Visiting La La Land From Seeing The Hollywood Sign To Sports To Sunsets
What you say, you’ve only got two days to “see” L.A.!? It’s such a big, spread-out city with so much diversity coming here can be an intimidating experience.
No problem. Take it from me; you can do this and do it well IF you plan and know where to go and what to see. Here’s my suggested two-day itinerary.
Conversely, you can just go kick off your sandals and hang at the beach where you can observe surfers, watch people play beach volleyball and enjoy great people watching along the sidewalk by the sand, known at the boardwalk in Venice and The Strand in Hermosa & Manhattan Beach.
If you’re coming from the airport, you might think that two days won’t be enough for you as the LAX airport is known to be the busiest airport in California and you’re expecting to wait long on taxi lanes. However, there are other ways such as taking a LAX airport transfer to make it at your preferred destination the soonest time possible.
Los Angeles Day 1 Things To Do
• Hike To The Hollywood Sign
You can get a pretty good view of the Hollywood sign from the multi-level mall, Hollywood & Highland, but if you want to get close to it, go to the hiking trail at Griffith Park. It’s an easy hike on a dirt path and you don’t even have to go the entire way to get a good selfie. Be sure and look down into the steep canyons and toward downtown L.A.
• Do The Hollywood Touristy Things
Next to Hollywood & Highland is the famous theater with legendary celebrity hand and footprints. The Walk of Fame on Hollywood Blvd., is here, too (and goes on and on and on for dozens for a couple of miles).
• Cruise Through Beverly Hills
Just because it’s there, right?! Get out and walk along Rodeo Drive.
• Watch A Sunset
No matter how many days (and nights) you have in L.A., make watching a sunset your daily ritual. They are best viewed at the beach and are spectacular. With 325 days of sunshine a year, the odds of seeing one as as spectacular as the scenery.
• Catch A Sporting Event
Los Angeles has two professional teams in every major sport, two big-time colleges and all sorts of smaller schools, and most likely at least one of them is playing when you’re in L.A. So take yourself out to the ‘ol ball game when you’re in Los Angeles.
Los Angeles Day 2 Things To Do
• Go To The Beach
Surely you can’t come to Los Angeles and not go to the beach! There are several beaches, from the tourist-heavy Santa Monica to the nuts of Venice Beach (these beaches are next to each other) up the coast to Malibu (very spread out; so park it at the pier) to where the locals hang out in Hermosa & Manhattan Beach just south of LAX. It is in these latter places where you can see the true Southern California “dude” lifestyle of surfers and beach volleyball players.
• Rent A Bike At The Beach & Take A Bicycle Tour
Contact me to arrange a guided tour along the beach in Hermosa & Manhattan, and even up to Santa Monica if you like. I run Beach Cities Bike Tours, and I’ll take you past Hollywood TV and film locations (the “90210” beach house and where Mel Gibson and Michelle Pfiffer hung out in Tequila Sunrise), point out some of LA’s top nightlife spots and where you can get the world’s best burger.
• Watch A Sunset
The nightly ritual, repeated.
• Go To A Concert
With so many big-name artists and acts playing Los Angeles, there’s likely to be a big concert in town when you’re in town. Or, go to the Hollywood Bowl (tip: you better have a sweatshirt with you, even in the summertime) or even a local bar with live music.
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