Planning on going to Cali for the summer with the Bro and a friend, were thinking of staying in the Hollywood area but this is our first time being out there. Any advice, tips you guys can give me would be great.! do's and don'ts also maybe some websites for the best deals if you guys know any. Thanks
Come down to San Diego and be sure to do some water sports!! Try jet skis or speed boating in the SD harbor. It's great fun! awesome views and scenery and its something you normally won't be able to do. Groupon has a mini speedboat tour on for cheap right now for san diego. Check it out.
Walk up and down the beach sidewalks on Venice Beach. Your life will never seem abnormal ever again. Not kidding. Had a lot of fun doing this. Really interesting people "floating" around that area.
Tell me what your interests are, and I can make some recommendations. Hollywood can be sketchy but there are some nice hotels there. Nightlife, even if you are just watching in Hollywood is interesting. Are you driving, renting a car, no car? Parking in and around Hollywood can be difficult. But if you leave the car at the hotel, or are willing to use a valet most places you go, you'll be fine. There are a ton great restaurants in Los Angeles. If you are into comedy let me know what nights you are open to seeing some, and I can recommend what to see, and the best way to do that as well. There's a ton of great outdoors stuff. There are beaches, hiking, parks, one place that has an old west town used in television and movies that's pretty cool, and really uncrowded. It's also free. There's great music venues too. It just depends on what you want to do and what kind of experience you are looking for.
Do tell. Seems we usually end up spending most of our time in Santa Monica/Venice. And at least a day at the Science Museum complex, which is also free and simply awesome. Been hiking in Topanga Canyon too. Too much to do in LA alone. Def not a ****hole. Unless you want it to be. And you may want to avoid the winter. There are reports of a 'superstorm' coming.
Take the time to drive down Highway 1. Since you'll be in LA take 2 or 3 days and go up Highway 1 to San Francisco. Sure you can do it in a day, but it is worth taking the extra time. It is a really cool drive with a lot of neat places to stop along the way.
It's just off the 101 Freeway headed towards Malibu. It's called the Paramount Ranch. There are some cool hiking trails there, but there's better hiking nearby. But the hiking isn't that bad considering it's almost vacant. The western town was used in the HBO series Carnivale a ways back. Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman also filmed there. A ton of old 50's westerns like Gunsmoke, Maverick, and Paladin used some of the scenery there but not necessarily the town. I see the town a lot on Discovery, History channel stuff when they are recreating things. Anyway it's cool to walk around the old west town, then go for a hike and see scenery that all looks like it came out of an old western. It's not a monumental thing worth going to LA just for that, but it's a fun part of a day. You could then go on more hikes elsewhere, or head on to Malibu to the beach, or go Paradise Cove for some decent seafood. A side story... I once saw some parents and about 20 little eight year olds having a birthday party there. The kids all had cowboy hats on, those little stick horses and the parents were were dividing them up into sheriffs and outlaws and having them play some kind of capture the flag game or something. It looked fun. Anyway people are hardly ever there, especially during the week. It's neat but not amazing blow your socks off type sight seeing if you have any interest in that kind of thing.
your are not too specific about what you want. The prettiest place in all of CA is yosemite valley. Tahoe area is nice. Skiiing is pretty nice at squaw valley. The nicest city in CA is San Francisco. I recommend staying at the Francis Drake on Union Square or perhaps look at something in the touristy embarcadero. Hotwire is really actually pretty good but you don't choose the hotel. They put me in the Francis Drake one time and it was cheap. You will probably use taxis and wouldn't hurt to rent a car to explore a little. Go to haight ashbury and then down past the mcdonalds into the golden gate park where the hill and the bongo drums are.good times. I recommend a sunday and hopefully sunny. It will be safer and more fun to see the crazies than anything run down venice beach gives you. Golden gate bridge is impressive and the area on hyde street where the cable cars are is quaint. If you have the opportunity to drive down from San Francisco to Big Sur I would do that.Monterey and Big Sur are very impressive coastal scenery. From Big Sur south head inland and haul ass to LA. Once in LA I would stay in West Hollywood or Santa Monica probably. The Santa monica pier and 3rd street promenade are a yawner but some the tv studio stuff is fun.Hollywood and Vine is whatever and bring your switchblade. Friend of mine went and saw price is right. That kind of thing. South of that is me in San Diego. You can come down here but it's more of the same here in SD. We have Seaworld and the zoo. I'm in Pacific Beach and it's a nice beach laid back area. If you want to see volleyball and beach cruisers come here. As for SD itself it's whatever. great weather so if you are stuck in texas in the heat SD is the best for getting away. The air craft carrier here in SD is pretty neat. The downtown area with the stadium is nice enough and there are a few good night spots. California girls are pretty stuck up so if you are striking out you can head to tijuana (TJ) tell the taxi driver you want to go to 'adelitas' do not go anywhere else in TJ but that area where adelitas is. Some other highlights would be chicago bar, hong kong (awesome whipped cream show)
We will be staying four about three days or so and then we are driving across to Las Vegas. We are all fairly young (24, 25) so partying and nightlife would be #1 on our list. I really want to enjoy a nice day or two at the beach also. I went to Miami last summer so im pretty sure the bar is set high when it comes to beaches for me. Also plan on going to Magic mountain? (friend wants to go there bad). Its only three days so the majority of the big bucks for hotel and leisure would be spent in Las Vegas.
