about 0900, drove to a massive exhibition space, met lots of boring people just like me and then at about 1900 drove to San Diego to stay with a friend. The next morning I drove back to LAX handed my car back and flew away.

Well you only asked if anyone had been there. Ive been there but not really

 

[phildwyer]

Says Phil who neither lives in New York or London and - as far as I can recall - barely ever posts about going out clubbing in either.

What were the last clubs you went to in London?

Offline.

But seriously, I've lived in both New York and London, and New York's nightlife is much better. It has to do with the concentration of venues in lower Manhattan I reckon. Nowhere beats the East Village on a Saturday night.

 

[ChrisFilter]

Offline.

But seriously, I've lived in both New York and London, and New York's nightlife is much better. It has to do with the concentration of venues in lower Manhattan I reckon. Nowhere beats the East Village on a Saturday night.

My New Yorker assistant would beg to differ. She seemed to think the nightlife in London was a real eye opener.

 

[phildwyer]

My New Yorker assistant would beg to differ. She seemed to think the nightlife in London was a real eye opener.

Well I suppose it's a matter of taste really. I find London's nightlife too spread-out, so that you can only really go to one place a night. In New York you can wander around to several different venues all on the same block.

But anyway, this thread's supposed to be about LA...

 

[ovaltina]

My New Yorker assistant would beg to differ. She seemed to think the nightlife in London was a real eye opener.

According to this sniffy piece in the Telegraph, the New York Times says Deptford is where the cool kids hang out:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/new...-by-New-York-Times-travel-recommendation.html

Describing Deptford High Street as a "blissfully chain-free zone", the author encouraged Americans to try lunch at pie and mash shop A J Goddard, drink coffee at a converted train carriage that had been abandoned at a railway yard, and picked out the best pubs to see live bands.

 

[MightyAphrodite]

Now's not a good time to be in Los Angeles. Incase anyone from here is or was planning on making the trip anytime soon.

The place is burning down. My friends car was literally covered in ash.

 

[dat brown skin]

LA is a shithole. We drove the stretch of coast from LA to San Francisco though and it was wonderful. Go to Yosemite as well, it's fantastic. The US national parks make ours look like, well, like parks

I love LA, but even I had to leave after 13 years. I headed for Texas for some years only to come back to California 5 years later but lived in a small coastal town in Ventura County, about 1 1/2 hours from LA. How long where you there for before you decided it was a shit hole? It's a neat place, but not the sort of place you visit for 2 days.

 

[dat brown skin]

Now's not a good time to be in Los Angeles. Incase anyone from here is or was planning on making the trip anytime soon.

The place is burning down. My friends car was literally covered in ash.

No longer. The fires are now pretty much contained. Besides it's life as usual in unaffected areas any way. Oh well won't be long before there's another one.

"Here comes those Santa Ana winds again"