3.5 Days in LA - not sure of our plan...

Hi guys, would really love your help with planning our time in LA. We are arriving after 4 days in Las Vegas, in the first week of October and staying with relatives near Chinatown. Our plan at the moment is:

1. Universal Studios (half to two thirds of a day)

2. Rodeo Drive/shopping

3. Santa Monica beach

4. Disneyland

5. Chinese Theatre

6. Hollywood sign

However, is this achievable in 3.5 days?? How would you recommend us doing this? I%26#39;m not familiar with where everything is placed... Anywhere else we could fit in/we should not miss out?

We have already booked dinner at Koi on our second night.

Thanks!

3.5 Days in LA - not sure of our plan...

Will you have a car?

Disneyland will take a whole day if you drive or rely on public transit.

You could easily spend a day at Santa Monica but you could stop at Rodeo Drive easily if you had a car.

Universal %26amp; Hollywood can be done on the same day. Re: the sign, you don%26#39;t actually go TO the sign; you simply view it from various locations in the city. If you won%26#39;t have a car, then you can view it from the rear of the Hollywood %26amp; Highland Center mall in Hollywood which is next to the Chinese Theater and ';on the way to Universal';.

If you have a car, there are other places from which you can view the sign.

3.5 Days in LA - not sure of our plan...

October is a great time to come to visit Los Angeles as the weather is usually perfect(not to hot, not to cold) plus Universal, Disneyland has Halloween events going on)

Your interests are rather limited on the sights you want to see as L.A. has a lot more to offer. You really want to shop on Rodeo Drive? That area is highly expensive, you might want to check on the Beverly Center or Melrose Ave for some more reasonably priced merchendise

Also your local Macy%26#39;s(one is inside the beverly center) always has some sort of sale going on

You can do Universal, Chinese Theater, Hollywood in the same day easily. October usually is not a busy month for Universal, so you probably can do the park in a couple of hours

Look into getting towards the beach for one day. Santa Monica is easily reached from downtown l.a. , even by bus.

Venice Beach is right next to it and definatly worth a visit

We%26#39;re actually debating on hiring a car - staying with relatives, but not going to rely on them to transport us around too much. Also, if we don%26#39;t have enough time, then perhaps we might skip Disneyland and save that for Disney World in Florida next year.

Is it going to be easy to get from Chinatown to these places by bus/train? If we have time, I would definitely like to spend some time in South Bay as well...

Chinatown is close to Union Station, so that should be no problem getting around by bus/subway during the day. At night it%26#39;s a little different but unless your family out here has a driveway, there are not many places you can park in downtow. But you could always take a quick taxiride from Union Station to your families house

And is there plenty of parking all around LA - Hollywood, Mid City, West Hollywood, Beverley Hills?

Here%26#39;s what my itinery is at the moment, without Disneyland:

Day 1 - Chinatown/Downtown, lunch in Mid Town, Grauman%26#39;s Theatre and other Hollywood sites, shopping in West Hollywood, dinner at Koi

Day 2 - Universal Studios, view Hollywood sign, shopping in Beverley Hills

Day 3 - First half Santa Monica beach, second half Manhattan beach

Day 4 - Downtown, depart LA

Does this seem feasible? Would it be best if we hire a car for all 3 days or would bus and train be okay?

L.A.is a carcity, usually you will find parking fairly easy with the exception of downtown l.a.

Thanks! What time is peak hour usually in LA? I want to stay away from that where possible :)

As long as you stay away from the freeways(6-9 am/4-7pm) you will be fine. Surface streets are usually the way to go

Thanks very much Alex! Looking forward to this trip now :)