Areas to avoid???

[spendleb]

Hi all, I'm from the UK and will be over in CA (Newport Beach and San Diego) in May 2005, hope it's not a silly question but what areas do we need to avoid in the LA/SD areas, not so much at night time as we have a 2 year old and will be back at the hotel before it's pitch black but just in general? Also is it easy to avoid them or do you need to go through them to reach tourist type places? Heard of places like South Central but is that a district, can't see it on a map?

Cheers,
Simon

PS Are parking charges at hotels normal out there? Getting charged $10 a day to park at the Hyatt and never experienced this before in the UK or Orlando?

 

[lap3]

It's not a silly question at all. I don't know about San Diego but you definitely want to avoid South Central during the day or night. East LA is another location I would avoid. If you're flying into LAX and heading to Newport Beach, you won't even see these places. Newport Beach and San Diego will be just fine. These are beautiful beach communities that are worlds away from the crime found within the city of LA. As for parking, not all hotels charge for parking. It really varies from hotel to hotel. I hope you have a great time while visiting here...

 

[spendleb]

Thanks for that, we are getting the Super Shuttle (I think) from the airport to Newport Beach and will only venture into LA to visit Universal Studios/Magic Mountain and to hopefully if we get confident with the driving, the whole Hollywood/Rodeo Drive scene, presumably if we want to visit Santa Monica, San Pedro etc we can just drive down the Highway 1?

 

[lap3]

Driviing around LA isn't too bad. It's just the traffic can be tough to deal with. If possible, do your driving in the morning and evening to avoid the "rush hour" traffic. It'll help you keep your sanity. BTW, if you do drive, avoid the 405/101 freeway interchange. It is widely known as the world's worst area for traffic. If you're heading to Universal Studios, you'll probably be on the 101 Freeway. Magic Mountain is off the 5 freeway. Both are easily accessible. The drive on PCH(Pacific Coast Highway) is really nice. This is the stretch from Santa Monica, through Malibu, past Zuma Beach, heading into Oxnard, if you'll go that far. Let me know if you would like other suggestions...

 

[spendleb]

That's brilliant, any tips, must sees etc would be highly appreciated, there just seems so much to see and we only have 9 days at Newport Beach!

 

[lap3]

Well, if it's your first or only trip to Southern California for a while, you have to try a hamburger from www.in-n-out.com. Also, if you're really feeling adventurous, a chili burger from www.originaltommys.com might be worth it. Since we're close to Mexico, there are many authentic mexican restaurants to try that are very good. Ask your concierge at the hotel you're staying at for suggestions for any "hole-in-the-wall" locations. That's enough about food...for now! Since you have a 2-year old, Long Beach is really nice as they have the Queen Mary and the Aquarium of the Pacific. This is about a 30 minute drive up the freeway from Newport Beach. At Universal Studios, there's City Walk to shop, dine, and stargaze. Not too many stars go there but we've seen a few. On the topic of stargazing, I've been told that a few of them hang out at the Farmer's Market on 3rd and Fairfax. This is where The Grove is located as well. Again, plenty of places to dine and shop. Rodeo is something else worth looking into just to see the shops, cars, and how the rich people live!

There are many other things to do but I just can't remember them all. Let me know how this sounds to you...

 

[spendleb]

Sounds brilliant, heard about the Grove and Farmers Market, are they easy to find/park at? Also adore Mexican Food although our 2 year old has other ideas! As long as there is Pizza he is happy!!

 

[lap3]

Unfortunately, I don't know of any really good pizza places since pizza is all good to me, no matter where it comes from.

Getting to the Grove is fairly easy. Parking shouldn't be too bad either. If you plan ahead, you can also view tapings of some of the tv shows at the NBC studios nearby. I can get you this info, if interested. Also, the whole stretch from Redondo/Hermosa/Manhattan Beach is something else to consider...

 

[spendleb]

Brilliant, thanks for all this! I did try to get some info from the LA Tourist Board but their link to send me a brochure is not working!

 

[lap3]

We're getting off topic with this discussion on things to do in LA so if you need other suggestions, you can PM on these boards. Good luck to you and I hope you have a good time here in LA!

