Trip to LA. Need activity ideas...

[cays]

In keeping with the driving comments you might consider renting a good-handling car as there are so many great twisty roads to drive. (Not haul ass on, just pleasure drive). For instance you could drive Sunset (the Strip) to Hollywood, noodle around there checking out the handprints and then jump on Mulholland Dr. in minutes, stop at two viewpoints where first you have a sweeping view of L.A., then all of the San Fernando Valley looking 180º in the other direction at the second. You could then bear left on the fabled Laurel Canyon Blvd. (Google it if you are not familiar with its importance in music history) and be back in the heart of West Hollywood or continue on Mulholland to a left onto Beverly Glen Blvd. which leads you right into the Rodeo Dr. area of Beverly Hills. Taking the latter route would be a nice way to kill maybe 5 hrs for the whole route including coffee, lunch and walking Rodeo. Save a run up PCH to as far as Point Mugu before turning around for another day.

[jtodd_fl]

Originally Posted by rr006rbc

Do yourself a favor and visit south Orange County beaches; not LA.

Try Dana Point, Newport Beach OR Laguna Beach. Lots of great eats and shopping centers in that area as well. Yelp app is your best friend. They're about 45 mins to an hour away from downtown LA but worth it.

For restaurants check out Scarpetta for Italian, Mastros for steak, Water Grill for seafood and the Black Sheep for Asian fusion..there's just way too many to name..

And no don't visit Koreatown; place is a dump and filled with rudeness. Visit Little Tokyo instead for good eats and sushi. Bestia is near there as well as someone mentioned.

St. Regis Monarch Bay is the shit. It's been like 8 years since I stayed there, but it really is nice and the staff was amazing. Yes, expensive, but #worth.

[KingOfJericho]

A little more background. The wife watches all those shitty Real Housewives and Kardashian shows and she thinks the scenery is interesting as they flash between scenes. That's kind of what she wants to check out. We both work or have worked in NYC for many years so we're not hayseeds. It just looks very different from our area.

Originally Posted by eluded

LA is a dump with lots of traffic & smog. PCH isn't bad nor is malibu & OC and down to San Diego.

People say the same about NYC but I work here every day and I love it. To each their own. My wife is Bulgarian and almost every Bulgarian dude I've met sounds the same: "That's a piece of shit" "fuck that place, it's shit" lol. I've learned to take it with a grain of salt.

Originally Posted by PoorLurker

After you eat at Bestia.

OP - Add some information about what interests you guys have and other specifics. Outdoor activities? Bars? Hikes? Surfing? Farmer's Markets? Types of food? Are you flying to LAX? Have kids? Disneyland? Venture to other areas like Orange County? San Diego?

For example, when I went to Hawaii recently, everyone would recommend the larger "corporate" owned types of places to eat. However, I personally like small hole in the wall restaurants with sticky floors. (Bestia is not this type of restaurant, but is one of the rare places I left not caring how much it would have cost me. Book a reservation a couple months in advance)

Yeah this is exactly why I didn't want restaurant recommendations. We had the same experience in Hawaii. We made reservations at all of these places people were recommending and skipped most of them to eat at local joints. Some of the best meals by a mile. We do have two toddlers. We've done Disney and will probably wait until the kids are older before going down that road (they'll get more out of it). Wife isn't into hiking/surfing. Prob flying into LAX.

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

For vacation I'd go SF / Napa before L.A., so I'd say rent a car and drive North.

Great suggestion and the same I would make but we've already done SF/Napa and loved it. I've been to SF a few times and it's my favorite US city outside of the northeast.

Originally Posted by M3 Number 86

SoCal is so large you won't enjoy half of it in a 5 day trip. So many areas to go out and so far apart.

In-n-out done that in SF - love it
Some street taco vendor we have that here but will try
Beverly Hills dining pass
South OC beaches (as mentioned above) how far is this?
Downtown LA bars (pretty dirty though) prob pass
Old Towne Pasadena (bar crawl with fairly a normal crowd) prob pass on bar crawl
Little Tokyo (the only place I go there is Hama sushi or Far Bar) interesting, wife loves sushi
Alhambra for Chinese food will check out
Koreatown for kbbq and drinking debauchery plus call girls (I'm Korean and all we do is bottle service at a regular bar)
Santa Monica is meh to me (I'm Asian that's why) Not Asian so might enjoy
Venice Beach is meh to me (I'm Asian that's why) Not Asian so might enjoy
Then you have Burbank if you want to tour the studios and go to universal if you're into that stuff (I can get discounts) Definitely
Hollywood to see the most randomest shit - some strange characters. If it's anything like Times Sq, definite pass. I HATE tourist traps

If you're into driving (this is a car forum) and you have a decent rental, drive mulholland highway through the snake (read not mulholland drive) or ride Angeles crest highway.

There's also downtown Glendale if you want to be somewhere different. What's there?

Too many different places to be.

[M3 Number 86]

Wil respond after I get out of car :d

[UncleWede]

With kiddos in tow, need to visit the LA zoo. San Diego has better things for the kids, ie LEGOLAND, SD Zoo, SeaWorld.

