Anyone from Los Angeles /San Francisco

[Zerobricks]

Hello!

I'm thinking of visiting the USA in a few months, I's really like to visit LA and SF for start...

Sp to say it playinly Is there anyone willing to show around a bit?

Thank you!

[dhc6twinotter]

I lived in the LA basin for a while, and I wish I was still out there. I would have driven you around a bit. Honestly though, I lived in the area for nearly a year and never went to downtown LA. There isn't anything there that I really wanted to see. A lot of people like going to Hollywood, but none of that stardom stuff impresses me.

My friends and I always preferred camping in the desert or in the mountains surrounding the LA basin. Sometimes we would camp in the higher elevations of the Sierra Mountains. Lots of ghost towns, abandoned mines, etc east of LA. If you have a vehicle, there are some fantastic things to see out there.

If you plan to stick closer to LA, then the only thing I can recommend is Disney, which is down in Anaheim. They have a large LEGO store there as well. LegoLand is down in Carlsbad as well, although I have not visited it. A lot of people also like visiting the Santa Monica Pier and Venice Beach.

In-N-Out burger is a great place to eat and very reasonably priced. They are all over California, but the best one is probably the In-N-Out at the end of the runway at LAX. Lots of great plane spotting opportunities there.

The Pacific Coast Highway between LA and SF is really beautiful, but can be slow going. I believe there is an Amtrak train that runs along the coast from LA to SF. About half-way between LA and SF is Oceano Dunes. You can go there and rent ATVs and dune buggies and bomb across the dunes. It's a pretty fun place, and I try to go every September with some friends.

Yosemite National Park is within a days drive to either LA or SF. If you are coming in a few months, parts of the park will probably be closed, especially Tioga Pass. Channel Islands National Park might be worth visiting, and the boats leave from somewhere around LA.

Anyways, sorry I'm no longer living in the area. Enjoy your trip to the U.S.!

[Zerobricks]

I lived in the LA basin for a while, and I wish I was still out there. I would have driven you around a bit. Honestly though, I lived in the area for nearly a year and never went to downtown LA. There isn't anything there that I really wanted to see. A lot of people like going to Hollywood, but none of that stardom stuff impresses me.

My friends and I always preferred camping in the desert or in the mountains surrounding the LA basin. Sometimes we would camp in the higher elevations of the Sierra Mountains. Lots of ghost towns, abandoned mines, etc east of LA. If you have a vehicle, there are some fantastic things to see out there.

If you plan to stick closer to LA, then the only thing I can recommend is Disney, which is down in Anaheim. They have a large LEGO store there as well. LegoLand is down in Carlsbad as well, although I have not visited it. A lot of people also like visiting the Santa Monica Pier and Venice Beach.

In-N-Out burger is a great place to eat and very reasonably priced. They are all over California, but the best one is probably the In-N-Out at the end of the runway at LAX. Lots of great plane spotting opportunities there.

The Pacific Coast Highway between LA and SF is really beautiful, but can be slow going. I believe there is an Amtrak train that runs along the coast from LA to SF. About half-way between LA and SF is Oceano Dunes. You can go there and rent ATVs and dune buggies and bomb across the dunes. It's a pretty fun place, and I try to go every September with some friends.

Yosemite National Park is within a days drive to either LA or SF. If you are coming in a few months, parts of the park will probably be closed, especially Tioga Pass. Channel Islands National Park might be worth visiting, and the boats leave from somewhere around LA.

Anyways, sorry I'm no longer living in the area. Enjoy your trip to the U.S.!

Thank you very much for the info and the willingness! Means a lot.

[Zerobricks]

Sorry for thr bump, but is there anyone else from LA/SF?

[BusterHaus]

I'm not from there, but visited it 7 or 8 times. I liked San Francisco much better than Los Angeles. It's cleaner, prettier and has a lot to see: Lombard street, Alcatraz, Coit Tower, Golden Gate Bridge, Golden Gate Park, Pier 39/Fisherman's Warf among others. It's also about an hour away from Napa and Sonoma valleys - they have very good wineries there (Francis Ford Coppola's is worth a visit), although it's very tourist-oriented. If you want a more authentic winery experience, head inland to Lodi Valley. It will probably take three to four days to fit all this in.

Los Angeles has Disneyland, the Walk of Fame, the Chinese Theatre, the Hollywood sign, and a few neighbourhoods like Beverly Hills that you can drive through to see some fancy houses - although a lot of them have 20 foot-high shrubs surrounding them. The problem with Los Angeles is that it is huge and its points of interest are separated by some very dull sections and incessant traffic. It's still worth a visit if you're not planning on coming back to the area, but you can fit everything into two days.

Speaking of revisiting, if you're not going to be back for a while, I suggest driving out to Las Vegas and the Hoover Dam. Both show off some very impressive construction in terms of size. If you don't gamble, there are plenty of shows to pick from in Vegas.

Expect a lot of driving, as none of these places are close to each other. Traffic is a big problem in most of California, so plan extra time for travel.

Enjoy the trip.

[Zerobricks]

Thank you Buster! I can imagine LA being very huge and hard to go around. Interesting, I also thought SF was cleaner.