First visit to LA (Los Angeles, Sacramento: neighborhoods, living in, club)

[L.A.-Mex]

-do a self guided walking tour of DTLA (US Bank Tower, Central library, 7th street, the Standard rooftop bar, broadway (Ace if you want more views), grand ave to walt disney concert hall and grand park)

-on car go from Santa Monica) you could spend a couple of hours there) then drive on Wilshire Blvd past westwood, beverly hills, miracle mile, koreatown, macarthur park, and finally to Downtown. this tour gives you a different look on LA.

-Griffith Observatory is a must, as well as Getty Center

-other driving tours include Mullholand drive or drives on PCH to malibu and malibu Canyon.

- the beaches i recommend seeing are Malibu, Santa Monica, Newport Beach, and Laguna Beach.

-also Hollywood/Sunset strip is nice

other places to go are pasadena (city hall, Huntington gardens, Santa Anita race track, beautiful architecture), Long Beach (Belmont shores, 2nd avenue, Ocean Blvd, Queen Mary, port of LA/LB Bridges to San pedro)

have a good trip

[madrone2k]

I am also from Houston, but have had family in the LA area all my life. Many good suggestions here, some of which I have yet to partake of. But, from what I've experienced I will 2nd a few. The Getty Villa and the Getty Museum are great. Also the Huntington in Pasadena. The old downtown of Pasadena is also fun to visit. The 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica is fun, but not necessarily a must-see. I would prefer having lunch in Manhattan Beach and walking out on the pier there. Riding a bike or walking down the beachfront trail from there to Redondo Beach would be fun. Slightly further south, taking a hike down the cliffs of Palos Verdes to the ocean is quite beautiful ... you can observe the sea anemones and other aquatic life there, in addition to surfers and some kelp forests.

I would definitely take a trip over to Catalina Island. On the mainland, Newport Beach is pretty cool, especially -- what do they call it, Balboa Island? -- a spit of land on the ocean with quaint houses and some restaurants on the ends.

There is a lot more to see, and I will defer to the locals to correct me if I have misstated anything. But ... if I had one message to give, it would be to encourage you to research things and get advice from experienced folks. There is so much more to greater LA than most outsiders know.

[3shipguy]

^^hear, hear.

[Hawaii4evr]

Originally Posted by L.A.-Mex

-do a self guided walking tour of DTLA (US Bank Tower, Central library, 7th street, the Standard rooftop bar, broadway (Ace if you want more views), grand ave to walt disney concert hall and grand park)

-on car go from Santa Monica) you could spend a couple of hours there) then drive on Wilshire Blvd past westwood, beverly hills, miracle mile, koreatown, macarthur park, and finally to Downtown. this tour gives you a different look on LA.

-Griffith Observatory is a must, as well as Getty Center

-other driving tours include Mullholand drive or drives on PCH to malibu and malibu Canyon.

- the beaches i recommend seeing are Malibu, Santa Monica, Newport Beach, and Laguna Beach.

-also Hollywood/Sunset strip is nice

other places to go are pasadena (city hall, Huntington gardens, Santa Anita race track, beautiful architecture), Long Beach (Belmont shores, 2nd avenue, Ocean Blvd, Queen Mary, port of LA/LB Bridges to San pedro)

have a good trip

Newport and Laguna are in OC, not LA.
Zuma Beach would be a better option, or Hermosa/Manhattan/Redondo Beaches.

[L.A.-Mex]

Originally Posted by Hawaii4evr

Newport and Laguna are in OC, not LA.
Zuma Beach would be a better option, or Hermosa/Manhattan/Redondo Beaches.

its LA Area, and tour companies include OC Beaches and Theme Parks in LA. OC is in the LA Area, easy as that.

[elnina]

Hey, all!!

Found out that I will be there.... Thanksgiving weekend (Thursday till Monday evening). That's OK. Maybe Thanksgiving day will be pretty quiet and less traffic (Houston and San Antonio are almost dead on that day).
Now, I need to find a special place for (lunch? dinner?).
For that meal I just want a good food. A nice Thanksgiving buffet would be great, that way I could sample many dishes. Company pays, so what the heck - lets make it a very nice place
I don't have any food preferences, but would like to experience good food. Now, I have to admit that I am not very fond of the traditional turkey or ham. Love game, exotic food, ethnic food, anything extraordinary.
Not necessary flashy, famous place, but maybe a well know place to the people of LA - not a tourist spot. I suspect that the best places are already completely booked, so I better hurry up with the decision.
I will also go and check on Chow to see what they are talking about.

BTW: I need to buy a bigger map!! All the places recommended by you all made my map blurred and unreadable.
So much to see, so little time!

