LA: CITY OF DREAMS.

I decided to stop over in LA for a couple days en route to Hawaii for my sister’s wedding. In doing some research with friends that have traveled to LA before, I was advised to not stay around the Hollywood Walk of Fame because of its rough areas. So I ended up staying by the airport for the first night, and traveled into the city to Santa Monica for the remaining days. Santa Monica is such a quaint area and basically on the beach with all the shops you could dream of! I can see why people fall in love with the city once they visit. I definitely will be going back sometime soon and I would highly recommend staying in Santa Monica!

LOCATION:
Stayed by the airport @ the Crowne Hotel Plaza for 1 night and another night in Santa Monica @ the Palihouse. Uber or Lyft is easily accessible for both locations. I even used the bus from the airport hotel down to Santa Monica for only $1.25 USD, but Ubered back to the airport from Santa Monica for about $25 USD so I wouldn’t miss my flight.

THINGS TO VISIT:

A Day In LA Tours (picked me up from Santa Monica and had great reviews on TripAdvisor!)
- Venice Beach: wander over to Muscle beach and walk along the boardwalk to see the unique culture of Venice Beach.
- Rodeo Drive: check out all the fancy shops and the Beverly Hills sign.
- The Farmer’s Market: grab food at the Brazilian restaurant Pampas, delicious meat!
- The Hollywood Sign/Griffith Observatory: walk around the museum to cool down and learn about fun historic information.
- Hollywood Walk of Fame: check out celebrity stars, but beware of the pan handlers trying to sell you ‘free CDs’.
Manhattan Beach
- About a 10 minute taxi ride from Crowne Hotel in the LAX area. Big beach that also has some shops and restaurants around the area to go into!
Santa Monica
- Great area that’s super safe with a bunch of shops and restaurants. There is a bunch of entertainment that comes out at night along the strip of shops. Demitasse coffee is a must visit if you love coffee, I stopped in both days I was staying in Santa Monica. I also made a stop over at SoulCycle one morning, just a couple minutes walk away from Palihouse hotel!