TWA884

Generally speaking, I've had much better luck with Hotwire than Priceline, especially when booking within 24 hours of arrival (got the Hyatt Regency Etoile, Le Méridien Etoile and the Sheraton Paris Airport Hotel at CDG Terminal 2 the last couple of times that I was in Paris, and the Tivoli Avenida Liberdade Lisboa in Lisbon). I've also gotten excellent last minute deals on Booking.com, which is transparent.

Personally, I would not want to spend five nights in that part of town. It's fine if you just need to spent one night close to the airport before an early morning flight.

USA_flyer

hotwire is another good option. And no, it's not the best part of town granted.

Flying Yazata

My experience was on the day before arrival, due to a last minute rebooking with SK.

I'm more inclined to take advantage of early savings with e.g. Best Western Rewards discount rates, as well as Genius discounts on Booking.com. Then again in LA there's so many options to choose from, so I could gamble and leave the booking to a very late stage. But then there's the risk of ending at a crappy hotel for five nights.

downinit

One of my favorite aspects about LA is that we have a community for just about everyone, so you can pretty much eat and shop around the world. Having a car is required for many destinations, but there are quite a few interesting places that are very easy to reach by subway. The subway here is very cheap, so I would advise to park somewhere like Union Station (if your hotel is not near a line) and buy a day pass. All of the below areas are great for exploring on foot, as that is the only real way to appreciate them:

• Koreatown: LA/OC seem to be transforming into one continuous Koreatown, but the core is still at Wilshire/Western (easy to reach by taking the purple line train)
• Little Tokyo is also interesting to walk around, although it has been evolving and gentrifying at a lightning pace in the last decade (one stop from Union Station)
• historic Chinatown (the new 'Chinatown' is further east and very spread out) - one stop from Union Station or a decent walk; it is nowhere near as good as in SF, but there are still a few interesting sights such as Bamboo Lane and the Bruce Lee statue
• Olvera Street: directly across the street from Union Station; some of the oldest buildings in LA with a plethora of Mexican food and souvenirs available
• Hollywood Blvd: one of the most overrated tourist traps on earth, but it definitely qualifies as unusual due to the very unique people watching available and it is an interesting place to go for a walk. It is easy to reach from Union Station: you can get off on one end and get back on the train at the other end

There are excellent dining and drinking options in just about all of these areas (except Hollywood Blvd, where you are pretty much limited to a few cheesy diners and some horrible tourist-trap eateries, but there are a number of thrift shops in the vicinity). It will also be nice to be able to avoid sitting in traffic for a day, and you will get a real feel for LA.

DELee

Naw, sitting in traffic _is_ the quintessential LA experience.

David

Need

LOL! Yeah right? People always talk about lets do what the locals do... visit the food places they go....then they should sit in traffic like we do! LOL. Metro is for the tourists and people who moved here from the other states!

KathyWdrf

To my knowledge, no one has ever called San Francisco "Frisch." If someone did, the response would likely be a puzzled look.

Oh, you mean "Frisco?" My response is this: Frisco is a town in Texas. (There's one in Colorado too.)

allset2travel

Up-post mentioned Santa Barbara. It is worthy a visit, not only the downtown and waterfront, but also Old Mission Santa Barbara. If you do go, make it a day-trip by including the Santa Maria Valley wine country. Nice drive. Here are some sample links:

https://santamariavalley.com/wine-country/

https://www.visitcalifornia.com/attr...ley-wine-trail

Another potential day trip (depends on your interest of course) is from LA to San Diego. There are many colorful ocean-side towns along Old Pacific Highway (in combination of Hwy 5). Lots of info online for this.

In the LA area, if not mentioned up-post already, Getty Museum is a good 2-3 hour visit. Plus 2-3 hours walking in downtown LA (tie this in with Japantown, Chinatown, Koreantown, lots of good eats here). Nice hiking opportunities near Griffith Observatory (another destination, if you enjoy night photo-op, come here at sunset). I also throw in a visit to the LA Farmers’ Market (warning, very touristy).

Enjoy your trip!

KathyWdrf

When mentioning the "Getty Museum," it's good to be specific about which one. There are two, both worthwhile, but some distance apart.

ajGoes

I'd say two or three hours would be a short visit to the Getty Villa and a very short one to the Getty Center, but of course this depends on how much art you can take in before hitting overload.

Many years ago, and before the Getty Center was built, my then-two-year-old son slept peacefully in his stroller for almost the entirety of a long visit to the Villa. He did stir briefly, though, to open his eyes, look around, and proclaim "This is the goodest castle I ever seed." Truer words have rarely been spoken.

allset2travel

Yes, you are right.
I meant THE GETTY, and NOT the Getty Villa.

utgypsy

There are two presidential libraries in southern California:

https://www.reaganfoundation.org/
https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/

I also concur with the suggestion to visit The Getty.

DELee

David

KathyWdrf

The 405 is how you get to the Getty.

(And other places as well.)

P.S.: That traffic jam looks beautiful. From the air, at least.

Flying Yazata

Thanks a bunch for all the advices so far! I'm just about to start looking at my options as there's still plenty of time until the end of November.

It depends on the day and my mood how much fine art I can digest. Also it depends very much on what's on display. Modern art? Well, you can count my attention span in minutes. Old photography? Sure, perhaps an hour, depending on the theme and mood. Yeah, I'm not exactly an art junkie, hence I don't despise it either.

+1 and underlining: from the air, yes, not so much from the ground.

It would be far too much of an unauthentic local experience, if one couldn't curse the traffic like a local. But yeah, joking aside, it's just a waste of time to sit in a traffic jam. At least I'll be driving a convertible, so I maybe feel less crammed in the jam.