California traveling advice

[anarchy]

The missus and I just booked a trip out to California for two weeks in June. We'll be flying out to San Fran, staying with a buddy in San Jose, taking Megabus to LA, visiting a friend in San Diego, then flying from LAX back to Calgary.

We'll be staying in a hotel for the 5/6 nights we're in LA, which ones would you recommend? We're looking for an affordable one ($80-$120 range) that isn't a total shithole, but don't need anything luxury. Any advice on what a good location is cuz I have no idea?

What are some good places to visit? Eat?

We hear traffic in LA is pretty brutal, any good ways to get around (ie. public transit?)

Thanks!

[Xtrema]

[benyl]

Originally posted by anarchy

We hear traffic in LA is pretty brutal, any good ways to get around (ie. public transit?)

Have you ever ridden public transit in Calgary? LA is probably 10x worse. While there, I don't know that I have ever seen a bus. It is the land of freeways. You need a car if you want to get anywhere in a reasonable amount of time.

The saying goes, everything in LA is about an hour away.

[ExtraSlow]

Traffic in LA can be pretty intense. My wife and I were down there in February. We stayed out of the city centre, mostly around Anaheim and Riverside.
It may be busy on the roads at all times of the day and night, but it was pretty efficient. The drivers down there are aggressive and predictable, so it's not too bad once you change your mindset. You just have to get used to changing lanes into a small space at 80 mph.

All in all, I'd take LA drivers over Calgary any day.

I once took public transit from LAX to Santa Monica. That's a pretty rough area of town you go through, so I wouldn't take any fancy luggage with you.
If you are comfortable with poverty, then it should be no big deal.

[T78Supra1]

Calgary traffic is so much worse...

Lived in LA for 1.5years and LA the traffic is always moving. A car could be on fire and people don't slow down to watch.


Once you learn to drive there style of driving, you will like it allot better.

[dimi]

If you are driving, know where you are going before you get on your way. Find out which neighborhoods are safe to visit too. Coming home with my new car I took a wrong off ramp somewhere and ended up on some Cesar Chavez Blvd. I got lost and for a second I thought I was coming home without a car.

[Zephyr]

Originally posted by T78Supra1
Calgary traffic is so much worse...

Lived in LA for 1.5years and LA the traffic is always moving. A car could be on fire and people don't slow down to watch.


Once you learn to drive there style of driving, you will like it allot better.

You obviously never lived in LA. If a car was on fire, traffic would be a parking lot for the time it takes to put it out, then another hour of slow down because of drivers going "Omg like what totally happened?!" And then it takes officials hours to scratch their asses and go "I think we need a tow truck to clear this."

Public transit is cool, but that's if you are secure with riding with some weird folks. Bring a GPS device with you, side streets will be your best friend. Google maps with live traffic on your phone is a big help too.

Food, we have some stuff:
http://www.pinkshollywood.com/
http://www.sprinklescupcakes.com/
http://www.pinkberry.com/
http://www.yamashirorestaurant.com/
http://www.lawrysonline.com/
http://www.roscoeschickenandwaffles.com/
http://www.thelondonwesthollywood.com/gordon_ramsay/

Just some that comes to mind at the moment...

http://www.yelp.com best site to help you plan out what to do and what to eat in all of California.

Good luck!

[Jlude]

Originally posted by Zephyr



Just some that comes to mind at the moment...

http://www.yelp.com best site to help you plan out what to do and what to eat in all of California.

Good luck!

yelp.com is good.

don't worry about traffic, as others have said, know where you're going before you leave. You don't want to get caught taking a wrong turn into compton!! hahaha

and yes, the traffic is bad, it's always bad... the freeways are parking lots during rush hour or if there is ANY kind of incident on the road.

[bspot]

Car pool lanes FTW. You spend so much less time in traffic there using those.

As for wrong turns, last trip we hit up Compton and Inglewood.... no problems... mostly.... haha.

[anarchy]

Great info so far

What about hotels?
We probably going to stay in LA for two to three nights, and maybe a night in Anaheim. What location is good? Sunset Blvd? I hear some stretches of it are shady.

We'll check out that yelp.com site tonight.

Zephyr what are some must-see attractions or things to do?

We definitely want to visit Alcatraz, hit some some Laguna Beach, check out Chinatown and Fisherman's Wharf.

[ExtraSlow]

if you have a car, and don't mind a couple more minutes on the freeway, I can 100% recommend the Mission Inn in Riverside. It's a National Historic Monument, and it's beautiful. It's got a few different restaurants, and the food is pretty darned good.
http://www.missioninn.com/

[anarchy]

Originally posted by ExtraSlow
if you have a car, and don't mind a couple more minutes on the freeway, I can 100% recommend the Mission Inn in Riverside. It's a National Historic Monument, and it's beautiful. It's got a few different restaurants, and the food is pretty darned good.
http://www.missioninn.com/

Looks nice!

But definitely out of our budget. We really don't need anything fancy, just a place to sleep really. So long as it's not a complete craphole and it's in a good location, which is what I'm trying to figure out lol.

