Critique my Itinerary

OK - 3 days in LA, myself and boyfriend both early 30%26#39;s. Want to: tick off the main sights, do some shopping, enjoy some bars and generally get a feel for the place, not too hectic. We%26#39;ll have a car.

Here%26#39;s the current plan - any suggestions about how to improve it would be great!

We%26#39;re arriving from Santa Barbara on the first morning, staying in Hollywood Hills Hotel on night 1, and Los Feliz the second night (yeah, I know that%26#39;s a bit of a bizarre decision!) We%26#39;re then driving to Las Vegas to arrive around nightfall.

Day 1 - Sunday

-starting in Santa Barbara, leaving around 10am.

-Drive to Santa Monica on PCH1.

Lunchtime and early afternoon in Santa Monica and Venice Beach.

-late afternoon to Hollywood Hills Hotel

-Early evening onwards, Hollywood %26#39;tick list%26#39; (Mann%26#39;s Theatre, Walk of Fame etc) and food and drink .

Day 2 - Monday

-Leave Hollywood Hills Hotel

-Drive to Rodeo Drive (tick-list/window shopping)

-Shopping Day ( including farmer%26#39;s market for lunch, Melrose Avenue, N Robertson etc).

-Drive to Los Feliz Lodge.

-Evening in bars in Los Feliz (Dresden etc).

Day 3 - Tuesday

-Relaxed breakfast in Los Feliz area

-Griffith Park?? Or something else - not sure.

-Leave LA around 3-4pm for Las Vegas.

Somewhere in this itinerary I%26#39;d like to drive down Sunset Blvd and/or Mulholland Drive, maybe see the Getty and drive around Beverly Hills. Just not sure where it makes sense to fit this in our schedule! We%26#39;ve probably got most time on Tuesday but it%26#39;d be heading back in the wrong direction plus I%26#39;ve got to drive to Vegas so don%26#39;t want to add in lots of extra driving.

Critique my Itinerary

Everything looks fine except for the time you%26#39;ve chosen to drive to Vegas. That%26#39;s rush hour and could turn what should be about a 4 hour drive (or 5 hour) into much, much, longer. If you left at 7PM you%26#39;d probably get there at the same time! Exaggerating a little, but not much.

Leave for Vegas about 2PM or else wait until after about 7 or so. Also, I would leave Santa Barbara earlier to give yourselves more time in Santa Monica. At least an hour earlier.

Critique my Itinerary

Thanks for the tip about when to leave for Las Vegas. I don%26#39;t want to arrive in Vegas until after dark (just because I think it%26#39;d be fun to have our first sight of Vegas at night, and I%26#39;ve heard the sunsets over the desert can be worth seeing).

If we left around 2pm, how could we kill a couple of hours on the road to Vegas so we arrive after dark? I%26#39;ve heard about Calico ghost town - would this be open and worth a visit? Anything else?

Also, is a circular drive Sunset Blvd/Getty/Mulholland drive a good idea? How long might this take us? When would be a good time to fit it into the schedule?

My only other potential thought for Tuesday was driving to Orange County for a couple of hours (as it%26#39;s the same general direction to pick up the I-15) - we used to big fans of %26#39;The OC%26#39; (yeah yeah, I know we%26#39;re far too old for it!). It%26#39;d be a bit of a box tick just to say we%26#39;d been there. Is it well out of our way? Would setting off from Orange County %26gt; Vegas be better or worse than starting in Hollywood?

Orange County is enormous, the size of a small country. And, the OC wasn%26#39;t really filmed there, but mostly in the South Bay beaches like Redondo and Hermosa. It%26#39;s not on the way to Vegas, but can be visited, although you don%26#39;t really have the time.

If you are visiting the Getty, then taking Sunset one way and Mulholland the other, is a great way to do it, and easy. I would do this on Tuesday and have lunch there.

You barely have any time here at all, postpone your drive to Vegas until after rush hour, leaving around 7PM or so.

Right, that make thing easier, skip Orange County then.

A trip to the Getty via Sunset and Mulholland Drive sounds like a good idea. Thanks for the advice.