Los Angeles (California)

Los Angeles: Bigger Than Life Let me state it right off at the start: I love Los Angeles. It is a great city to visit or to live in … IF you know how to get around, and how to put up with the eccentricities of the place. Getting Around L.A. Originally, Los Angeles was a much smaller city. Long Beach, Santa Monica, Hollywood, Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena, Santa Fe Springs….those were all separate towns a long way from L.A. You reached those towns ...
...made a conscious decision: Los Angeles would be a megalopolis connected by a system of freeways…people living in the megalopolis would, of course, be wealthy and every person would own a car. So, during much of the 1950's the streetcar lines were ripped up and freeways laid down. All those small, independent, villages and towns became virtual vassals of Los Angeles. The towns and cities grew together until now, the entire Los Angeles basin is one ...

grape_nehi 27.10.2005 · Read full review
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Review of Los Angeles (California)

Any review of Los Angeles - unless contained within the covers of a City Guidebook - can realistically merely ‘prick the surface’ of what is to offer in this sprawling metropolis on the West Coast of America. I’ve tried to cover what I have personal experience of during two brief visits to the ‘City of Angels’ • HOLLYWOOD – MOVIE MAGIC On our first visit to L.A, we stayed at the Holiday Inn, right on HOLLYWOOD ...
...last year to make way for a huge development to include Cinemas, Shopping and a new home for the Oscar ceremonies. But it was pretty neat to stay there all the same and could almost literally step out onto the ‘WALK OF FAME’. You’ve seen it on TV, documentaries etc – all the way along Hollywood Boulevard there are golden ‘stars’ inserted in the paving slabs, with the names of all kinds of stars, from Film, TV and ...

flashpointz 08.03.2001 (16.11.2001) · Read full review
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Review of Los Angeles (California)

...Southern California and consists of Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego area. This is the area where I spend a great deal of my time when in California, especially the LA area. Getting There If you are flying from another destination in the US there is a myriad of airports to choose from. The largest airport is Los Angeles International Airport which is usually referred to as LAX. You can also fly into the Long Beach Airport or Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena ...
...are usually significantly cheaper than LAX. Long Beach Airport is always fun because it reminds me of the LA of old. It has not been updated since the 50’s and you still come down the rolling staircase onto the tarmac instead of using a jet-bridge like all modern airports. Lodging It does not matter where you stay in the city, each area has its advantages. I do not suggest you stay too close to LAX as the hotels are rather expensive and there is ...

Scott_Howitt 20.05.2003 (22.05.2003) · Read full review
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Review of Los Angeles (California)

Anyone who has read my Opinion on Las Vegas will undoubtedly already be aware of my fascination with America. My Husband and I have visited the country about 15 times over our 13 ½ years of marriage. Our first trip was with Premier Holidays (honeymoon) costing over £1,500 each for two weeks. I fully appreciate that this is quite a considerable sum of money and over the years we have learnt of ways to make the trip more cost effective. Last June we ...
...and it cost us under £3,000 (an extra week , an extra person and 12 years later) , the same cost as when we went on Honeymoon in 1998. What I would like to do in this Opinion is share some of the "trick of the trade" that we have used and if any of you are able to save money on a trip to America then this has clearly been worthwhile. TOURIST BOARDS One of the first things to do is research where you wish to go , just so that I can speak from a position ...

kayesheard 27.01.2002 · Read full review
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Review of Los Angeles (California)

...The City Of Angels - Los Angeles. This vibrant city has something to offer everyone, but beware, day becomes night, night becomes day and sleep becomes a thing of the past. We stayed at a Comfort Inn in Hermosa Beach during our time in LA, this was about a 1/2 hour drive away from the touristic centre, which includes such great sites as Mann's Chinese Theater (the place with the handprints in the concrete), Macy's, Bloomingdales and a whole lot ...
...of a tourist do not underestimate the acclimatisation that a guided tour around the stars homes can do - it really is quite interesting, and it gives you a good layout of the roads for when you jump into your hire car. This leads nicely onto driving in LA, or any big American city for that matter, rule of thumb - DON'T BE AFRAID. Americans are quite aggressive drivers, and you get nowhere by being nice. Don't go stupid, but remember to push your ...

