First Timers in LA. Coming up from San Diego... Suggestions? (Los Angeles: 2015, renting)

[Bransonf]

Hello all,

I am looking to make my first trek to Los Angeles. I moved to San Diego from Utah 2 years ago, and have not once made it up to LA. I am wanting to surprise my wife with an over night trip. I was thinking of leaving on a sunday morning to a monday, or a saturday evening, around 5 pm, and stay til sunday evening. I just had a few questions..

We are wanting to do Hollywood. Check out the Walk of Fame and Hollywood Blvd. What are some suggestions for a couple who have never been? Is there anything that first timers HAVE to do? How close is the Hollywood Forever Cemetary?

Hotel? We are on a slight bit of a budget, dont want to spend $150 for a hotel overnight, but also want to be safe...(As you can imagine, in Utah, we are told LA is sooooo dangerous) Any locations or hotel suggestions?

Lastly, We are taking the the Surfliner up. Is the LAX drop off the closest to Hollywood. We plan on taking an Uber from the tran station..

Thanks everyone!

[east_of_edendale]

Just to calibrate your expectations, Hollywood will be a lot dirtier and less glamorous than you are probably imagining. Cheap souvenir shops, occasional stripper clothing stores, and some homeless people. But if you look past that, I still find the Chinese Theater with the celebrity footprints and seeing all the names on the Hollywood Walk of Fame to be a lot of fun. Disney did a great job of restoring the El Capitan Theater a few years back, so you might want to consider seeing a movie there. (https://elcapitantheatre.com/)

Take the Surfliner to Union Station in Downtown LA. If you are comfortable taking public transit, you can easily take the Red Line subway to Hollywood directly from Union Station. (Make sure you get on a Red Line train going to North Hollywood, not a Red Line train going to Wilshire/Western.)

A relatively safe and walkable area to look for hotels in will be between Hollywood Blvd and Sunset Blvd, west of Wilton and east of Fairfax. Hollywood Forever is a one to two mile walk from the Hollywood Walk of Fame area. Paramount Studios is a little farther, but if you are really into movies, they offer a two hour tour for $53 per person. (Paramount Pictures Studio Tour - Hollywood - Movie Studio Tours) If you would like to see a more glamorous side of Hollywood/LA, you can take Uber and spend a couple of hours exploring Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive.

[east_of_edendale]

Since you are on a budget, you can find excellent self guided walking tour guides and maps of Hollywood and downtown LA here: Angels Walk LA | Self-Guided Historic Trails

[BRinSM]

i second the red line idea for getting to hollywood from the train station, it's about a 15 minute subway ride. once in town, definitely keep uber handy to get around the area. on such a short trip, you'll definitely be limited in the sight seeing you want to do. one thing i would certainly recommend is a trip up to the griffith park observatory, especially around sunset. the views up there are fantastic (including the hollywood sign) and the observatory is also fun to check out.

[saybanana]

For budget in ok areas (safe because there are generally a lot of people walking/driving about at all hours) in the Hollywood area. You should check reviews online for the Coral Sands Motel 1 minute walk away from the Hollywood/Western Red Line station. Also the Travelodge Hotel across the street the hospitals at Vermont/Sunset Red Line Station. Both are under $100 plus more tax. I read reviews and they seem favorable with basic amenities. The $.50 cents weekend Griffith Observatory DASH shuttle starts/ends at the Vermont/Sunset station so that would be convenient if you stay near the subway. There is a schedule for that and most of the day it is on time, but around sunset hours it takes forever and gets off schedule because thousands of people are trying drive their cars to the same small road to the top for limited parking spots. Like trying to find parking during Black Friday. Ive taken that DASH many times and a normally 15 minute ride sometimes takes 1 hour because of traffic. Also when there is a Greek Theatre concert (traffic is bad).

For places in Downtown you can look into the Ritz Milner or Stillwell Hotel which are are few blocks south of 7th/Metro station . Prices are around $100 plus tax. There is also the Stay On Main hotel/hostel formally known as the infamous Cecil Hotel.

