help planning things to do for a week in LA

Hi

I will be visiting next month for a week staying at the Renaissance hopefully a good choice.

What I%26#39;ve planned so far is a day in Magic Mountain %26amp; a day at Universal Studios the other 5 days I need help with.

I have a car for the last 3 days and intend to go to Santa Monica for a day. Can anyone advise on what is best to see or where to go the rest of the trip.

Also need help on restaurants %26amp; nightlife, I have read previous posts and am a bit worried about going out at night but any tips/advise on where to dine or good bars etc would be great we like any type of food.

Thanks

help planning things to do for a week in LA

You%26#39;ll love Santa Monica, but wonder why you are worried about going out at night? It%26#39;s very safe.

What kind of atmosphere do you want? Do you want to spot celebrities? Do you want great food at a hip place? Great food at a local hangout?

The other 5 days should be spent with a day in Beverly Hills, a day in Malibu (bring your bathing suit, our warmest months are Sept and Oct), a day in Santa Monica and Venice, a day on Melrose... There are so many great places to have lunch, just depends on cuisine.

help planning things to do for a week in LA

Hi yogachik, thanks for your reply

We are staying in Hollywood and would like to go to bars or restaurants serving good food with a happening atmosphere, we may possibly go to one of the celebrity spots(any recommendations) one night but the rest can be fairly casual not wanting to stand in long queues to get in etc. We like most types of food - Chinese, Italian, Steak, Japenese, Mexican etc so any restaurant advice would be good.

So far think we will go to Vert one night.

Also is it worth going to Citywalk a night I believe it is one stop on the metro from our hotel.

yes, universal is one stop away from your hotel. citywalk is good, but at times (weekend late nights) it can have kind of a gang atmosphere. not dangerous, just a bunch of punks around.

also on the subway, you can hit downtown, specifically chinatown. good food down there. same with olvera street, you can get some great mexican food. also reached by the subway.

i hope you%26#39;re using one of your car days for magic mountain, public transportation is a pain to get there.

we have a tour booked to magic mountain as we only get our car the last few days Magic Mountain is closed.

Is it ok to travel metro to downtown at night? also wanted to ask about disneyland we have been to Eurodisney in Paris and all the parks in Orlando would it be worth while going to the LA park?

the thing is, downtown isn%26#39;t particularly exciting at night. is there something specific you want to see there? and there are parts of downtown that i would deem unsafe at night, yes.

if you%26#39;ve been to eurodisney and orlando, then i don%26#39;t think disneyland is a ';must see';.

Personally, I don%26#39;t think it%26#39;s worth wasting a night at Citywalk. It%26#39;s just tourist shops and chain restaurants.

For celebrity sightings and great food: Ago, Ivy, Chez Jay, Nobu in Malibu (anything in Malibu, really), Beechwood, Koi, Musso %26amp; Franks, Jones, Chateau Marmont%26#39;s lobby...

In my opinion, I think there can be some nice things to do in downtown LA at night. The Ahmanson theater has been hhome to some great Broadway shows, Miss Saigon, Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserable have all played there, and it%26#39;s a very nice venue, if you%26#39;re into theater. The Disney Concert Hall is home to the LA Philharmonic, and the Dorothy Chandler Theater is home to the LA Opera headed by the legendary Placido Domingo. So, yes, there%26#39;s things to do in downtown LA. A friend of mine got a great hotel in downtown for a cheap rate, and she enjoyed her stay there. They had a wonderful time at the Bonaventure Hotel revolving bar, and LA at night is pretty, especially with all the lights around downtown.

Since you%26#39;ll be staying at the Renaissance, take a cab ride or take a car to Sunset Blvd, to the Sunset Strip. Go to West Hollywood, it%26#39;s not far from your hotel. You%26#39;ll enjoy the nightlife there. The Whiskey Bar, Viper Room and many restaurants, clubs. We were there this past weekend at the Wyndham Bel Age, and even the lounge was a great atmosphere with beautiful people around.

The other days, I%26#39;d suggest to go to the beach. Santa Monica is nice and has some nightlife and restaurants/clubs around. Third Street Promenade is Pedestrian Only.

Or take a day trip to Orange County, visit Laguna Beach/Newport Beach and Balboa Island. They are cool and nice places to visit.

Everyone%26#39;s given some good advice. ';The New York Times'; web site has plenty of free articles on things to do in Los Angeles. You have to register to read them, but registration is free:

…nytimes.com/top/…guide.html

At the bottom of this page they have a few simple guides from Fodor%26#39;s, including ';Los Angeles in 1 Day,'; ';Los Angeles in 3 Days,'; etc.

If you have a car, and are interested in seeing the various areas of Los Angeles (the good and the bad), I%26#39;d reccomend using your car and driving from downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica on Wilshire Boulevard.

From Hollywood, take the Hollywood Freeway (101) south to downtown Los Angeles. In downtown Los Angeles, take the Harbor Freeway (110) south towards Long Beach for just 0.2 miles and get off at the Sixth Street exit and head west down Wilshire Boulevard.

Wilshire Boulevard will take you through downtown, Korea Town, Beverly Hills, Brentwood, and Santa Monica. It will end at a nice park that overlooks the Pacific Ocean.

Other people like to take Sunset Boulevard west, from Hollywood to the ocean, but that route is a little bit north of some central parts of the city, I think, and you miss seeing what other parts of the city is like.

It%26#39;s hard to start listing restaurants in Los Angeles. My advice would be to figure our where you%26#39;ll be and then look at:

http://www.laweekly.com/food

For suggestions. They also have a searchable list of restaurant reviews at:

http://www.laweekly.com/food/totallist.php

Not all of the places they list are fancy and expensive. Many are inexpensive, ethnic places with good food.

There was recently a quick list of good places to eat on a web-based LA food site that you might want to look at:

chowhound.com/california/…117533.html

From the Renaissance in Hollywood, how long a drive is it to spend the day in Orange County? Is it hard to find?

How is the weather in LA in mid-july?

Thanks for all the great advice here!

eyebrows liner