MARKMAN 09.02.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Los Angeles (California)

Actually, that doesn't say a right lot because having been elsewhere in the US and not been impressed, I wasn't expecting to enjoy LA. I was wrong. LA is like absolutely nowhere else on that continent - or anywhere else really. Whatever it is you want from a holiday - sun, sea, shopping, sightseeing, getting away from it all, it's all here or very nearby. You need to take money for shopping! the malls are amazing and everything is so very much cheaper ...
...in the UK, is at least a third cheaper. Staying in LA, on the other hand, often isn't cheap. We stayed in the Econolodge on Vine, however, and it was clean and roomy, if not exactly flash, and wasn't at all expensive. All the usual tourist things, the Hollywood walk of fame; Great Universal studios etc are worth doing at least once. ontrary to what you might expect from the media, violence and street crime wasn't any problem for us - but you do need ...

merlina 15.08.2000 · Read full review
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Review of Los Angeles (California)

Los Angeles and Hollywood conjure up images of glamour and luxury. We spent three days there earlier this year and were a little disappointed. In fact, it seemed run-down and even seedy in parts. Many of the older theatres and restaurants had been closed for a number of years and were now derelict. We stayed at the Best Western, Hollywood Hills, which is well-located for exploring Hollywood. At $99 per night (plus sales tax), it was reasonable value ...
...at the opposite end of Los Angeles and the traffic can be horrendous. The infamous freeways are as bad as they are portrayed in the movies. The other main tourist attraction is the tour of the movie stars’ homes. We decided not to do this as we had heard reports that most of the homes were well-secluded, and there wasn’t much to see. Instead we headed out to Santa Barbara, about an hour and a half’s drive away. This is a really ...

mandyhaley 26.06.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Los Angeles (California)

LA is so big that I knew we were not going to be able to see overly much in the time we had there but we had given ourselves quite a big itinerary to get through with about 4000 miles of driving ahead of us so our time in LA was basically enough to get through the jetlag before hitting the freeways on our road trip. After a gruelling 13 hour flight with no sleep we landed at LAX at 6.30am. We picked up the rental car at DOLLAR and they printed off ...
...BOULEVARD. We didn't fancy hitting the freeway till we were a bit more experienced with driving on the right so inched our way along the LA streets to our hotel. My first impressions were of a pretty shabby city, lots of litter and slightly worse for wear. We were lucky that the guy at the hotel ( more motel) took pity on us and let us check in straight away, the only problem was the non-smoking rooms were not available till later in the day. ...

casnz 26.05.2004 (22.11.2004) · Read full review
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Review of Los Angeles (California)

...imagine anywhere better to go! Los Angeles is the one place that I would encourage everyone to go to, it is full of life and there are lots of great things to do. Los Angeles is an enormous city, and I couln't beleive it when I arrived there. Although it is large, it doesn't seem as busy as London when you go around, yes their drivers are really bad, but on the streets its just great. There are lots of things to do in the surrounding area, and ...
...to do, to get what Los Angeles is really about, Films! Along with a load of other attractions there is the original DisneyLand down the road in nearby Orange County. This was rather dissapointing actually, but we didn't really have the time or patience for it. Our stay was limited and it was hot so we could not view everything, and it didnt help with so many people about, but we would have been fools not to go! I could write loads more about L.A. ...

blackbrough 29.04.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Los Angeles (California)

...my top 5 tips on Los Angeles 1) Be prepared for mad driving conditions. Driving on the huge 7-lane freeways is a great experience but takes a bit of getting used to. The main thing is to plan where you are going before you set out - the signs clearly show interconnecting roads and destiantions bu8t you don't want to be fiddling with maps as you drive 2) Don't miss Universal Studios. This is great fun theme park for all ages. Very young kids may ...
...and more interest. The T3 ride - a 3-D combinations of film and actors is fantastic. 3) Hollywood is good fun. Go on a tour of the stars homes which is full of gossip. You may just see lots of gates and driveways but it gives you a feel for the town 4) Catch a movie. You can't do to the city of Hollywood and not see a movie and the cinemas are amazingly impressive. We went to the ones in Universal City and were suitably impressed with the size ...