[GatsbyGatz]

Hollywood is a total disappointment in my opinion. Dirty and sort of depressing. When we lived in SoCal, my girl and I really had no interest in Hollywood besides outdoor movies in Forever Cemetery. Downtown LA has some nice museums and mainstream shows at LA Live, but the nightlife is less fun than Gaslamp (being that you're already in San Diego). Since you feel obliged to visit Hollywood, I would start on Hollywood's Walk of Fame and then take a subway to dine in DTLA.

Once you get that out of the way, then you can go see what I believe makes LA nice: visiting the Westside. Definitely visit the Getty (it has gorgeous views and it's free!) After that, head down to Santa Monica. Plenty of bars and restaurants, with plenty of tourist pedestrian vibrancy both night and day. Honestly, my girl and I would hang out in Santa Monica over DTLA any day, but there are a lot of boosters who feel sensitive over DTLA.

[erin_elise_]

Hollywood can be fun lol you guys sound like downers! Lol

If you do Hollywood, take a Hollywood tour. The most reputable one is the star line tour. They leave all the time from the Hollywood and highland station. Don't do the hop on hop off tour. Try and do the scheduled 2 hour tour. It shows you Hollywood, rodeo drive, and other notable locations (sunset strip). (Just google starline tours and you will see there are ample options) if you walk the Hollywood strip, going west from Hollywood and highland tends to have better shops and eateries. (That's just my opinion tho)

I am a local and I went on the tour once because I was curious and I had so much fun!

Ps! Also, try going to Griffith observatory! It's very nice! That way you can see good views of the Hollywood sign and of greater LA. The observatory is also nice because it is essentially an astronomy museum. It's free too!
The observatory is not far from Hollywood, so you could definitely do this in the same day!

As the previous commenter alluded to, DTLA is still in its "growing" phase, so it will not be as active as gaslamp, but I do hear that new places are opening all the time there. I just do not have as much info about that.

Anyways, have fun!!!

[StreetLegal]

Downtown LA has better nightlife than Santa Monica and the Gaslamp. Anyone that thinks LA Live represents what downtown offers for nightlife is not paying attention.

The Gaslamp is chain restaurants designed to appeal to convention goers from Cleveland. Downtown LA is 10 times more interesting and varied. It is true the activity is not as concentrated as the Third Street Promenade (a mall with no roof) or the Gaslamp. Third street promenade in Santa Monica dies at 9 or 10 pm. Better to go there in the afternoon or early evening.

For a first time tourist, I can see walking third street in Santa Monica since their time is limited and they are just getting their feet wet. But when you are ready for a real adventure check out downtown LA's more varied nightlife scene (and steer clear of LA Live).

[StreetLegal]

I am not into electronic music but this "famous" DJ had to cancel a show in NYC and instead is doing a free live concert on Broadway in downtown LA next Saturday (May 16). They are closing down the street for pedestrians only. The last time they did this a few months ago Broadway was packed.

Free Steve Aoki concert set for May in downtown Los Angeles

[Naomi Manischewitz]

LOL like people said, I think Hollywood never lives to the expectation that people come in thinking it will have, but it is still fun (I like going into HW from time to time to shop).

In any case, if I were you I would just take the Redline and skip renting a car if you just want to take in some of the sites. Granted every time I've taken the Redline, it smells like urine, it is fast and cheap. If you are into theme parks, Universal Studies is fun. With a 2day1night trip you would have time to check out Hollywood Blvd/Walk of Fame and do Universal Studies (sounds like a fun weekend to me).

Your $150 a night budget though would be a little difficult if you want to be in the heart of Hollywood unless you are okay with Priceline or Hotwire (which I do all the time but you may not like that). The Sportsman's Lodge (with a promo code) would be a nice hotel in your price range, in a nice part of town with nice restaurants walking distance, and near good public transportation. Granted there are motels in Hollywood but I wouldn't want to stay at them especially for a romantic weekend (I may be alone on that though).