Thank you all very much - again, and again!!!
I can hardly wait to get there!

[Bunjee]

For Thanksgiving Guelaguetza is in K-Town for a mole dish. I think they do have turkey for Thanksgiving. Then head down to Dha Rae Oak for Korean specialty duck preparations. Not fancy, very casual, not expensive, so you can graze at different places. There are late night nosheries in K-Town too. But save the nice sit-down affair for cocktails or coffee and dessert.

[elnina]

HA! A great tip, Bunjee!! I might just do that!! Love duck, but even more a goose. But the chance to eat any is pretty slim...

[cal-K]

Since I live very close to LAX, a lot of friends and relatives love to come visit and stay at my place, in
return I pretty much turn into a tour guide.

If it was me.
Thu depends on how early I get to town. I would park the car at Hollywood highland complex, check out the dolby theater, and the stars, mann Chinese theater or whatever it is called now.
Then hop onto the red line with a one day pass, if interested first go to universal studio city walk, you can go into the park, if not roam around citywalk and the hop back onto the metro. go to the other end at union station, check out union station, then out to olvera st, from there walk to Philippe for a French Dipped. and then you can either walk or go back to union station take the gold line to china town, little Tokyo and art district. I suggest you to do this only in day time, as olvera st, china town are not the safest place for a gal to walk around alone at night (and watch out for pick pocket). there's really nothing special to see in china town and little Tokyo. mostly just eating, if you are a foodies. then take the metro back to Hollywood highland, if you make it back to your car by 4-ish, I would drive on Hollywood blvd to Vermont and head up to griffith observatory to see the sunset plus night view. after that take verment back down to Hollywood blvd, cruise thru Hollywood blvd at night, take la brea to sunset, cruise thru sunset blvd to see all the music venue and clubs. take doheny down to santa monica and check out the gay weho, checkout abbey, then called it for the night

Friday I would head north to solvang and santa Barbara in the morning and most noon time, then take hwy 1 back to see Malibu, if time permit/ u interested check out getty villa, it free admission, but you have to reserve a ticket online, but parking is about $15/car. after that you can head to santa monica 3rd Street Promenade and pier.

Sat, u probably wanna sleep in a bit after all the driving on Friday. I would check out rodeo dr and Melrose ave in the early noon time, then head down to kings harbor in Redondo beach for a seafood lunch at quality seafood. then drive up to Wayfarers Chapel in Rancho Palos Verdes, you can opt to stopby Terranea Resort, for a walk, it's really nice place, but you have to paid for parking and mostly you only see the ocean. if you have more time I would do it, otherwise I won't waste the time there. then from Wayfarers you can go to Korean Friendship Bell ..Ports O'Call Waterfront ...USS Iowa... then take the Vincent Thomas bridge to long beach where you can go see queen mary.....then take the hwy 1 south to Newport beach/Balboa Peninsula. and take the short balboa island ferry to balboa island. from there, you can either go to the south coast plaza/ fashion island, 2 of our upscale mall in Orange county and then downtown Disney and call it for the night.

or you can go farther south, get a hotel for the night instead of driving back north to Beverly hill, and head down to san diego on sunday. you can checkout old town san diego, downtown san diego, Hotel del Coronado and the beach, USS Midway, you probably won't have time for all the theme parks, Balboa Park, then on your trip back to LA, you can check out la jolla, Carlsbad, dana point, Laguna Beach, and then checkout south coast plaza/ fashion island and downtown Disney.

and if you still have energy/time left after this crazy so cal tour, you can head to palm spring on Monday.

time wise, from BH to solvang /santa Barbara should be about 2-3 hours.
BH to SD can take up to 4-5 hours depends on traffic.
BH to Palm spring is about 2-3 hours.

but then all depends on how fast you drive and the traffic.
Have fun in La La Land.

[cal-K]

just saw that you'll be here thanksgiving weekend.
so griffith observatory should be closed on thxgiving day

most restaurant will be closed.
Palms and bouchon should have a special menu, but mainly turkey.

trump golf club in Rancho Palos Verdes have a thanksgiving buffet, I've heard great reviews on their sunday brunch not sure about their buffet.
Cafe Sierra at Hilton Universal City should have a buffet too, but I think mainly Asian style food, been there twice before not during holiday, the food are ok.
Also cast inside viceroy hotel in santa monica have a buffet

a few restaurant in south Pasadena would be open also.

or if you game for Korean or Chinese food, I would recommend Kbbq either a la carte or AYCE in koreatown or spicy Chinese hot pot in Monterey Park area, most of the restaurant in ktown and MP will be open on 27th.