[Jlude]

Originally posted by anarchy
Great info so far

What about hotels?
We probably going to stay in LA for two to three nights, and maybe a night in Anaheim. What location is good? Sunset Blvd? I hear some stretches of it are shady.

We'll check out that yelp.com site tonight.

Zephyr what are some must-see attractions or things to do?

We definitely want to visit Alcatraz, hit some some Laguna Beach, check out Chinatown and Fisherman's Wharf.

Alcatraz is cool, go see the "Full House" house haha if you want.

Chinatown is cool, don't know what the mall is called, but it's massive.

San Fran is pretty easy to get around... just grab cabs. You definetly should see the wharf.

PS... wear a sweater when you're going to San Fran

[Jlude]

Originally posted by anarchy

Looks nice!

But definitely out of our budget. We really don't need anything fancy, just a place to sleep really. So long as it's not a complete craphole and it's in a good location, which is what I'm trying to figure out lol.

I'll rent you a room! hahaha j/k

[Zephyr]

Originally posted by ExtraSlow
if you have a car, and don't mind a couple more minutes on the freeway, I can 100% recommend the Mission Inn in Riverside. It's a National Historic Monument, and it's beautiful. It's got a few different restaurants, and the food is pretty darned good.
http://www.missioninn.com/

Riverside is stupid far from LA.... and add the two hour traffic...you might as well not do anything, and there's nothing to do in Riverside, hell there's not even a river! Well, you have an indian casino and outlet shopping complex...that's about it....and a lot of desert. Food over there is the same as everywhere else...

There's really nothing too shady...as long as you're not looking at someone the wrong way you should be fine. Movies over dramatize it.

Get a hotel in Anaheim near Disneyland, makes life easier. You're in the OC, close to the beach, decent travel to downtown LA. Plus Disneyland is the default place to take a woman....

[stunta666]

My wife's in L.A. now and she said the traffic's insane.

[Bimmer88]

Well don't think anyone mentioned this but...

Don't leave Canada w/o insurance

Basically that's it. If some freak accident happened or something happened "God Forbid" your going to be paying a nice fat bill.

Oh as for traffic in L.A.

HOV lane FTW!!!!

[anarchy]

Originally posted by Zephyr


Riverside is stupid far from LA.... and add the two hour traffic...you might as well not do anything, and there's nothing to do in Riverside, hell there's not even a river! Well, you have an indian casino and outlet shopping complex...that's about it....and a lot of desert. Food over there is the same as everywhere else...

There's really nothing too shady...as long as you're not looking at someone the wrong way you should be fine. Movies over dramatize it.

Get a hotel in Anaheim near Disneyland, makes life easier. You're in the OC, close to the beach, decent travel to downtown LA. Plus Disneyland is the default place to take a woman....

You're suggesting we stay in a hotel in Anaheim for the 5 days we're in that area?
Cuz we're going to Disneyland but just for one day and so we were planning to stay one night in Anaheim on our way to San Diego.

How far is the drive to Downtown LA from Anaheim? Our thoughts were to stay on Sunset Blvd for 5 nights and Anaheim for one.

Oh and as for insurance, do you mean travellers insurance? I think my platinum Visa covers that...I should look into it. But I think my work covers any injuries as well.

[CRXguy]

Originally posted by anarchy


You're suggesting we stay in a hotel in Anaheim for the 5 days we're in that area?
Cuz we're going to Disneyland but just for one day and so we were planning to stay one night in Anaheim on our way to San Diego.

How far is the drive to Downtown LA from Anaheim? Our thoughts were to stay on Sunset Blvd for 5 nights and Anaheim for one.

Oh and as for insurance, do you mean travellers insurance? I think my platinum Visa covers that...I should look into it. But I think my work covers any injuries as well.

Anaheim to L.A. is about 45mins to 1hr15mins, depending what time you leave. It looks far, but the speed you're able to drive down there cuts down time by quite a bit. I usually take the I-5N, merge onto the 101N and exit off Alameda Street. Chinatown is a just a few minutes away. There's a good noodle shop just on Ord Street. It's called Mien Nghia. There's a "mall" on Broadway and Alpine Street. It's called Dynasty, I think. If you have a GSM phone, you should go find a T-Mobile store and buy a pre-paid card. I bought one for $15 and it lasted me almost 2 weeks last summer.

[anarchy]

Originally posted by CRXguy


Anaheim to L.A. is about 45mins to 1hr15mins, depending what time you leave. It looks far, but the speed you're able to drive down there cuts down time by quite a bit. I usually take the I-5N, merge onto the 101N and exit off Alameda Street. Chinatown is a just a few minutes away. There's a good noodle shop just on Ord Street. It's called Mien Nghia. There's a "mall" on Broadway and Alpine Street. It's called Dynasty, I think. If you have a GSM phone, you should go find a T-Mobile store and buy a pre-paid card. I bought one for $15 and it lasted me almost 2 weeks last summer.

In order to do so, I'd have to unlock my Rogers Curve right? I'll have to find the program or whatever to do this.