Anaheim next August

[wifeyhun]

Got a bargain trip booked today for two weeks next August staying in Anaheim.

This is our first time to the states and really excited.

What are the absolute must dos? We plan on doing the theme parks but we will also have a car so want to cram as much in as possible.

We did two parks Disney and Universal, Hollywood hills, walk of fame, tour around famous houses and the beach.

Look at the other thread on what to do in LA. Avoid the tacky stuff and do something worthwhile. Therefore surfing beaches, Malibu and Getty Villa, Paramount Studios, Museums, Mulholland Drive, Getty Centre, Pasadena and the Huntington Gallery and Gardens, Santa Barbara and Highway 1, Pacific Pallisades, Santa Monica and back country etc.

Thanks even though it is tacky my 15 year old really wants to go to Hollywood.

Thanks bubbles for the suggestions, will check the other thread out.

Also look at the various Lonely Planet guides on the area. Not sure what “Hollywood” actually is these days. There is the street (Hollywood Boulevard?) with the stars in it (many covered with chewing gum) but it’s not much of an attraction. There are some houses of the “stars’” in Bel Air but a 15 year old will not have heard of any of them. Most are from the 1920s through to the 1960s. Some are behind security and high hedges. They are some beautiful houses though! The views from Mulholland Drive and the canyons is better in my view. The Paramount studios tour gives some idea about how a film/tv studio works.

I would recommend a great little museum in the old Max Factor factory/showroom (if it is still open). It has fantastic film costumes in it and the old Art Deco makeup booths are still there. It is something far more tangible than chewing gum covered stars outside NcDonalds!