I visited Los Angeles for 2 days during the summer season. My final destination was Peru which was 9 hours flight from Los Angeles. I started my trip from Hong Kong and total journey time from Hong Kong to Lima is more than 30 hours. I decided to stay at Los Angeles for 2 days before taking my next flight to Lima. It was a great idea because I explored major tourist areas of Los Angeles and at the same time got some much needed rest for my ultra- long flight.
I reached Los Angeles at around 9 am local time. The weather was sunny and it was little bit windy. I took the FlyAway shuttle bus from Airport to Hollywood. It was around 1-hour long trip and the fare was 8 USD. FlyAway bus service serves all the terminal at LAX with hourly frequency.
Hollywood
Hollywood Walk of Fame is the most visited tourist destination of Los Angeles. There are more than 2000 brass stars embedded on the sidewalks of Hollywood Boulevard. The stars are considered as monument towards achievement in Entertainment industry. The names consist of musician, actors, directors and producers. If you are a big fan of Hollywood, I will strongly recommend to find the monument of your favorite actor in the Boulevard. The total length of the walk of fame is around 2km. You can also choose to take tours around Beverly hills and Vine street. I tried some delicious burger at the café located near the walk of fame. You have to pre book your tickets well in advance if you want to enjoy shows at various theatres located around the region. Madame Tussauds, Hollywood wax museum and Ripley’s Believe It or Not! are popular tourist hotspots in this area.
Griffith Observatory
I spent around 2 hours at Hollywood walk of Fame and my next stop was Griffiths Observatory. I took Metro from Hollywood Station to Vermont/Sunset station. It was just 2 stops away from Hollywood Highland metro station. I took Dash Observatory bus from Vermont to Griffiths Observatory. The total journey from Hollywood walk of fame to Griffith Observatory took me about 1 hour. Dash Observatory bus is the most convenient way to reach Observatory from places near Hollywood. The observatory is located on top of Mount Hollywood. Other bus services don’t go directly to observatory and from the bus stop you might have to walk at least 1 hour in order to reach the observatory.
Griffiths Observatory is a popular tourist attraction and you get to see excellent views of Hollywood sign and Los Angeles Downtown. The admission to the Observatory is free of cost. You must attend the Planetarium show during your trip to Griffith Observatory. The shows are offered eight times a day during weekdays and 10 times a day during weekend. I strongly recommend to visit the place during weekdays in order to avoid crowds. The observatory is a popular location in Los Angeles and it is featured in number of TV series and movies. Astronomers monument is situated near the entrance of the observatory. The view of Los Angeles downtown from Griffiths observatory is the most photographed picture of Los Angeles.
My hotel was situated near the airport. You can get some nice hotels near the airport at the cost of 100 USD per night. I will strongly recommend to stay near airport if you are visiting Los Angeles for short duration. It took me about 1.5 hours to reach my hotel located near Airport from Griffith Observatory. I took the Dash Observatory bus from Griffith observatory to Vermont metro station and the cost for the same was 2 USD. I took the same Flyaway bus from Hollywood to LAX airport. The total cost of the return trip was about 10 USD. I would strongly recommend everyone to use FLYAWAY shuttle bus because it is much more convenient and cheaper than any other mode of transport. My hotel was walkable distance from LAX airport. I reached my hotel at around 4 pm. During summer time it gets dark after 9 pm in Los Angeles so I had enough time to explore more place in Los Angles.
Santa Monica Pier & Broadwalk
It was my last destination for the day. I took public bus from my hotel and reached the pier in 45 minutes. The pier was very crowded and there was long queue in order to take pictures near the entrance of the pier. The main attractions of the pier are located by just 10-minute walk from the entrance. Santa Monica beach is a popular beach in Los Angeles and it located just adjacent to the pier. The beach was crowded because summer season is the peak tourist season in Los Angles. Your visit to the pier is incomplete without a ride in the red and yellow Ferris wheel. The pier consists of plenty of restaurants, bars, souvenir shops and entertaining arcade. Pacific park is a popular amusement park located on the pier. You can enjoy performance of various street performers on the pier. I would recommend to visit the pier during evening hours. Santa Monica Pier Aquarium is another popular tourist hot spot in Santa Monica. The Aquarium is very interesting for kids and you can easily spend hours at the Aquarium.
