Like lively, things to see, things to watch, not a dead street. Maybe like Granville?

I think your best bet is the Santa Monica Pier.

You could try Little Tokyo and the The Glendale Galleria / Americana @ Brand in Glendale. The Third Street Promendae in Santa Monica dies down after business hours (9pm/10pm) so you could try your luck if you like. Abbott Kinney Road in Venice often closes the street off for a food truck festival and it's kind of neat to wander the streets and shops/restaurants car-free.

Other places off the top of my head:
- http://www.downtownla.com/
- The Americana at Brand
- Universal CityWalk Hollywood Los Angeles, California

Just keep in mind these places have regular business hours i.e. 9am to 9pm. If you're looking for a centralized club/nightlife district, there isn't exactly one that's similar to Granville Street. You could try West Hollywood, but I don't know of any exact locations. You'll have to Google that one.

Hi all, looking to plan a LA/California trip during the holidays. I expect to go for roughly 8 days, with the first 2 at Disneyland. I was hoping to get some advice from RS and a few random question answered to make my trip go smoother.

-What are areas to avoid in LA and where should my hotel be? Currently look at the Sheraton Gateway near LAX. Is it a centralized enough location for me to go to all the tourist attractions? Also considering Oxford Palace next to Koreatown. If no good, please direct me to a better hotel you have had pleasant experiences with.

-Uber or rental? I assume rental + parking would rack up quite a bit for 5-6 days (not planning on having a car during my 2 day stay at Anaheim)

-Must eats? I was hoping to eat more American food during my trip like ribs and burgers. Or just things that locals recommend would be great too. Michelin fine dining for 1 or 2 or 3 meals would be great too.

-No real concrete plans so far except for Disneyland, and Universal Studio at this stage. Is Cafe Lu still a thing in 2016? What else is recommended. I need to fill 6 days.

Thank you.

Cafe Lu still open in Santa Ana

https://www.yelp.ca/biz/cafe-lu-santa-ana

I highly recommend you buy the fast lane pass or whatever Universal Studios has for sale. It's essentially VIP access to all the rides and attractions. It's an ACTUAL VIP experience where you walk up to a ride/attraction, and even if there are 200 people lined up in the general line up, they'll usher you into the VIP line and you'll get on when it's the next turn. I went with 6 other friends and that's what we got and we had a complete blast, otherwise, you could be stuck waiting upwards of 1-2 hours PER attraction. Fuck that :lol

Definitely check out 3rd St Promenade in Santa Monica and then head over to the Santa Monica beach for a little bit before heading up to the Santa Monica Pier. They're all within easy walking distance of each other.

Go to Six Flags Magic Mountain

^
Six flags you will need the flash pass we went on a weekday over the summer and the line ups were unbelievable. It was well worth the $80USD (I believe regular entry is $80 so you're looking at double). With the flash pass, you reserve your spot on the navigator they supply, you go check out some not so hectic busy rides, and when the times up you cut through the back exit.

We got to go on 10-12 rides compared to if we waited it would be probably only 3-4..

Unfortunately according to the gf, Disneyland is a must.

I'm an LA regular and practically live there. Have been spending lots of time there over the past 10 years there.

Hotels - My general rule of thumb is that if you are in LA, there is no one single hotel that is close to everything. And that is because everything in LA is very spread out. There's lots to choose from, so pick an area you would like to be in.

More importantly, pick a hotel that fits your budget and meets your needs. I typically discourage RS members to stay away from the LAX hotels mainly because they are pretty run down and the turnover is high (it's an airport hotel afterall) and also because there isn't much around the hotel. If you're spending a few days at Disneyland, pick a hotel that's in the area. I spent two days at Disney recently and fuck, I wished the hotel was next door so I could just go to sleep after a day of walking and waiting in line. I'm getting old, so....yeah.

Car - You need a car no matter where you go in LA. Renting is your best option unless you are staying in one place only (i.e. Downtown LA.) Having the flexibility to go where you want to go in LA is priceless. Shop around for the best prices possible. Some people swear by Uber, but factor in your potential costs - it may cost more than a rental.

If renting, I typically go with National or Enterprise. Some other RS members like to spruce things up and go with another rental company that has a fleet of Audi A4s available (it's in this thread somewhere.)

Must Eats - I can't really comment on this one because food is a very personal thing. One person may like the fries at In & Out Burger while most people absolutely hate them with a vengeance. I have had only pleasant experiences at Jar, owned and operated by Suzanne Tracht and she works the kitchen most nights. It's not mind blowing, but the food and service, for me, have been consistently excellent.

Try going to - See my post above on this page (and previous threads.) Check out the Griffith Observatory in the evening (I don't remember if they began charging for parking so check before you go.) Lots of things to do and see in LA.

I just spent a week there and just got back last night. :)

Hotel: I got a hotel for 2 days at Disneyland. For the rest of the trip I am looking at Airbnbs for the time being. I narrowed it down to K-town (which I heard was slightly bit better than Little Tokyo), Long Beach, West Hollywood or Newport Beach. Which one do you think would be best?