If you ventured for a day north about 2 hours to Santa Barbara, the little zoo they have there is great, although the crooked-neck giraffe has died. Could later stroll along State Street and see middle-Cali lifestyle.

[longress]

I just was in OC on business but I grew up in LA so I had seen all the tourist stuff. If you're interested in checking out a cool location for M stuff swing into EAS in Anaheim. The guys there are really cool gave me a tour of their shop and what projects they had going on including a 700hp M5.

[EL Jeffe 5]

Originally Posted by eluded

LA is a dump with lots of traffic & smog. PCH isn't bad nor is malibu & OC and down to San Diego.

Well said my friend LA as LA is dump

[gtron]

Stay by the beach in Orange County.

Huntington Beach is fun, Laguna Beach is nice, and Newport Beach has good corn dogs haha. They're all right next to each other. Beaches, hiking, food, cleanliness, and weather... can't go wrong.

You can drive down to San Diego from OC within an hour and be over it in a day. LA is just meh IMO but if you find it necessary it's under an hour north of the beach cities.

edit: Take some time to go on a whale tour. Our guests seem to love that and it gives me an opportunity to drink beer on a boat for cheap kicks. Groupon and Amazon have tons of coupons for it.

[TBN54]

Best advise you'll ever get right now.

Walk around the beach looking for a kid that looks like a Daniel.

After you spot the kid, go up to him with your phone recording and be like,

"DAMN DANIEL, BACK AT IT AGAIN WITH THE WHITE SANDALS."

Trust me, you'll enjoy this activity.

Last step, post the video on E90POST.

[Eliminator 429]

The Petersen auto museum is a most see for any car enthusiast!

[Darkfox2002]

La Brea Tar Pits and the Queen Marry are always places i've enjoyed too nice little short walking tour type places. Griffith Observatory is a nice one too if you're into that kind of thing.

[PoorLurker]

If you are open to Chinese food, check out Din Tai Fung. This is a pretty famous spot, but locals often eat there as well. Long lines, but the food is quality and pretty consistent.

If you are in Orange County and want to shop, go to South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa (near Newport) and then you can put in your name, shop around, and they will text you when your table is nearly ready.

Their soup dumplings, vegetables, drinks, pork chop rice, and other dishes are good.

If you make it to South Coast Plaza, Hamamori is pretty good for sushi. They are a bit on the pricier side as the sushi comes with one piece, however, the wagyu steak skillet is pretty delicious.

If you are in Orange County and are not germaphobes, http://www.pretendcity.org

[M3 Number 86]

Reality housewives spots - melrose.

[1MOREMOD]

Had crepe express this am on 5th possibly best thing I had all week.

[ASAP]

miami and surrounding areas are actually a lot like LA... the people are the only thing that's different

[doozyj]

Originally Posted by PoorLurker

If you are open to Chinese food, check out Din Tai Fung. This is a pretty famous spot, but locals often eat there as well. Long lines, but the food is quality and pretty consistent.

If you are in Orange County and want to shop, go to South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa (near Newport) and then you can put in your name, shop around, and they will text you when your table is nearly ready.

Their soup dumplings, vegetables, drinks, pork chop rice, and other dishes are good.

If you make it to South Coast Plaza, Hamamori is pretty good for sushi. They are a bit on the pricier side as the sushi comes with one piece, however, the wagyu steak skillet is pretty delicious.

If you are in Orange County and are not germaphobes, http://www.pretendcity.org

Seriously do Din Tai Fung.

[HFW003]

Originally Posted by doozyj

Seriously do Din Tai Fung.

I agree, I've been to a few of these over the world and they have the best dumplings!

They do a spicey noodle and dumpling dish as well which is simply gorgeous.

[jgoens]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

For vacation I'd go SF / Napa before L.A., so I'd say rent a car and drive North.

Yeah if you have the time and resources making it up North is worth it. LA has some cool places as mentioned, but it is really just a big sprawling city. I was born there and lived there on two other occasions...could not hack it compared to the beauty and charm of Norcal...though the bay area has gotten pretty congested. SF is really a cool city to check out, and the wine country(where I grew up) can really help you get away from it all.

[KingOfJericho]

Originally Posted by jgoens

Yeah if you have the time and resources making it up North is worth it. LA has some cool places as mentioned, but it is really just a big sprawling city. I was born there and lived there on two other occasions...could not hack it compared to the beauty and charm of Norcal...though the bay area has gotten pretty congested. SF is really a cool city to check out, and the wine country(where I grew up) can really help you get away from it all.

Read above. I've spent several weeks in SF/NorCal and loved it. Looking for something a little different.

[OptionlessM]

Santa Monica if you enjoy homeless people and urine soaked streets.

[OptionlessM]

Originally Posted by doozyj

Seriously do Din Tai Fung.

Just finished eating at their Shenzhen PRC location. Great recommendation for Taiwanese dumplings.

[jgoens]

Originally Posted by KingOfJericho

Read above. I've spent several weeks in SF/NorCal and loved it. Looking for something a little different.

Got it..missed it. Good luck in what you decide to do.