Driving around L.A. from Anaheim and public transport question

[m-tinkerbelle]

hi!!!
We might rent a car to go to L.A., Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Santa Monica. I was researching how to drive there, since we're from Spain. So I was taking a look at how to know where it's allowed to park and this is what I got:

You can't park where the side of the street is painted red or blue. You can park for a limited time if the side of the street is painted green (how long is that?). You can't park where there's yellow/white paint.

So... where CAN I park apart from public parking lots and private parkings?

how do I make a distinction? here it's completely different

Also I'd like to know where should I go to get a good view of the Hollywood sign (and have a pic taken of course). I was told that there's an observatory at the Hollywood and Highland shopping center, but I went to their website and I can't find anything about that. Any ideas?

Oh and I almost forgot. If we decide not to rent a car we would have to go to LA/Universal Studios using public transportation to/from Anaheim. Is it true that public transportation in LA can be unsafe? How late should we return to Anaheim to stay on the "safe side"?

I was thinking (as a last resort in case we can't rent) of going to LA using the Pacific Liner from Fulterton and the Metro Red Line from Union Station to visit the Financial district, Hollywood Boulevard, Beverly Hills (we're just interested in visiting Rodeo Drive and stroll around a bit), and maybe even getting to Santa Monica Pier and Promenade. Is it doable in one day to return safe to Anaheim?

In a different day we would go to Universal Studios.
Both days we would get up really early. For what I read in the transportation sites it would be a 2 hour and a half trip back and forth, right?

thanks a lot! we're leaving on Monday and i'm doing a bit of "last minute" planning, which is driving me crazy. plus, we're scared of driving in a different country but I hear the public transportation is SO terribly bad and unsafe... I don't know how much truth there's in that statement.

PS: I read my own message and I realise it contains too many questions, but I don't want to start multiple threads and drive the moderators crazy , I'm sorry really!

 

[sonnyjane]

I can't help you with everything, but I'll help a little.

As far as parking on the street (parallel parking), you have it correct. Basically you can't park anywhere that the curb is painted a color, with the exception of green. If it's painted green, it is for a limited time only, but the time will vary, and signs will indicate how long (typically 10 minutes, 15 minutes, or 30 minutes). Also, you'll typically find meters on the streets and you'll have to pay to there.

For the most part, if you go to Hollywood & Highland, you're just going to want to park in their parking garage. That's the best place to park to see the Kodak Theater and the Walk of Fame. Also, it's not really an "observatory", it's just a "lookout point" where a lot of people take their pictures with the sign in the background. It's right next to the California Pizza Kitchen upstairs.

 

[Lisa71]

There is almost no street parking in LA and what their is does not qualify as safe or reliable most of the time...use a garage as the previous poster suggested and that is the best spot for the "sign". I also recommend finding a good tour company as their are some great reasonable tours of the sights of LA.

 

[m-tinkerbelle]

Thank you all!

In the spanish travel boards everyone says "it's so easy to drive around LA! it's the only way to visit the city! if you don't have a car you're DOOMED!" so we got scared and went to get our international drivers' license just in case

We would like to hire a car to have more freedom. As everyone says, Hollywood won't take a large part of the morning but we do want to go to Rodeo Drive, window shop and I don't know, maybe visit a couple of more touristic places in the area. taking a look at the skyscrapers in the Financial District, and we also want to go to the Santa Monica Pier and promenade... and we don't want to be rushed to say the truth.

But, if you think it's better to hire a tour then we would... but, the problem is that DH doesn't understand much English, so I don't want him to pay just to not understand the tour guide's speech.

And, we spoke to Grayline Anaheim and Starline Tours... and the problem I encounter with them is that they offer no multilingual tours from Anaheim... and Grayline's LA tour doesn't include a stop in Rodeo Drive. Starline seems to stop there but they never promise anything they said in an e-mail.

Also, I read so many bad reviews about Starline that I think we would only consider Grayline. Has anyone taken a Starline tour from Anaheim? They said they opened a new office in the Jolly Roger hotel, just next door to Anabella Hotel where we'll be staying. So it would be a nice choice but if it's a lame company or if the tours are really bad then we don't want to waste our money.

We would also rent the car to go to Universal, but I guess we won't be able to do LA+Santa Monica+Universal in the same day.

What do you think? should we rent? should we use public transportation (I'm still worried, is it THAT bad and unsafe?) should we hire a tour even if it's through Starline Tours? should we go to LA using public transportation and then use a hop on/off bus?

Thank you both for the parking explanation and the tips I appreciate them a lot