trip to southern CA (Los Angeles, Long Beach: how much, neighborhoods, university) - California - City-Data Forum

justinzw12 · 10-10-2011, 06:28 AM

Hi, my wife and I are coming for little over a day to LA, and thought we could do a short scenic "road ride" near LA. Does anyone have any suggestions about where we can go? Is it worth taking the PCH? Should we just forget it and go for the touristy things to do in LA? Thank you!

heetseeker · 10-10-2011, 06:39 AM

try hollywood and look at the stars in the sidwalk but dont trip over the bums.

SalParadise · 10-10-2011, 06:42 AM

One day is not a lot of time. Weekdays can be miserable driving this city at peak hours so plan accordingly.

Scenic drives in Los Angeles include PCH and Mullholland Drive. But if you only have one day you might be better off just driving Sunset Blvd from Downtown LA or Hollywood/West Hollywood all the way to the Pacific Ocean. That is a "scenic" drive in an urban sense as it will take you some interesting neighborhoods (including Silverlake, Hollywood, the Sunset Strip, Beverly Hills, etc). Take a quick detour up to Hollywood Blvd (between say Vine Street and Highland) to see central Hollywood. Then head back to Sunset.

Once you reach where Sunset Blvd meets the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) you can see how much time you have and do one of the following:
1. Drive PCH (north) to Malibu to see the most scenic part of coastal LA. Just be sure to take PCH all the way past the Pepperdine University campus to see the truly pretty parts of Malibu.

2. Drive PCH (south) to Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade. Park your car in one of the many public parking garages. Take a stroll to the Santa Monica pier as well as along Palisades Park and watch the sunset over the Pacific. End the day with a nice meal or drink at one of the many restaurants or bars near the beach.

Samoi137 · 10-10-2011, 02:14 PM

A little over a day for all of L.A. and you want to take a road trip??? Where are you staying? What else are you doing? For a short road trip, you could drive just a few miloes up PCH to the Getty Villa museum (not to be confused with the much larger Getty Center in Brentwood). Mulholland Drive, Topanga Canyon and the short drive to the Griffith Park Observatory (site of many films, from "Rebel Without A Cause" to "The Terminator") are at least somewhat scenic drives. What you "should" do is up to your individual tastes, the amount of time you have, what time of day you'd go (e.g., avoiding rush hour if possible), how well you alrady know the area (i.e., is it your first visit? have you already seen other places?), and where you are starting.

Joseph Marnix · 10-11-2011, 01:52 PM

Go to some museum, maybe the Getty. Then go to the beach for the afternoon sun. Eat dinner there in some beach pier if you have not seen the ocean for quite some time. Moderator cut: inappropriate

RaymondChandlerLives · 10-11-2011, 11:53 PM

Start your trip at the PCH in Santa Monica. Turn onto Wilshire Blvd, headin East. You'll run through Westwood (home to UCLA and the underrated Hammer Museum), the Wilshire Corridor, and into Beverly Hills. Turn left on Rodeo Drive (the thrift stores here are great) then right on Santa Monica. Head straight into West Hollywood. Turn left on San Vicente Boulevard until you hit Sunset, then turn right. You're now on the Sunset Strip. Drive staight on down. Shops, clubs, retaurants and billboards abound. Turn left on La Brea, then right when you get to Hollywood Boulevard. Yeah, its tacky, but you gotta see it. Drive straight down until you hit the 101. That'll link you up to wherever it is you're going.

JohnG72 · 10-12-2011, 09:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by justinzw12

Hi, my wife and I are coming for little over a day to LA, and thought we could do a short scenic "road ride" near LA. Does anyone have any suggestions about where we can go? Is it worth taking the PCH? Should we just forget it and go for the touristy things to do in LA? Thank you!

It really depends where you are staying and likely involves part of the coast/PCH. PCH along Malibu is really nice. For instance, if you were staying in say Woodland Hills, I'd recommend taking Topanga over the mountains down to Malibu and then into Santa Monica, perhaps stopping at Neptunes Net or Froggy's along the way for lunch and a beer. If you were staying more towards the South Bay, you might want to take the road that goes through Palos Verdes. And if you were in Long Beach or OC, you'd def want to just drive down PCH from Seal Beach to Newport, and if time allowed, into Laguna Beach.

jorge112597 · 10-12-2011, 05:12 PM

you have to try this out

1. start in PCH from Malibu
2. get to santa monica and look around
3. once you are done with santa monica you can also go to venice beach or marina del rey
4. from santa monica take wilshire blvd passing the 405 fwy and you can see westwood village and the highrises on wilshire corridor
5. stay on wilshire blvd and stop at beverly hills and eat or something
6. take wilshire blvd all the way to miracle mile and if you would like you can see lots of museums there
7. stay on wilshire until you get to koreatown, you can see lots of highrises and nice architecture
8. take wilshire allthe wat to down town LA be sure not to get off wilshire
9 once you reach Downtown you can go to the civic center, LA Live, Finnancial district, historic core, and broadway
10 once you are done in downtown LA take the 101 hollywood freeway and get off on sunset blvd.
11 find a parking lot and walk around hollywood blvd and sunset blvd
12 once you are done in hollywood take sunset blvd and drive by WeHo
and by beverly hills and you can see some huge mansions

jorge112597 · 10-12-2011, 05:14 PM

also you can go to Downtown long beach, see the queen mary or the aquarium, take the 710 fwy into the port of LA and ride on the 2 bridges

justinzw12 · 10-13-2011, 02:14 PM

thank you so much for your help!! we have never been to LA. My wife is much more interested in going to the more touristy things, which LA itself is full of. I am more interested in scenic views. We heard that the PCH and something that is called the Canyon (Crest?) Road (he wasnt sure of the name) is very scenic and can be seen in under two hours, like a drive to Malibu and back to Beverly Hills can be done in a short time. Our only way to get around is our GPS. We are landing at about 6:45am, we would like to start the day right away in the morning. Maybe drive somewhere for a short time and then do what some touristy things in LA/Beverly Hills/ Hollywood and then the next day to continue. What do you think? Thank you!!