LA plus where? California in October ideas please!

[WhatWouldTheDoctorDo]

DC really want to go to LA, mostly for Disney etc. (we've been to Florida). Originally, before covid hit, we'd planned to fly into SF, visit Yosemite, drive down the coast stopping at a few places, few days in LA.

We can go next year, but exams etc. now mean we are restricted to the summer when it will be crazy hot, or October when we're restricted to around 10 days.

Would be grateful for any suggestions! I've got a notion to spend some time in LA, maybe some time in San Diego, and save SF, Yosemite, Big Sur etc. for a time when we're not restricted to school holidays! Any other suggestions for a trip based around LA & San Diego?

Would anyone who's stayed in the LA area have suggestions about good areas to base yourself? Santa Monica? Downtown? Huntingdon Beach? Was going to move to Anaheim for the Disney leg of the holiday but didn't plan to stay there all the time. Thanks! (Shamelessly hijacking OP's thread).

We stayed at Marina Del Rey.

And you liked it?
looks lovely in pictures

Honestly? I wouldn't set foot in LA for a single moment. It's not as glamorous as you think it is. It's incredibly dangerous (like Bradford or Leeds but 1000x worse), it's filthy and shockingly run down. I was appalled.
I would look to visit other parts of California or surrounding states.

Yikes.
We're already booked to LAX and it's ds' dream, so kind of stuck.

Lake June is really lovely I concur!!

🙄 it’s not incredibly dangerous - no more (arguably less so) than any other major city and there are many lovely parts of it - just like any other city

OP you should prepare yourself for a lot more homelessness - this is the case anyway in America and has always been bad in San Francisco, but covid did a number on it and you do see a LOT more homeless people than in the U.K. and it’s the same in D.C. and NOLA and Chicago and NYC etc

We are flying to SF In July and taking in Lake Tahoe, Santa Cruz, Monetary, San Jose and possibly LA to visit the Nintendo land at universal but keeping that a secret. Very excited

Yes - great location and we walked up from there up from there to Venice Beach and Santa Monica pier.

Too many “up from theres” in that sentence 🙄

LA is absolutely massive, and the lack of decent public transport makes it a pain to get around in comparison to every other city I have visited. We stayed towards West Hollywood and it was nice there, but my major advice would be to research what you will be doing in LA and stay conveniently located to that. Just don't underestimate how vast it is!

Thank you, @WarningToTheCurious and @SummaLuvin
Sounds like probably better to move hotels than to stay in one spot and do lots of driving to see LA!

Agree that LA is hard work, mostly feels like a giant parking lot the traffic is so bad. We stayed in an air bnb in Silverlake which was fairly convenient but once you are out you are out for the day, there’s no popping back for a break as it just takes too much time and effort to get anywhere. IIRC we were well located for baseball and the Griffith Obervatory, but everything else took an age to get to. Worth it for Venice Beach/Santa Monica. Not for Chinese Theatre/star walk (IMO)

Thanks @Citygirlrurallife I've been reading that's the case, and have heard similar from friends in NYC. It's so sad, isn't it?

We're not planning too much time in the cities, I've taken a note of your and others recs for LA earlier in the thread. We want to do Universal, DS wants to visit the funko store, and we'll see what else we really want to visit and stay somewhere convenient, before shifting to Anaheim to do one or two days at Disney. Out of interest, if we ditched our car at Santa Barbara after driving down PCH and got the train to LA instead of driving down as far as Santa Monica, do you think we'll regret it missing that part of the coast line?

Sounds great! If you remember, please come back and let me know how it goes!

Out of interest, if we ditched our car at Santa Barbara after driving down PCH and got the train to LA instead of driving down as far as Santa Monica, do you think we'll regret it missing that part of the coast line?

in my opinion, no, it's nice enough, but far from the most spectacular parts of the drive. Just consider how much you may miss having a car in LA, we didn't and feel it would have been better to have one.

This. You’ll want a car in LA

Unless a LA team makes it to the playoffs or the World Series, you'll see no baseball in October in LA. And your chances of scoring a ticket if they do are slim to none.

I knew that would lead to 'you'll need a car' responses 

I am looking into it, but we would prefer not to drive in L.A. if we don't have to. We're mostly going for the parks and we'll spend a night near each one (I know they're far apart, but Uber-able?)

What did you miss about not having one @SummaLuvin ? What kind of things did you do when you were there?

Lots of good recomendations for you! Our most unexpected and best experience was in Wi Spa! I kid you not.

It is a Korean family spa. There are three or four floors. Men one go in side and women the other. You spend time in the various pools - hot, warm, freezing. You can get scrubed down if you want. When you are nice and clean you dress in shorts and t-shirt (supplied) & go up to the family room. There the foor is heated, lights are muted. It is BIG. You get some mats, find a area for the family and rest, play chess, go into the various rooms - like Jade, or Ice, or Salt. Just wander in and out.

There is a resturant with really tasty food. Very reasonable price.

It was truly an experience I will never forget. We all came out so relaxed and revived.

😃

You need a car in LA.

People say it because it is true. A pain in the behaind but true.

Unless you arrange a driver with a car.

Agree with the recommendation of Lassen Volcanic Park. It's amazing.

Thanks @mathanxiety DH is a big baseball fan, so we're familiar with the season. Despite originating as a thread about a visit in October, I've now moved on to some chat about a slightly different summer trip!Hoping we'll time it right for a baseball match somewhere, DH would like to visit the stadium in SF.

Sorry to be so predictable!

I will say that we didn't have a car and we were fine! We did everything we wanted. I had just underestimated the vastness and how poor their public transport is, but you probably know what you are getting into! We had a crazy heatwave of literally 43C, not expected at the end of September, so we were unable to walk to some places we intended to as even 25 minutes walking outside in that was almost unbearable (for us) and we didn't want to get to places sweaty messes. LA is particularly 'pretty' to walk around, and you will be more face-to-face with the homelessness problem in doing so, though we never felt threatened. We just spent a lot more $$$$ on Ubers than we would have wanted, but providing you are aware and budget for it then I don't see why it would be an issue. We just felt for the money we were spending and convenience that perhaps a car would have been advantageous. Like I said, we did take Ubers far more than planned due to the heat, so perhaps I would feel different if the weather was as it normally is that time of year.

If you are doing LA largely for the parks then I can't really comment as we did different things (no children): Santa Monica Pier, Beaches, Marina Del Ray, Hollywood Hills Hike, Museums, Shopping....