Learn from our experience, what are the dos and dont’s when visiting Los Angeles! Itinerary, Restaurants, Shops and even the Hollywood Sign. We show it all!
For every cinema lover, Los Angeles will make you feel the longest déjà vu “I’ve seen this somewhere” of your life! From the Walk of Fame to Beverly Hills, Rodeo drive and the Santa Monica Pier … the list of places to visit is endless.
If you add 4 friends + 4 flights + 3 hotels + 1 friends house + 1 car, during 10 days and through 3 States, you have as a result a great roadtrip with a total of 1882 miles travelled full of adventures and misadventures.
Not everything went as planned, not every corner of Los Angeles was full of glamour and richness, and not everything was as pretty as google showed us. And that’s exactly what we want to share with you: our honest experience, compiled in tips on what you should and should not do in the city of angels.
1 – Your Los Angeles itinerary
We spent weeks talking about what we wanted to visit, read all the guides and forums (Note: search on facebook for some information-sharing groups about Los Angeles, which help a lot). Initially, we were going to spend 10 days in LA, but by unanimous vote, we decided to change our itinerary and decided to spend 5 days in the city, so we could visit other States (we’ll post about it later). And we couldn’t be happier with our decision!
Dos:
- It is essential to have an itinerary previously decided in order to optimize your days in Los Angeles. We haven’t mentioned it before but the city is HUGE.
- We advise you to spend an average of 4 days in this city, so you are able to see the most emblematic sights.
- The best way to create your itinerary is to divide the city in sections, and that way optimize your day.. You will notice that the main tourist attractions can be in different points of the city. Therefore, it is best to choose a location, park your car and explore that area as much as possible.
Dont’s:
- Get ready … because going from point A to point B, either by foot or by car, will be a long way. The city is immense, with endless queues of traffic, especially in Rush Hour (between 5:00 and 10:00 in the morning and between 3:00 and 7:00 in the afternoon).
- If you thought the subway would take you everywhere … forget it! The metro line is very small and is not very popular among the city citizens.. Some stations that appear on the metro map are even closed.
- Don’t get us wrong, but don’t waste two weeks just in this city. By renting a car you can get an upgrade to your trip by doing a quick trip to Las Vegas or San Francisco (6h by car to each of these cities).
2 – Renting a car
Yes, traffic sucks. However, the vast majority of los angeles drivers respect the traffic rules and have a defensive driving. We advise you to read some guides (there are several on google). Also, any driver that is used to drive in a big city, will feel like a fish in water. Don’t be scared when you see someone turning right on a red light … all you have to do is wait 5 seconds and you can turn even though its red! The price of fuel is super affordable, with $40 (34€) you can fill the tank of a midsize car and go about 800 km.
Dos:
- This is our biggest advice: rent a car. As we visited 3 US States, we drove a total of 3,029 kms (1882 miles). The car will be your best friend on those long road trips, and you can even make stops along the way, making your itinerary more flexible and getting some amazing shots for instagram (eheh).
- Before you starting this trip, rent a car online. After an intense search for the best website, we opted for this: Happy Tours USA. On this page you will find the best options from various websites. With Happytoursusa, you can have free cancelation, insurance, 2 drivers allowed and unlimited kms.
- Depending on the number of passengers and bags, be careful with the car you choose. We were 4 people so we chose a midsize car. When you get to the pickup location of the car you can choose that car you want (as long as it is midsize). We chose the one with the biggest trunk that also had USB chargers so we could charge our phones (which served as GPS).
Dont’s:
- Do not park the car in the first park you find, some are expensive (some charge $15 an hour in the center of the city). The best solution is to search online for the cheapest rates in the area you are in (check here).
- When renting a car, do not choose the option with GPS. It is much more expensive and it’s not worth it. Just download the app “Here we Go”, it is very accurate and it works offline (as long as you download the maps of the states you are going to visit).
- When choosing a hotel, pay attention to whether the hotel has free parking or the fee the charge. Some are very expensive. Leaving the car parked on the street is impossible unless you are willing to spend a LOT of money.
3 – The food
Let’s face it. We are fast food lovers. And when we decided to go to the United States we knew we were going to enter fast food heaven! Wendy’s, Shake Shack, In N Out, Dunkin Donuts, Taco Bell, McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Burger King, Dominos, etc. In the United States there are about 50,000 (Yes, 50 THOUSAND!) different fast food chains, so as you can see, lack of choice wasn’t a problem. Although it seems very tempting to eat fast food everyday, avoid a stomach flu! So:
Dos:
- Search for supermarkets near your hotel (Walgreens, for example) to buy water, fruit and some healthy snacks to have in the backpack. Making all meals in restaurants turns out to be very costly, even if it is fast food.
- Don’t miss out on Shake Shack! It’s the best fast food burger you’re ever going to eat. A lot of people think it’s In N Out, but we prefer the Shake Shack, unanimously! You’re not going to regret these extra calories.
- If you’re a candy fan, you really need to go to the Cheesecake Factory! It’s a restaurant specialized in cheesecakes and it won’t disappoint you. The hard part will even be choosing just one (as they are served in big portions).
- Do not miss the Original Farmers market, it is a gourmet food market where you can try food from all over the world: Korean, Spanish, Japanese, Italian, Thai, French, Greek, Brazilian, etc! It has everything you can imagine!
