malvic Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 Hi, thinking of taking a March Break trip to LA with the family. Any advice of a friendly family location to stay that is sort of central to everything. Hotels, places to go and not get ripped off in regards to $$? Thanks, MalVic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edkwon Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 Hi, thinking of taking a March Break trip to LA with the family. Any advice of a friendly family location to stay that is sort of central to everything. Hotels, places to go and not get ripped off in regards to $$? These broad generalized questions are not easy to answer unless you provide more info: 1. your age/your interests 2. your family? are you married and taking your wife and kids, are you a kid and going with your parents? 3. why LA? visiting friends? relatives? 4. what do you specifically want to do that requires going to LA vs another city? 5. by LA, do you mean downtown LA/Hollywood, or do you mean the greater LA area (LA county/Orange County/Riverside county, even as far north as Santa Barbara?) 6. how long do you intend to stay? 7. what kind of vacation budget are you talking about? its like walking into a car dealership and telling them you want to buy a car and not giving them ANY idea what you want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malvic Posted January 8, 2008 Author Share Posted January 8, 2008 Thanks Edkwon, 1. We are in our 40's with teenage kids 2. LA? Warmer then Canada?! Just a visit for somewhere to go. 3. LA/Hollywood (or greater LA area) I guess. I don't think there is much to do in a downtown core of LA? 4. Staying for a week. 5. Re budget, middle of the road to high. Don't want to break the bank, but don't want to stay somewhere cheap and unsafe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edkwon Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 Oh so if youre picking LA area as an arbitrary vacation spot and dont have friends to show you around: There are plenty of places to find a half decent hotel, but i'd recommend anything close to the beach/along the I 405 corridor (i prefer Santa Monica area myself since its close to Beverly Hills, Hollywood, downtown). Random touristy stuff: - the beaches (water too cold to swim in, and too cold in March by wussy southern californian standards, but probably ok by cold blooded canadian standards), Venice beach if you want to see the stereotypic cheese, can go all the way down to Laguna beach way south in OC if you want some better quality beaches and ppl, and then everything in between. - J Paul Getty Center museum (located on the 405 north of the UCLA area/Brentwood - home of murdered wife of OJ Simpson) - W Hollywood area - the usual touristy hollywood stuff - Beverly Hills - the usual touristy BH stuff - Downtown - catch a LA Dodgers game if you like baseball, Little Tokyo area if you like japanese food - West LA - Sawtelle Blvd if you like good japanese food - Koreantown (area located between downtown LA and west LA) if you want some of the best korean food in the area - San Gabriel Valley area - 20-30 min east of downtown LA (Arcadia, Alhambra, etc) if you like good chinese food - good Mexican food - pretty much everywhere, go to the little run down family run places for proper tacos, etc - Disneyland (way south in Anaheim) - Six Flags Magic Mtn (about 30 min north in Valencia area) if you like rollercoasters, etc thats broad suggestions off the top of my head. keep in mind, the LA area is a broad, decentralized metropolis with no really good, tourist friendly urban center, very unfriendly for walking, unlike cities like SF or NYC. public transportation is next to useless so you'll have to drive everywhere, and be prepared to drive a lot and be stuck in traffic a LOT, esp since youre from out of town and will have no idea which traffic flows to avoid at any given time of day. oh and natives driving here are pretty aggressive and maniacal and will not be generous about letting you change lanes, something else to keep in mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CobaltForge Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 Ed makes some really great points. Malvic, I would recommend asking your wife and kids what they want to see while they're here in Southern California. There are of course, the standard theme parks already mentioned: Disneyland and California Adventure Six Flags Magic Mountain There's also: Universal Studios Knotts Berry Farm Sea World (a bit farther in San Diego) Legoland - I wouldn't recommend this for teens, it's more tailored for younger children Like Ed also said, traffic and our convoluted freeway system can confuse many. I would definitely recommend renting a car, and one with Navigation preferably. I believe Hertz offers vehicles with Garmin (not sure) Navigation which will DEFINITELY help you get around. Also, doing a bit of homework beforehand won't hurt either. See if you can find some freeway maps and/or attraction maps to purchase. I would say AAA, but I'm not sure they exist in Canada. But in any case, looking at Maps beforehand will really help you plan some of your trips. You can also post any driving related (what freeways to take, etc.) questions here and I'm sure we can help you. Also, if you and your family are food-oriented people, before coming out here, I would recommend that you check out http://www.foodnetwork.com for some great restaurant recommendations, or use what I use, at http://www.yelp.com for some reviews and recommendations of local restaurants. Let us know if you have any other questions. A well-planned trip can really help you maximize your experience here in Los Angeles! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malvic Posted January 8, 2008 Author Share Posted January 8, 2008 Thanks guys for the info. We do have CAA = AAA here in Canada. We normally do our homework before going somewhere, hence this post. Will get some maps from CAA and I've just purchased a nuvi 370. So cannot wait to try it out. You've given some a lot of info, so we will review and if there are any questions I will be updating this thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bitter-bert Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 http://www.label360.com/ProductImages/Main/DetailsLargeThumbs/danladontluvu.jpg bahaha, just messin'. Either way. - As far as sites to check out, there's also the LB aquarium, in well, Long Beach. - a drive down the PCH - the San Diego Wild Animal Park (a bit of a drive) - Little Tokyo in LA - our fabulously crappy freeway system If you're going right now though, it's a little bit of hit and miss with the weather. If you're coming in Spring it should be decent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edkwon Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 I was speaking with a friend, San Diego and San Francisco are much more family tourist-friendly cities, mainly because they're more centralized, and the people are friendlier in general. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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