pxs 27.07.2000 · Read full review
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Review of Los Angeles (California)

Los Angeles is undoubtedly home to the rich and famous, there are numerous opportunties for you to get your 15 minutes of fame. Some top tips for celeb shoulder brushing are - Take the Star Tour, which can be booked at the Mann Chinese Theatre, if there is a group of you dont be afraid to ask for a discount. Remember these tours run every 20 minutes and they are not always full. We got a half price deal simply by asking. Its pot luck whether you ...
...about Hollywoods history and see places like the Viper room where River Phoenix died, not forgetting the stars home which appeals to the curiosity in all of us. - Go into Hollywood on a Film Premier night for a snapshot of your big screen idols - Outside the Mann Chinese Theatre you will always find a gaggle of people offering you free tickets to see a show, I went to see the Chris Wylde Show and to my surprise my friends childhood hero was on, ...

Baccione 08.10.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Los Angeles (California)

Los Angeles is a sprawling metropolis with Hollywood as its heart, geographically and culturally. All the major movie studios are here, meaning 48 hours in Los Angeles can feel as though you are on a film set. You can escape Tinsletown in the mountains north of the city (where you can ski in winter), or on LA's famous beaches. Most tourist areas are safe, including Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Venice, Malibu and Pacific Palisades. However other areas, ...

Tracy57 27.07.2000 · Read full review
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Review of Los Angeles (California)

My partner and i travel to L.A. 3 times a year to visit friends, i would advise anyone thinking of making this trip to go for at least 10 days as the time differance really hits you for six.. Also don't just stick to the sights in L.A itself as they are not that great go further afield, In all the times we have travelled over there we have only ever been into the centre of L.A once and i would not want to go again.. There are loads of lovely beaches ...
...a drive up Big Bear to stay in a lovely log cabin can't be missed, you will find it hard to believe that you are only an hour or so from L.A.. While you are there don't forget to give those credit cards a hammering, there are shopping centres galore and i guarenty you will grab a few bargains.. If you have a baby on the way you will be amazed at the cost of designer clothes you can't beat it. I fill my suitcases every time i go over with new clothes ...

joe1976 27.02.2005 · Read full review
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Review of Los Angeles (California)

L.A. is huge. Really really big.. all flat, buildings everywhere. I mean, not really much to look at. The bits you'd want to visit if you went there would be Hollywood, Universal Studios, maybe the Queen Mary (home from home) and perhaps a drive through Beverley Hills. We stayed at the Queen Mary, now aground at Long Beach. It's lovely as a hotel, and even nice just to visit to see how they're using her now. Hollywood has the glitz and glamour, although ...
...people touting for trade constantly. The Chinese Theatre is alot smaller than you'd think, but it's good to see, as well as the star's walk. It's not really a photogenic place, L.A., and as far as we could see there wasn't all that much to do. However if you do go, go to Universal Studios which is excellent, and also gives you a good view of the valley. If you get a chance go visit Beverley Hills. It's interesting to see where the stars live, although ...

DaveD 11.07.2000 · Read full review
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Review of Los Angeles (California)

I went to Los Angeles as a stop off on a trip across America. I went with the image of glitz and glam, and found dirty, drabby streets and run-down buildings. I was sorely disappointed. Luckly, I was staying with friends about half an hour south of Los Angeles and only visited the city for the day. As we travelled by a shabby bus across the city I saw images of disrepair and disrepute. The Chinese Mann Theatre was boring. We spent a little time ...
...see your favourite star in a bronze star, brought a small smile to my face. The highlight of Los Angeles had to be the MacDonalds - I would not have eaten anywhere else, for fear of food poisoning. I will never go back to Los Angeles. Never again. ...

Pamela 18.01.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Los Angeles (California)