Two days in LA

Hi all, I know there are a few posts like this one on here already, so I hope you don鈥檛 mind me adding to them! We will be in LA for 3 nights (2 whole days) in August and I鈥檇 love opinions on my itinerary. We will be staying in the Hollywood Celebrity hotel.

Day 1: Up bright and early and do a starlight 鈥榟op on hop off鈥?tour first thing (I know there are mixed views about these tours on this forum, but I find them a great way to see all the sights, especially since we are there for such a short time). 鈥楬op off鈥?the bus and spend a couple of hours exploring Beverly Hills i.e. window shopping! Hop back on the bus and back to Hollywood to spend a couple of hours exploring there.

Day 2: Drive to Santa Monica, spend the morning exploring the area and then a spot of sunbathing in the afternoon. Might pop over to Venice beach for a couple of hours to explore there (would it be best to walk, public transport or drive?) Then back to Hollywood for dinner.

Is this way too much to see in 2 days? We are both young, fit and active and don鈥檛 mind packing a lot in. we really want to see all the above places so would hate to have to cut anything! Thanks in advance for any replies!

Two days in LA

You have plenty of time to fit all of that in with time to spare. Venice is an easy walk from Santa Monica or you can rent bikes. If you want to sunbath and have a car - you may want to consider heading north to Malibu and relaxing at Zuma Beach for the afternoon.

Two days in LA

You can rent a bike, as mentioned above, to go to Venice, or take the Tide shuttle for 25cents.

bigbluebus.com has information on the Shuttle.

My only note is that you needn%26#39;t drive back to Hollywood for dinner on Day 2 with so many great restaurants in Santa Monica, some with great views. If you have a car, drive to Malibu and have dinner overlooking the ocean (or do this in SM). Seems a waste to go all the way back to Hollywood for dinner.

Also, I think you%26#39;d do better with a map and a car, than with the hop on hop off tour. You%26#39;ll see more, go at your own pace, cover more ground.

Thanks for the quick replies guys. Can you rent Roller blades in Santa Monica? To me that is a quintisential Californian thing!

Yes - the bike rental places also have roller blades. Have fun!

Re: the Hop On, Hop Off Tour (of which I am, ordinarily, a big fan), if you%26#39;re only going to hop off once (in Beverly HIlls), you%26#39;d be better off taking one of Starline%26#39;s regular tours -- where they drive by a number of locations and have ';timed stops'; at others.

Or, as mentioned above, use the car and do a ';self tour';. Beverly Hills is literally on the way to Santa Monica so you can easily stop in BH on the way to the beach.

Alternatively, you can mix it up a little. Take the hop on, hop off tour in the morning and get off in Beverly Hills. From there, take any bus west on Wilshire Bl or Santa Monica Bl (the two main roads that are at the opposing ends of Rodeo Drive -- which is only 3 blocks long, btw) into Santa Monica (about 30 minites).

Once, in Santa Monica, walk, ride the Tide Shuttle, or rent bikes or roller blades and then return home either by reversing your route and picking up the Hop On bus for the ride to Hollywood or simply use public transit. If you opt for reversing your route you might consider stopping at the Farmers Market/the Grove on the way back to your hotel for dinner (if you don%26#39;t mind smelling like the beach while you eat). Keep in mind that Starline%26#39;s hop on tour ends at around 17:30 so you%26#39;ll need to be ';home'; (or at the Grove) by then, There are public transit buses (#217 or the #780) in front of the Farmers Market that will take you back to Hollywood.

I%26#39;m wondering why you don%26#39;t stay at the Celebrity for 2 nights and then in Santa Monica for the last night so you won%26#39;t have to go back and forth. Just a thought.

It sounds like you will have a car since you%26#39;re using it on day 2. I really don%26#39;t understand why you would spend $35 or so per person on the Hop on Hop off tour. I understand that you%26#39;ve taken it before in other cities, and I agree with you that it makes sense elsewhere. However, it really doesn%26#39;t make sense in LA because it only covers a very small area, maybe at most 3 miles across. You%26#39;re already staying in Hollywood, so the only things the tour covers are along Fairfax Ave 10 mins away from Hollywood (just drive down Hollywood Blvd and turn south on Fairfax to reach Melrose Ave, The Grove, and LACMA, all on Fairfax Ave within a few blocks from each other) and Beverly Hills (just 10 mins west from all of the above down any major street).

I agree that you shouldn%26#39;t waste time going to dinner in Hollywood. There are great restaurants in Santa Monica and I would personally drive another 15 mins to Malibu and have dinner at one of the beach-front restaurants there (Duke%26#39;s, Gladstone%26#39;s, Geoffrey%26#39;s, etc) as it%26#39;s one of the highlights.

You should also stop by the Getty on the way to Santa Monica for a couple hrs and have lunch there. Santa Monica will take you about 2 hrs to explore and Venice will take another 1-2 hrs if you go there. Drive down Main St to Venice to see the nice area with boutiques and cafes there. Also, drive through the nicer part of Venice, down Abbot Kinney Blvd.

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