Day Trip Suggestions! (Long Beach, Pasadena, Santa Monica: amusement parks, houses, neighborhoods)

[Forever Blue]

If someone were visiting LA county, what are the top 10 places (or more) you'd suggest the person sees? NOT all in 1 day, but a day trip for each place. Nothing that involves smoking, drinking, dancing, or partying. Be specific & don't just list cities, list specific names of places & things to do.

Thanks!

[LASam]

1) The Getty Center
2) The Getty Villa
3) Griffith Park Observatory
4) Hollywood Blvd (Vine to Highland)
5) Santa Monica (Pier, Promenade, Palisades Park, beach, Main St)
6) Beverly Hills (Rodeo Dr, Greystone Park, downtown BH)
7) Downtown LA (Chinatown, Little Tokyo, Old Financial District, Olvera St)
8) South Bay Beach Cities (Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, Palos Verdes)
9) Studio Tour (Universal, Warner Brothers, etc...)
10) Hiking (Topanga State Park)
11) The Grove and Farmer's Market
12) Pasadena (Old Town Pasadena and Norton Simon Museum)
13) Long Beach (Belmont Shore, Queen Mary, Downtown LBC)
14) Mission San Gabriel
15) Venice Beach (Boardwalk, Abbot Kinney Blvd, canals)
16) Universal Studios and Citywalk

I'm sure other things will come to mind!

[ZenMaster2008]

Arboretum in Arcadia

[NaplesRes]

Long Beach Aquarium

[sabbytabby]

La Brea Tar Pits
California Science Center
Catalina Island
Knott's Berry Farm

[uptown_urbanist]

Also: Huntington Library, Museum, and Gardens in San Marino

San Pedro (the maritime museum is small but fun; you could combine it with a visit to the Marine Mammal rehabilitation center and the Korean peace bell in the nearby park; AMAZING views!) There's also a historic house museum there that I've always meant to visit. There are also harbor tours, although I've never done one. They look like fun, though.

[pbergen]

1) take a scenic drive up the pacific coast highway in malibu. while in malibu, get brunch at a restaurant with an ocean view like geoffrey's or a casual seafood lunch at a spot with a patio like neptune's net or malibu seafood. drive up into the hills to check out some impressive ocean views or just to gawk at some of the large estates, and then drive back down to LA as the sun is setting. on the way, you might want to grab a light dinner or a drink during happy hour at the beachcomber cafe, which is right on the pier.

2) take mulholland drive from the cahuenga pass in the hollywood hills to just west of the 405 freeway (near encino) for some great views of the LA basin and the san fernando valley. from certain points along the road, you can see the hollywood sign and, if the skies are clear enough, the pacific ocean in the distance.

3) miracle mile's museum row: LACMA, petersen automotive museum, A+D museum, la brea tar pits. the aforementioned farmer's market and the grove are nearby as well.

4) cruise along the sunset strip in west hollywood, then get out of the car and walk around, people watch, and maybe catch a music or comedy show. from there, you can easily walk up to hollywood boulevard for more people watching, music/comedy/shows, funky shops, photo opportunities (walk of fame, grauman's chinese theatre, capitol records building), etc.

5) do a food tour of LA county's outstanding ethnic cuisines:
mexican (the best taco trucks are concentrated on york blvd in highland park and olympic blvd in east LA, but there are plenty of great places all over the city and region), guatemalan (koreatown, pico-union, westlake), salvadoran (ditto), thai (thai town and north hollywood), ethiopian (little ethiopia), jewish delis (all over central LA and the san fernando valley), persian (westwood), korean (koreatown and cerritos), japanese (gardena/torrance, sawtelle, little tokyo), chinese (san gabriel valley; if you want the old-school americanized cantonese fare, check out chinatown), armenian (glendale, burbank, pasadena, little armenia), vietnamese (san gabriel valley, although there are even better viet restaurants in orange county), indian (artesia), lebanese (westside and san fernando valley), filipino (eagle rock, carson, west covina), cambodian (long beach), hawaiian (long beach/carson), and so many other ones that i'm forgetting right now.

you could easily fill your schedule just eating LA's excellent american and/or local specialties, including french dip sandwiches (philippe's and cole's, both in downtown), soul food (best spots are in south LA), donuts (all over, but my favorite spots are bob's at the farmer's market, primo's on the westside, and the donut man in glendora), burgers (not just in-n-out, but also historic places like cassell's in ktown or upscale pubs like father's office in santa monica), barbecue (bludso's in compton), hot dogs (too many places to list, but my favorite spot is vicious dogs in north hollywood).

6) check out some indie rock shows and hang with the "too cool for school" hipsters in silver lake/echo park. lots of cool boutiques, coffeehouses, and other artsy spots in that area as well as in neighboring los feliz, which is more upscale and less hipsterish but still a vibrant and interesting neighborhood.

7) during baseball season, catch a dodger game. dodger stadium is a mid-20th century architectural gem that has been beautifully maintained over the years and is in a pretty setting with nice views of the san gabriel mountains beyond the outfield pavilion. it's a great place for both tourists and locals to watch a game, as it isn't overly commercialized like the newer ballparks yet has plenty of the charm and character that most of the other post-WWII ballparks lack(ed).

8) i think it's still closed right now due to the station fire, but once it reopens, you can take in the views from mt. wilson observatory in the san gabriel mountains. angeles national forest has lots of scenic places with hiking trails, lakes, wildflowers, etc.

9) amusement parks like six flags magic mountain/hurricane harbor in valencia or the ones already mentioned like universal studios.

10) downtown LA attractions: LA Live, staples center (lakers/clippers/kings games, plus concerts), fashion district/santee alley, broadway, disney concert hall, angels flight railway (just reopened last week after being closed since 2001), original pantry cafe or nickel diner for breakfast, museum of contemporary art, architectural gems like union station and the bradbury building, chinatown, little tokyo, etc.

a few more i just thought of:
-funky shops along melrose ave in hollywood
-larchmont village
-tour of the UCLA and USC campuses
-USC football game at the coliseum or a UCLA football game at the rose bowl; UCLA basketball game at pauley pavilion

[urbanjunglist]

question for you all out there. I like to explore/camp etc... do you short-range travelers find yourselves actually getting to the weekend destinations that you plan on? Topenga, desert, wine country, etc like that? Or do you end up sticking in your own neighborhoods because of the travel headaches?

[sabbytabby]

We like to take walks and explore the areas where we live. I call them walkabouts, you can find some really interesting stuff when your not whizzing by in a car. I don't think of travel headaches if it's somewhere I really want to go. Moss doesn't grow under my feet!

[LASam]

Originally Posted by jlawn

question for you all out there. I like to explore/camp etc... do you short-range travelers find yourselves actually getting to the weekend destinations that you plan on? Topenga, desert, wine country, etc like that? Or do you end up sticking in your own neighborhoods because of the travel headaches?

Yes, I find myself getting to the weekend destinations that I plan on going to. The key is to always leave early... before traffic really picks up.