On my whistle stop tour of The States my first stop was L.A. Originally intending to hang around in the airport for a few hours on my way from Central America to Hong Kong, I changed my flights and had two weeks to see as much as I could.
The States is definitely set up for tourists and is mega expensive but I'm so glad I went. I couch surfed to keep my costs down and get the insider tips on what and where to go. Here's what I did with my three days in L.A, bear in mind I'm a slow person! If you have less time you could easily cram more in.
The States is definitely set up for tourists and is mega expensive but I'm so glad I went. I couch surfed to keep my costs down and get the insider tips on what and where to go. Here's what I did with my three days in L.A, bear in mind I'm a slow person! If you have less time you could easily cram more in.
Day 1: Santa Monica and Venice Beach.
I was overlapping with a couple of couch surfers who had hired a car and were spending their last day on the beach so they kindly took me along. One thing to note, L.A is a bitch to get around! The public transport is pretty good (I got the bus back to Hollywood painlessly) but you have to factor this in to your timings.
Venice beach is a very bohemian hang out, full of beautiful people and a truck load if weirdos too it's an interesting place to spend a few hours. I walked from Santa Monica pier down to Venice and then got a bus back. Shopping, coffee shops, skaters and hippies, it's pretty cool. In my 6month old backpacker attire, I felt pretty out of place!
I never made it but The Getty Museum would be a good additional activity to add to this day as its pretty close (for L.A!)
I was overlapping with a couple of couch surfers who had hired a car and were spending their last day on the beach so they kindly took me along. One thing to note, L.A is a bitch to get around! The public transport is pretty good (I got the bus back to Hollywood painlessly) but you have to factor this in to your timings.
Venice beach is a very bohemian hang out, full of beautiful people and a truck load if weirdos too it's an interesting place to spend a few hours. I walked from Santa Monica pier down to Venice and then got a bus back. Shopping, coffee shops, skaters and hippies, it's pretty cool. In my 6month old backpacker attire, I felt pretty out of place!
I never made it but The Getty Museum would be a good additional activity to add to this day as its pretty close (for L.A!)
Day 2: Celebrity Homes Hollywood Tour and Griffiths Observatory.
You can buy tickets for Celebrity Homes tours everywhere, haggle with them, they'll probably go as low as half price. I had an amazing time on this trip. Quintessentially American and touristy we drove past dozens of Hollywood homes and famous watering holes. Our driver had fun stories and tales to tell such as where he last saw Jennifer Aniston eating lunch and 'there's the palm tree Lindsay Lohan smashed into when she got her DUI.' Brilliant! The pictures below show the house 'The Osbournes' was filmed in and the balcony behind which MJ passed away!
You can buy tickets for Celebrity Homes tours everywhere, haggle with them, they'll probably go as low as half price. I had an amazing time on this trip. Quintessentially American and touristy we drove past dozens of Hollywood homes and famous watering holes. Our driver had fun stories and tales to tell such as where he last saw Jennifer Aniston eating lunch and 'there's the palm tree Lindsay Lohan smashed into when she got her DUI.' Brilliant! The pictures below show the house 'The Osbournes' was filmed in and the balcony behind which MJ passed away!
Also on the tour we saw the Kardashian's shop Dash, along with other celebrity shops and stores, such as Kat Von Dee's tattoo shop, and I asked to be dropped at the walk of fame to compare my feet with Will Smiths. Along this strip is also where you'll find touts giving out free tickets for shows. I was looking for Jay Leno but instead bagged free tickets to see The Late Late Show for the next day where Keanu Reeves was a guest!
After a long day celeb spotting I met up with some more couchsurfing acquaintances and we went to the Griffiths Observatory. It's free to enter and you get fabulous views of the city at night. A great place to reflect and be thankful!
Day 3: Warner Brother's Studio Tour.
I umm'd and aah'd over Warner Brother's or Universal for my third day. By all accounts Universal is a big old theme park and a lot more expensive whereas Warner Brother's is more for the film fans, giving you back stage access to the film and TV sets you remember from childhood. On my tour I learnt how the same sets are used over and over and saw loads if stuff I remembered from TV and screen, such as the shop where Gizmo was bought in The Gremlins, the emergency fire escape where Spider-Man's 'upside down kiss' took place, and loads of stuff from 'Friends' like the park Phoebe runs in (my friends say I run exactly like her so this was exciting) and the alley way where Monica and Rachel argue over who should date Jean Claude Van Dam. We saw TV shows being filmed and I stood in Central Perk! There were also great tales and stories about glamorous past movie stars and their demands and little things kept me chuckling like seeing Ellen's parking space! For the boys there's a warehouse full of cars from Batman to Gran Torino.
I umm'd and aah'd over Warner Brother's or Universal for my third day. By all accounts Universal is a big old theme park and a lot more expensive whereas Warner Brother's is more for the film fans, giving you back stage access to the film and TV sets you remember from childhood. On my tour I learnt how the same sets are used over and over and saw loads if stuff I remembered from TV and screen, such as the shop where Gizmo was bought in The Gremlins, the emergency fire escape where Spider-Man's 'upside down kiss' took place, and loads of stuff from 'Friends' like the park Phoebe runs in (my friends say I run exactly like her so this was exciting) and the alley way where Monica and Rachel argue over who should date Jean Claude Van Dam. We saw TV shows being filmed and I stood in Central Perk! There were also great tales and stories about glamorous past movie stars and their demands and little things kept me chuckling like seeing Ellen's parking space! For the boys there's a warehouse full of cars from Batman to Gran Torino.
Other things I did in L.A included walking up and down Hollywood Boulevard, eating lots of amazing food and eavesdropping to ridiculous conversations in the foots of the Hollywood hills. "I mean I know I'm nearly 30 but I could definitely play a 12 year old." A budding actress speaking to her soon to be agent.
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