Los Angeles alone with no car?

[ilyana]

Would LA be a rubbish holiday for a single woman who doesn't drive? I've always wanted to go and do the Hollywood stuff, tacky tours of celebrity houses, and just spend some time relaxing and being somewhere new, but I've always been put off by not being able to drive and hearing that the public transport there is either non existent or dangerous. The transport issue is why I've been back to NYC many times and still never been to LA.

Has anyone been, and how did you find it?

Take train from LA to SD.
SD is much nicer than SF imho.

Friends have told me it's very, very dangerous, homeless everywhere, and incredibly expensive.

I'm not a massive fan of tours...I like doing my own thing. I'm happy to do day trips as a tour, but not like, days on end with the same people!

Oh, what a shame. From my basic, quick Google Maps research, it actually looks like the bus is faster most of the time anyway?

Yeah, late October/November is when I'm considering. I don't mind up to 30C or so, but hotter than that is a bit much for me.

We didn’t think San Diego was that great. Felt touristy. LA has some amazing things to see! By having a car! Avoiding tacky and touristy is the key. All cities are full
of people you would rather not see!!! No avoiding them. Definitely no avoiding on local transport or in the streets.

I've only just realised the Pacific Surfliner is a train...I assumed it was a bus....d'oh! It looks like a lovely coastal route? $55 for business class is a great price!

I'm definitely much more interested now...I think I do want to visit LA anyway, but SD has always been of interest to me, so combining them would be great. Can I ask what you did there?

Where would you say is nicer? I love NYC but go all the time. Also liked Miami and Boston but probably wouldn't go back.

You can get the hop on, hop off tourist bus that covers Hollywood, Sunset Blvd, Beverley Hills/Rodeo Drive, Venice Beach and Santa Monica, as well as downtown LA and Universal Studios. It costs about £40 for a day ticket but if you buy a multi day ticket the per day cost comes down significantly.

Celeb tour is good and costs about £35 for a 2 hr trip, leaving from Hollywood Blvd.

I stayed in Pasedena (about an hour from Hollywood) and caught the above-ground metro for less than $2. I also caught the red line (Hollywood) underground but not sure I’d want to do it as a single female traveller.

We caught an Uber from Santa Monica to Pasedena one evening. It cost $50 and took an hour.

I wouldn’t hesitate to visit LA as a single female traveller. It’s fab x

I love Vegas. Have also been to Boston, Chicago and San Fran. I enjoyed San Fran but have heard it’s pretty rough since Covid.

I love LA. But yeah, it’s hard without a car. I think your best bet would be to stay a couple of nights in Venice and hang locally, see Santa Monica, Abbot Kinney etc. Then Uber over to Hollywood and take a day tour or two from there to see the main sights in between all things Hollywood.

I went to LA a few years ago with my teenage son and discovered Uber. We went everywhere by Uber and wouldn't hesitate doing the same if I was there on my own.

Sorry also used the hop on hop off bus which has loads of routes throughout LA along with audio to give you a guided tour.

I went with a friend a few years ago and had a great time without a car. We stayed centrally on the Sunset Boulevard and used buses but also did lots of walking! It's perfectly possible and enjoyable to walk but for whatever reason not many people do.

I did this in 2015.

Stayed in Hostelling International in Santa Monica (I was in my 30s but on a budget, was fine!)

Got Ubers round LA and a couple of tacky tourist tours round Hollywood. Didn’t like LA as a rule (was too hot!) but Sony studios and Warner Bros studios were worth it. Also, there was a tour inside the Dolby theatre that was the best thing EVER and you got to stand on the Oscars stage. Like 8 people did it and it was super cheap but amazing.

We did The Gas Lamp area, a Whale watching cruise, Seaport Village, The Martime museum, Coronado Island and Little Italy.

The climate was preferable to LA too as it was hot but had a sea breeze

Look up Yellow Productions on YouTube! He has lots of informative videos about LA and San Diego.

Also try Derek and Katherine - they do great food videos for LA

The city has gone to the dogs. It’s an awful place these days.

Just want to warn you that Uber prices are literally twice what they were pre-pandemic. Prepandemic an Uber from Santa Monica to Hollywood would have been $20 low peak time. Now it's $40+ at low peak time.

We go to LA a lot and I can’t imagine doing it without a car.

I love LA and have just had 10 days there, split around a road trip.

You could split your time and have time by the beach in say Venice or Santa Monica, then stay in Hollywood and do the tick-box LA things from there. Although the area's a bit seedy I never felt unsafe. The celebrity home tour is a Must Do, as is the Getty Museum.

One thing I would say though is it's SO expensive at the moment, food, coffee, getting around.

If you can afford it, stay at the Hollywood Roosevelt historic hotel. Brilliant location and easy to uber around from there.
Be sure to have a steak & martini at Musso & Frank grill (reservations required, pricey) and check out Boardners and Larry Edmunds bookstore, all in walking distance.

A woman named April Clemmer leads excellent walking tours in Hollywood.

We did california last year and did not hire a car. Taxi from lax to Anaheim, then taxi to Hollyood. Hollywood is an absolute dump but we used it to visit studios, and used Uber for that. Then Uber to Santa Monica, where we stayed. Then an Uber back to LA, and a train down to San Diego. Used Uber again.
Definitely better than a car, no extortionate parking fees for one, no hassle finding a space. Of course, the car gives you freedom but uber did too.
I would give Hollywood minimum time, and stay in Santa Monica