Dont’s:
- Don’t run only on fast food. We know that it may seem silly to give this advice, but in the US you can’t find healthy and inexpensive restaurants easily. In every corner of every street you’ll find a different fast food restaurant, with prices that are much more appealing than a normal restaurant.
- Los Angeles is a city rich in cultural diversity, and every kind of kitchen has a specific zone (Mexican, Thai, Chinese, Armenia). Don’t miss out and visit some of these restaurants, because in addition to being an alternative to fast food, allows you to try new things. The prices are very affordable. We were obsessed with Thai food and went to a thai restaurant four times, spending on average 12$ per person per meal.
- Don’t forget to turn to tripadvisor. This app will be your best friend in finding restaurants that are close to you, cheap and with good reviews.
4 – Shopping
Any store you can imagine, you can find it in Los Angeles. Even the cheapskates will find something of their liking. From expensive brands stores, specialty shops to outlets, there is always something for everyone. Also, in some cases you can find brands are much cheaper in LA than in your country (Levis, for example).
Dos:
- Stay tuned to shops like Dollar Tree 1 or 99 c store that sells food to literally 1 (one!) dollar. You can find water, fruit, cookies, juices, vegetables. We went almost every day to this type of shops to buy the essentials for breakfast and snacks during the day.
- There are stores in the United States that you can’t find in your country, such as Victoria’s Secret, Bed Bath & Beyond, Macy’s, Boba Time, among others. So if you’re in to shopping, stop by and get some “exclusive” items!
- Visit the Salvation Army stores or Thrift Shops. We went to both, but we loved one in particular: the “Out of the Closet” Thrift Shop. In this type of stores you can find clothing, accessories, books, decor, technology and the best part is that the money goes to local associations. In the case of this Thrift shop, is a nonprofit chain of thrift stores whose revenues provide medical care for patients with HIV/AIDS. The chain is owned and operated by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, a Los Angeles-based charity that provides medical, preventative, and educational resources for patients.
Dont’s:
- Don’t forget the Los Angeles County sales tax rates. In most areas of Los Angeles County the current sales tax rate is 8.75%. So the price on the price tag isn’t always the price you’re paying. Be aware of that when doing your shopping.
- If you really like shopping, then you can’t miss the Fashion District. Known as the imitation mecca of LA, its ‘almost’ as a Rodeo Drive (at least for us!).
5 – The Hollywood Sign
What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of Hollywood? If you answered Angelina Jolie you’re wrong. If you named one of the Kardashians, you’re not right either. The right answer: the famous Hollywood Sign! Those letters over the mountains are there to remind people where they are, in case they suffer from a short episode of memory loss.
As you would expect, the first place we wanted to visit was precisely the Hollywood Sign. Is there be a better way to start your instagram feed than with a photograph with the so-famous white letters on the hill in your background?
Dos:
- When you decide to visit the sign, go toward the Griffith Park, a park with a spectacular view of the city and the Hollywood Sign. You’ll be able to see the famous letters, but they will still be far away. Want to take a closer look? Get ready for a long walk to the perfect spot. It can be an amazing experience … If you don’t make the same mistakes as we did. The 10km hike starts at the sign in the first photo below.
- Los Angeles is known for always being sunny, so don’t forget to bring WATER! We didn’t think this through so we only brought one small bottle of iced tea, that got warm thirty minutes later because of the heat. Lucky for us we found a water fountain almost at the end of the journey back. We were about to pass out!
- Take sport clothing and shoes, because it is a very long walk (10 km, 5 km round trip).
- While going up the hills you’ll see beautiful views of the city, so don’t forget to bring your camera and get amazing shots with the city as a background.
Dont’s:
- Don’t do what we did and go in dark-colored clothes. The sun will always be hitting you directly, as you won’t find many shadows along the way. So think about your comfort before you start the hike. Keep in mind that it is a walk that takes at least 3h in total, so avoid doing it in the most heated times of the day (12h-3pm). The ideal would be to start early (between 8 and 9 am) so you are able to to leave at noon. This way you avoid paying park and suffering from the intense heat.
- Don’t try to go any closer to the signal than what is allowed. A night in the Los Angeles jail doesn’t sound like a good idea.
- Don’t park your car away from Griffith Park, otherwise expect an unnecessary hike to get there.
- The park in Griffith Park is free until 12:00, so don’t be a fool like us and pay for the park if you’re there in the morning. The system lets you pay even if it’s free. Between 12:00 and 10pm the park costs between 6 to 10 dollars an hour (ouch!).
Extra tips:
Don’t forget to TIP!
The United States has a culture very different from ours. The tip is very integrated into the daily lives of Americans, but for a lot of people that still confusing to understand. But even if it’s not something that you usually do, you must always tip in Los Angeles. A big part of American citizens make their living with the money they make from tips. So have that in mind. In America be American!
This was only the first part, next week we’re going to finish the list with some other tips that left our friends gagging!
Now that you’ve read the good and the bad of our experience in Los Angeles, do you still want to visit the land of the Oscars?
Life is full of choices.
When in doubt, flip a coin.
Cara|Coroa
5 Comments
It so cool to read your perspective and loved all the tips!!!! Such a good find at the vintage store!
It so cool to read your perspective and loved all the tips!!!! Such a good find at the vintage store!
Wow! How did I miss you? We should hang next time.
This is such a great post! Love all the do’s & dont’s!
Love it! I was just in LA 3 weeks ago. Such an awesome city