 

[ksjayhawks]

There is also a harbor cruise in Long Beach by the aquarium. You can get a combo ticket for Queen Mary and aquarium and I believe they have a shuttle that takes you between the two.

If you go to Hollywood, there is a parking lot right by the Chinese theatre that is $5 per day. At the theatre you can see the stars footprints and etc. There is also a kiosk and you can get a lot of different tours--we did Hollywood trolley and a movie stars home tour. Enjoyed them both. We ate at Mel's Diner on Sunset for our evening meal.

You can also tour the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove.

The beaches and towns along 1 are fun. We ate at Ruby's on the pier in Seal Beach.

I agree about the driving. We tried to do morning and after "rush" hour and didn't have too many problems. If your rental car has a GPS that will help tremendously. Most of the exits are well marked. A lot of the attraction websites have good directions. And follow our rule, if you miss your exit, go to the next, turn around and come back!

 

[lap3]

If your rental car has a GPS that will help tremendously. Most of the exits are well marked. A lot of the attraction websites have good directions. And follow our rule, if you miss your exit, go to the next, turn around and come back!

[/B]

Good point! If you rent a car through Hertz, they have the NeverLost navigation system. I use this on business trips and it is extremely useful!

 

[Alison Wonderland]

I am not from California but regarding your question about which areas to avoid---I remember when I was riding with my friends from the Orange Country area into Los Angeles to Universal Studios, when you get to LA they told me you have to be very careful about which exits you take off the freeway. THey said take the wrong exit and you could find yourself in big trouble. So just be sure of where you are going when you drive into LA.

 

[overwhelmed]

We love Seal Beach. Love the quiant main street. There is a $2 water taxi you can take from Seal Beach to the Queen Mary/LB Aquarium, we loved that...

For seeing "sites" in LA, I recommend tours rather than driving, everything is spread out, and it saves the stress of getting lost.


Some neighborhoos are better than others of course, but creepy people travel into nice areas as well. By all means, always lock your car doors, every time, no matter if you are in Redondo or Rodeo. Never leave your car unlocked anywhere in Southern CA. Lived here forever, and I've only been robbed when I have left my car unlocked.

Better safe than sorry.
Dont stress, you will have a great time!!

 

[danacath]

DH and I will be renting a convertible and heading up the Pacific Coast Highway from SNA to Huntington Beach, making several stops along the way to check out different beach areas. Obviously, we'll keep everything locked in the trunk, but I'm a little unsure as to whether it's safe to keep the top down. Do we need to put the top up every time we stop to avoid theft of the car?

 

[almostGoofy]

Originally posted by lap3
The drive on PCH(Pacific Coast Highway) is really nice. This is the stretch from Santa Monica, through Malibu, past Zuma Beach, heading into Oxnard, if you'll go that far. Let me know if you would like other suggestions...

The drive lap3 is describing is north of Santa Monica. If you are going south along PCH into Orange County, which is where Newport Beach is, not all of PCH is coastal and it will take you a REALLY LONG TIME! Lots of traffic lights and traffic during parts of the drive and certain parts of the day.

As for the Farmers Market/Grove: I use to live near there and that whole area is very difficult with parking. It's a very densly populated area and traffic in that area can be very congested at times. Now, I moved before the Grove opened so if the parking structure there is big enough, you might not have a problem parking. The stars you might see at Farmers market will primarily be American television stars. CBS studios, one of the major networks here, is very close by.

To danacath: my husband just recently sold his convertible. He would leave the top down, car empty, but windows up to make it harder to reach over to unlock the car when he'd take it out. What I don't remember is if he also used "The Club" on the steering wheel too, although he never locked "The Club" if he did use it. If he were parking for a great length of time, especially at night, he'd bring the top up. At night, dew will settle all over the interior so if you don't want wet seats, I'd bring the top up if you're not returning until sometime well after the sun sets. It would be prudent to keep the top up for overnight parking.

 

[danacath]

almostgoofy, thanks for the reply. I hadn't thought about the dew/wet seats issue, so I'm glad you clued me in on it. Regarding the drive on PCH, will the stretch from Newport Beach north to Huntington take me a "REALLY, LONG TIME" to drive? Any kind of a time estimate? I just want to be sure I'm being realistic in what DH and I are trying to see/do for that afternoon and evening.

TIA