Itinerary Suggestions/Comments Please

Hi there, I would like advice on our itinerary. We are travelling to Vegas for 3 days, then to visit family at Needles, CA for a couple of days then to LA for 3 (or 2 1/2 really) and flying home from there.

I know we are not in LA area to see/do much but want to do as much as we can while we are there. We will be travelling with 2 teen girls (13 and 17) who are not really into rides/disney (but we will do that one day) but are into shopping, hollywood sites. We are staying at the Hollywood Celebrity Hotels. We will have a vehicle, but limited driving knowledge for LA areas but will have a gps. Any advice is welcome!

Day 1- Leave Needles early, Stop at relates for brunch or early lunch at Palm Desert, so we will be coming in to LA via Palm Desert if that helps for suggestions of where to go first. Arrive in LA by early afternoon. Drive through the beaches area. Which ones? Santa Monica (pier/promenade)/Venice Beach?Malibu? Either walk/relax at a beach or go to Getty Museum if inclement weather. Arrive at hotel in early evening. Go out for supper somewhere close and walk about in evening to see Hollywood walk of fame, Graumans Chinese Theatre, and Highland shopping center, see Hollywood sign if not too late.

Day 2- Universal Studios or Warner Brothers tour- which one? early morning until about 2 pm. 2 to 5- shopping on Melrose Ave, Go to Beverly Hills - walk around Rodeo Drive-Evening- back to Universal if still more to see there. Alternate plans?

Day 3- Disneyland and California Adventures – all day. Night – out for late supper some place fancy perhaps as it is our last night.

Should we fit in…and where…LA City Tours – 2 teens are quite into seeing the whole Hollywood scene. That is why I am not sure of the Universal vs Warner bros tour. What else is a must see/do?

Thanks for all suggestions/comments.

Itinerary Suggestions/Comments Please

If the girls your age are not into rides why bother with Disney/Universal? Unless of course it is what you would like to do.

Girls that age care about The Hills(MTV), right? Take them to Hollywood, Robertson Blvd in West Hollywood, maybe have lunch at the Ivy there and have them experience the area they see on tv as it actually really excists,lol.

You can drive around Bel Air, look at some mansions. Take Pacific Coast Highway down to Malibu, maybe another lunch or early sunset dinner at Moonshadows which is right by the beach there.

There is so much to Southern California and as much as i like the themeparks it almost breaks my heart to think someone comes out to visit here and sees nothing but Disney and Universal.

Itinerary Suggestions/Comments Please

Thanks for your reply alex, didnt think we were doing just rides and theme parks! We are not going to 6 Flags, Knotts Berry,etc etc and only 1 day at disney. Yes, we feel we cant go there and not do disneyland for at least one day. We are not sure about going to Universal or if Warner Bros tour would be better for us.

Thanks for your advise on the tour of bel air and also the places to eat and hollywood sites.

Anyone else care to add in?

If you%26#39;re not interested in the rides that much, then go to a morning Warner Bros studio tour instead of Universal which has rides and shows in addition to the tour. Sounds like rides and shows at Disneyland for an entire day will be enough for you (1 day is not really enough to fit in California Adventure, plus it%26#39;s really not impressive at all. Stick to just Disneyland that day).

On your first day, you%26#39;ll be driving by the Getty first, so stop there for lunch and spend about 2 hrs total there. Then, take Sunset Blvd and drive all the way to the beach through Brentwood. From there, take PCH to Santa Monica (you can go in the other direction and see Malibu for an hour first if you have time) and spend 2 hrs walking around the Pier and Promenade. The girls can do some shopping there. From there, I would head to Main St shops in Santa Monica as well or you can walk the Venice Boardwalk instead. Your girls will like Main St shops and cafes though I think. Then drive to your hotel in the evening and walk around Hollywood Blvd by your hotel and have dinner at one of the restaurants there. It will only take you an hour or so to explore that part which is a few blocks long. And there are plenty of restaurants to choose from.

On day two, start with a morning Warner Bros tour. Then head to West Hollywood, maybe Robertson Blvd where a bunch of designer boutiques are and have lunch there. Your girls may see a star or two there. Then head to Rodeo Drive nearby for an hour or so from there. Then, drive to Melrose Ave to go shopping for a couple hrs. And then go to the Grove for dinner. I would suggest driving through Sunset Strip after dark, after dinner too.

Drive to Disneyland and spend all day there.

Given the itinerary above, you will see most major parts of LA and won%26#39;t need a tour.

It%26#39;s the 17 year old here. First mom quickly read your reply and found it very helpful I think..but she had to go out the door, I%26#39;m sure she will reply later.

Anyways, I just have one other place I feel I MUST go to in LA. That being, Pinkberry!! (you know, the frozen yougurt). My friend and I stumbled upon this great treat in NY last february (and later found out that it is quite the popular spot). When I heard it was also in LA..I keep telling my mom we just have to stop there! You see, we live in Canada and have no such place. haha..

So, please tell me one of the Pinkberry spots is near the route we%26#39;ll be on???

Thanks!

There are a ton of them now. You%26#39;ll have no problems finding one. When you%26#39;re shopping on Melrose, there is one at the end of the shopping strip - cross street LaBrea.

Thanks so much smartcooki! Great advice, you are awesome!

There%26#39;s a Pinkberry in every neighborhood. Just look for the pink and blue lights.

I wouldn%26#39;t spend time at only amusement parks, LA is so much more. And I don%26#39;t recommend a city tour, all you%26#39;ll see is hedges and gates.

A few things....

On your first day, I would drive into L.A. but instead of going to the beaches, go to Warner Brothers. This will be a lot quicker than driving across the city to go to the beaches. Take a WB tour at 1:30 or so, and then drive into Hollywood (20 minutes) around 4 pm. Drive past your hotel (or check in and ';freshen up'; if you want) and drive to Melrose Ave (15 minutes) and do some shopping. Drive back to your hotel (15 minutes) and spend the rest of the day as planned in Hollywood.

On day 2, drive to Beverly Hills and onto Santa Monica (30 minutes + 20 minutes). Explore the beach areas and shopping there.

On Day 3, skip DL! If your kids aren%26#39;t into it, why spend 2 hours driving up and back to Anaheim and all that time and energy walking around DL, if they%26#39; re going to hate it? See the ';real LA';. There are lots of great tours that don%26#39;t just whiz you by the front gates of celebrity homes. There are walking tours of the historic theaters and buildings of Hollywood and downtown L.A. (redlinetours.com). There are tours that use small vehicles (instead of giant buses) and take you to places that most tourists never visit (Check out: http://www.architecturetoursla.com/)

Take a helicopter tour of L.A. or neighboring Catalina Island.

www.amazinglatours.com/ourtours.php…

See a TV show being taped. Go to one of our 100 museums.

Thanks yogachick, my 17 year old will be tickled to check out the pinkberries!

Thanks hopskipjump, I checked out Warner Bros. I dont think there are tours on Sundays and that is the day we are arriving, I should have mentioned that. I am also not sure what time we will be getting into LA so that is why I left it as Getty Museum if weather not nice or beaches if nice. Maybe we will drive around Beverly Hills if time that day.

I also should say that the girls will hopefully be shopped out (haha is that possible) from vegas etc where we were going to have time at the outlet malls. I am sure we will still do Disneyland as they still want to do that for one day.

Great ideas, would like to look into a taping of a show, what are your reccommendations? The girls are 17 and 14.

Thanks so much, keep the ideas coming...I love this site!

You may want to go to the Getty on a good weather day too. It has amazing views, so clear skies would help a lot. The grounds and the views are an attraction there, some may even say more than the museum.