Car: Most likely going for Silvercars for the A4. However, I am also highly considering Turo. They have competitively priced cars that has manual transmissions, STi, A5, 328i, etc. and offer insurance. I assume 100 miles limit/day would be sufficient as long as I'm not venturing out to San Diego or whatever? Do you have any experience or know of anybody with experiences with that company?

Food: I'll keep Jar in mind. So far this is my list:
- The Ranch at Anaheim for the 58oz Tomahawk
-Slapfish for their lobster roll
-Lady M for crepe cakes
-Kinjiro
-Newport Seafood Restaurant (something you mentioned earlier in this thread)
-El Gallo Giro

Things to do: I want to go visit and run the Mulholland Snake. Is it a hotspot for cops? If I can't drive faster than speed limit, is it still worth the drive. I'm planning to go around 12pm on a weekday.

TIA

I think K-town will probably the most central for most things, but keep in mind, it's nowhere near Orange Country, and Long Beach and Newport Beach are the closest in that area. K-Town can have some shitty parts so bear that in mind. Little Tokyo is just downtown LA and it can be nice, but venture off a few blocks in the deep, you're in a pretty shitty area too.

I think a few RS members have tried renting from Silvercars but not sure of Turo. I think 100 miles a day would be sufficient, but again, it depends on where you're going. If you're staying in K-Town and driving to Anaheim (or the OC in general) you can easily rack up 100 miles/day.

Mulholland - It can be a hot spot but you never know. Just depends on how risk averse you are.

Positive experience with Silver Car in LA. Great cars with a ton of fun on Mulholland Snake. I did the route 3 times it was so much fun haha.

Hi Dukes 4Head

Is Roam Mobility still the best option for data in LA?

I think so (?)

Question mark because I don't think any carriers offer unlimited data anymore. I still have a prepaid number that has a grandfathered unlimited data plan with T-Mobile.

Not sure about other carriers but I'm with Fido and they offer a "roam like home" type plan that's $5/day which is the same price as Roam. I guess the trade off is you're burning your data, but you get the convenience of keeping your number and not having to switch SIM or prepay. With Roam, you'll be tied to the TMo network, while with your home carrier, you'll likely have the extra benefit of being able to utilize AT&T's network as well.

+1 to syee's post.

If you have Rogers or Fido, take advantage of their Roam Like Home bundles. I hate switching out SIM cards and the cost works out to be the same as $5/day (give or take a buck or so.) I only use the T-Mobile SIM because I text and call my family when I'm there.

FYI you have to be on one of those Share Everything plans in order to be eligible for the $5/day Roam Like Home feature. I've been holding onto my grandfathered 6GB plan, so the Roam mobility plans are still the cheapest option for me.

Roam Like Home is so sick, wish other carriers have the same. Roam Mobility came out with the dick move last year deactivating sim cards after unused period so you have to buy a new one with a new number.

I think it was always a policy, but it was one year and now decreased to 6 months.

You can still keep your Roam # but what you need to do is top up your plan. What I do is pay for a single day of talk/text/data (you could always just go with talk/text) and then set it for several months in advance. Just make sure to change the date to a future date when the time comes so you don't activate the plan while still in Canada.

I paid $20 USD for a prepaid TMo sim card with 10GB of data with unlimited voice. Valid for 1 month from activation

jsut wondering, is it cheap to drive down to LA from vancouver? Just wondering how much gas and hotel I should stay as a pitstop would be compared to two people flying down round trip...

edit: bcrdukes, did u move to LA to work by any chance? Maybe my future plan is to leave Vancouver and start a life in LA or another city with my girl after I am done paying off my car and give my car to my mom (or bring it down lol but unlikely) ....

Last I checked, flying into LA is generally fairly cheap ($300-$400) and it's worth it just to avoid the hassle of driving on the I5 rush hour traffic and LA rush hour traffic. The drive down can range anywhere from 18-22ish hours, but that depends on how fast you drive and how bad rush hour traffic is.

I used the Peace Arch State Park as the starting point and the Staples Center as the end destination and that's roughly 2000 km of driving. Say your car can get you 400km per tank, that's still 5 tanks worth of gas, which will likely be slightly less than a round trip airfare and that's only a one way drive down.

I think it depends on what you value more - the cost savings, or your time.

Typically, driving is cheaper, but you have to consider how many times you want to stop (i.e. overnight) and your gas/meals/souvenirs etc.

I always suggest flying to LA. 3 hour flight vs. 18 to 22 hours by car. Check your airfares in advance and be flexible. LA isn't really going anywhere unless something like the movie "San Andreas" happens in real life.

Verdasco - PM me with your specifics and I will answer as best as I can.

What do you think about West Hollywood? I heard its the "gay part of town", not that it matters, safety is paramount.

Gay or not, it's pretty nice and safe there for the most part. There's a stretch on Santa Monica that's the "gay" area, but it's full of retail stores and restaurants. The only way you'd know it's the "gay" area is because of the rainbow flags, kind of like Davie Street. Big Russian/Ukranian population in the area, so some good ethnic food to be had.

Edit: Since you're a snobby foody, there are a lot of nice restaurants in the area. Bring a big wallet.