Santa Monica pier is a popular place for biking. Marvin Braude Bike trail is a popular bike trail in California and it is 35 km long. The bike trail passes through Santa Monica pier. You can rent scooters, bike, skateboards from the pier. This is a must do activity for everyone when visiting Los Angeles. I hired a bike at Santa Monica and rode down to Venice beach. The ride was very easy but the path was crowded with skate boards, roller skates and electric scooters. The view of the sunset was absolutely brilliant during my 1-hour bike ride. You need to have full concentration while riding bike on the trail because the trail is narrow and it Is crowded. If you are not interested in riding bike, then you can walk from Santa Monica pier till the Venice beach. The beach is huge and there is plenty of room for everyone. I saw lot of people practicing yoga and doing light workout around the beach.
If you are a group of friends planning to play beach volleyball, then you can use free volleyball courts situated around the beach. Los Angeles is a bike friendly city and it is a popular location for electric scooter. Scooter rental startup like BIRD is prominent around Los Angeles. You just need to install their app and pay a basic fee in order to rent their scooters. You can spot BIRD scooters around Los Angeles Venice beach and Santa Monica Pier.
Venice Beach
My flight from Los Angeles to Lima was scheduled at around 9 pm. I decided to spend my day at world famous Venice beach. I started my day late at around 11 am. On the way to Venice beach, I stopped at Wurstkuche restaurant for hot dog.
Wurstkuche was featured in the Buzzfeedvideo show “WORTH IT”. I am a big follower of the show and decided to give it a try. The restaurant is located at Lincoln Blvd, walkable distance from Venice beach. If you are a fan of Hot Dogs then I will definitely recommend you to visit the restaurant. You can also try some Hot Dogs made from exotic meat like Rattlesnake, Rabbit & Lamb. Each hot dog was priced between 8-12 USD. The Hot Dogs were really yummy I tried the lamb and the original variant. The restaurant has a very big seating area mostly suitable for large groups. They have very good variety of beer and wine. The Ambience of the restaurant was perfect for chilling out with friends. The interior and exterior of the restaurant gives completely different vibe.
After a great Brunch I walked towards Venice beach boardwalk. Venice beach is the number one tourist destination of Southern California. The Boardwalk gives a unique feel to Venice beach. You will find hundreds of street vendors and performers around the Boardwalk. I saw break dancers and jugglers on the west side of the walk. Boardwalk is a nice place to grab some souvenir before you leave Los Angeles. You need to queue up if you are looking for a temporary tattoo or if you want to have your name written on a grain of rice.
If you planning to cheap funky T-Shirt then Venice beach is the place to be. I saw some T-Shirts with unique crazy designs at the stores. There is a large selection of restaurants, juice spots and bars around the Boardwalk. If you are fan of Basketball, then you should watch some games at the basketball courts located near the Boardwalk. I witnessed some high level of basketball play at the court. The access to the court is free for public.
There is one section of the beach where there are more than 5 tennis courts. The access to the tennis court is free for public. Muscle Beach Gym – Muscle Beach Gym is located at Venice beach and it is an open air Gym. The day pass costs around $ 10. Muscle beach Gym was once the home gym of bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger.
My favorite spot at the beach was Venice beach Skate Park. The Skate Park was located at the center of the beach and it is a popular spot among skaters. I spent around 1 hour watching some skaters in action. The park has some nice banks in order to gain good speed. The large pool near the park is a popular place for advance riders and there was good number of crowds gathered to watch the show. Venice beach poet’s monument is a popular tourist location at Venice beach. The monument is engraved with some beautiful work of famous poets of Venice.
I ended my trip at Venice Pier. The pier was restored in the year 1997. At 1300 ft Venice pier was far longer than Santa Monica Pier and it was less crowded. The pier provides great vantage point to take some nice pictures of the Venice beach coast. I loved the scenic walk along the Venice pier. You can spot some fisherman on the pier trying hard for catch of the day. There are no food stalls at the Venice pier and it was relatively less crowded than Santa Monica Pier. I will strongly recommend to visit Venice pier because it has a relaxing atmosphere. Venice beach is not suitable for swimming. The water was very deep and the currents were strong. I will recommend to go inside the water if you are above average swimmer. Overall It was a great trip to Los Angeles. I will definitely come back again in the future to do a longer tour along the US west coast.
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