Visiting the United States

i lived in LA for a long time, before moving to San Diego, so i don't want to bash LA, but i can't think of too many compelling places to visit there. one place that's definitely worthwhile is the Simon Wiesenthal Museum of Tolerance in West LA, although it's depressing. on a light note, you might as well spend time walking on Hollywood Blvd, looking at the names of stars on the sidewalk. i think you can get a map that will show you where any particular star is located, but i don't know who publishes it or what it costs.

Blaise Dailey is the man to ask - or one of them - he lives in Anaheim. Isn't the Getty in that area?

If you ask about the SW, in general, I can be of more help.

littlek, the Getty's in Westwood, which is sort of between west LA & Santa Monica, and rather far from Anaheim. the Getty is certainly interesting architecturally, and smog permitting, there's a good view of LA from there as well, but i'm not that crazy about their art collection, although they have a large collection of historic furniture, if that's of interest.

i think a better bet for a visitor interested in art is the Huntington Library in San Marino, near Pasadena. among other things, it has the Blue Boy by Gainsborough, and some famous manuscripts, including a Guttenberg bible. it also has a terrific garden, and admission is still free as far as i know.

And there you are!

I sent a link to this thread to Blaise Dailey. Maybe he'll stop by.

The La Brea Tar Pits.

Howdy Ryan. To be more specific, I'm in Santa Ana. For your first bit of travel trivia Anaheim is where a large German population settled in the late 1800's and they combined Sanat Ana and the German word heim for home into Anaheim, Santa Ana being the next town over.

First off do you have any idea what you'd like to see? Do you prefer art galleries or being outside? How adventurous are you with food? And, what's the rest of your 26 days filled with? Having said that, Disneyland is in Anaheim and it's always worth a visit. Also there's this:
http://www.missionsjc.com/historic.html

There are a series of Spanish missions in California and the one in San Juan Capsistrano is about a half hour from Anaheim. It's easily reached by train with a stop right across the street.

I'll wait till you get back with what your likes and dislikes are because, depending on how your time is alloted, you could visit anywhere from Santa Barbara to Las Vegas(where you could double your money) to to Mexico to a quick trip to Palm Springs. Also, if you're not aware, the drinking age here is 21.

Hi Ryan,

I live in LA. If Disney land is a must for you in Anaheim, then Universal City is a must for you in LA. You could even spend 2 days on that; 1 visiting Universal City itself and another visiting Universal City Walk. They are in the same place but a bit much for just 1 day. If theme parks are your thing, there's also Six Flags at Magic Mountain, which has truly terrifying extreme rides. That's a long journey from Hollywood but with some research you should manage it. The other big theme park is Knott's Berry Farm, between LA and Anaheim. Also, visit Santa Monica, to go on the pier (Pacific Park) and walk down Third Street Promenade. Along the coast, Venice Beach is worth a look.

Tip: book tickets to theme parks online before your trip. It saves a lot of queuing.

If none-theme park stuff is to your taste, ie scenery, architecture, sightseeing, art, etc, then there are many, many more possibilities. Like another poster said, you need to tell us what your interests are.

Hey all,

Thanks for the suggestions,

Im into the theme parks and attractions like the walk of fame, hollywood sign etc. But also would like to see the natural wonders around the area.

Universal Studios is a must for me, i would also like to visit other studios like cbs, fox etc i dont know if they offer tours or not but ill find out when i get there. Disneyland should keep me occupied while in Anaheim.

Hows the weather in Southern California in January and February? thats when i will be there, it might be a bit cool but does it rain much?

My first 7 nights are in LA/Anaheim them im on a Contiki tour all over the west coast (California, Arizona, Nevada) as well as Mexico.


Cheers
Ryan

For rides the big three are Disneyland, Knotts Berry Farm and Magic Mountain. To my mind Magic Mountain has the best rides. Knotts Berry Farm and Disneyland are about twenty minutes from one another and are each worth a day, though Disneyland deserves two.

http://www.sixflags.com/parks/magicmountain/ParkInfo/index.asp
http://www.knotts.com/
http://disneyland.disney.go.com/disneyland/en_US/home/home?name=HomePage&bhcp=1

The big trouble with the Los Angeles area is that it is sprawled out so it's best to do things in clusters. For example, Farmers Market, CBS Studios sit right next to one another. Not too far away from those two spots are th La Brea Tar Pits, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Museum of Natural History and the Petersen Automotive Museum. You can't do all these in a day but it gives you somethng to choose from.

Anyway, here are some links.
http://www.farmersmarketla.com/
http://www.lacma.org/
http://www.tarpits.org/
http://www.petersen.org/

As for movie and television studios, just about all of them have tours. The weather should be pretty mild, it won't be summer but it won't be freezing either. As far as rain is concerned, that one is hard to tell.

Does Contiki tours have a set itenerary for you?

Hey there,

Thanks BlaiseDaley

I have 7 days before the Contiki tour in LA so i will try get all those things done!

Yes the Contiki has a set itinery, a number of activites in each location. Starting in LA over 12 nights.

LA to San Diego
San Diego to Mexico
San Diego to Phoenix
Phoenix to Grand Canyon
Grand Canyon to Las Vegas
Las Vegas to Bass Lake
Bass Lake to Yosemite National Park
Yosemite to San Francisco
San Francisco to Carpinteria via Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara to Los Angeles


Cheers
Ryan H

Sounds like a great tour. Given you're going to Yosemite, take warm clothes, it gets cold there, Vegas as well.

All the best,
Blaise