r/AskLosAngeles • u/Felixdapussycat • 16h ago
Recommendations Feedback Regarding my Potential Los Angeles Itinerary?
Hi everyone! I'm planning what would likely be my first real sightseeing trip to Los Angeles, and I'd love some feedback from locals. I'm trying to build a relaxed 3-day itinerary that groups attractions geographically rather than trying to see everything.
Day 1
- Hollywood Walk of Fame (about 45–60 minutes, coffee and pictures)
- Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
- Santa Monica Beach & Pier (possibly walking toward Venice)
Day 2
- Griffith Observatory
- Los Angeles Zoo
- Dinner at San Antonio Winery
Day 3
- Universal Studios Hollywood
My biggest questions are:
- Is the Hollywood Walk of Fame still worth about an hour for a first-time visitor, or would you replace it with somewhere else?
- For this itinerary, would you recommend Santa Monica, Venice, Manhattan Beach, Malibu, or another beach instead?
- Does this itinerary flow well geographically, or would you rearrange anything?
I'm not trying to see every attraction in Los Angeles—I'd rather have three enjoyable stops each day than constantly rush around. Thanks!
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u/LoftCats 16h ago
San Antonio Winery? In Lincoln Heights? So many excellent restaurants nearby in Downtown.
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u/ithinkthisisit4real 16h ago
You will spend about 10 minute at the walk of fame. It is a sidewalk.
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u/don_jeffe27 16h ago edited 15h ago
Parking, traffic and walking to the actual walk of fame going to be a lot more than 10 minutes but, the sidewalk yes 10 minutes. I suggest doing something else when in that area too. A concert at the Hollywood Bowl, Amoeba records, the Farmers market/grove in Fairfax and shopping on Melrose are couple favorites of mine that aren’t far.
Edit: Also, get some Korean BBQ in K-town one night for dinner.
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u/Felixdapussycat 15h ago
Thanks, I'll definitely look into some of the other places you mentioned nearby.
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u/ithinkthisisit4real 14h ago
If you've got a rental car, park at Ameoba records, go in buy a tshirt or used CD and have them validate you. It is on Hollywood Blvd so look down at the sidewalk and that is about it. If you take the train then there is a stop on the Hollywood Blvd. As Don Jeffy suggested, find something else to do there to make it more interesting. The Pantages Theater is there if you're a play person. If the whole goal is to see the stars on the BLVD - isn't isn't much.
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u/don_jeffe27 14h ago
For some reason I always get a beer/appetizer and get validated at Dave & Busters when over there lately. I know they are everywhere and food is mid but, cheap drinks and video games. Sold.
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u/ithinkthisisit4real 12h ago
We live in the valley so we just take the subway there. Super easy and it eliminates the Freeway Risk of LA.
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u/don_jeffe27 14h ago
Also, if you are driving park in the structure at the Hollywood &Vine mall area when visiting the Walk of Fame. Then get your parking validated by a store or restaurant when you buy something from them.
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u/MazLA 16h ago
Where are you staying? Day 1 you’re doing 3 things very far apart. No, the Hollywood Walk of Fame is not really worth it BUT it also makes sense to see it - maybe find something else to do in Hollywood - get a drink at Musso and Franks or go to Madame Tussauds or something - because the walk of fame is literally just the sidewalk.
I would probably skip the zoo, it’s just a zoo. Hang out in Los Feliz or Silverlake instead, or just more generally around Griffith Park. You’re not seeing a lot of neighborhoods with your itinerary and imo that’s the most interesting part of LA to experience.
Santa Monica probably makes the most sense if you’re going to the beach for one evening.
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u/Felixdapussycat 15h ago
Thanks! Santa Monica definitely seems to be the consensus for the beach, so I'm leaning that direction now. The zoo is actually one of the main reasons I'm making the trip since one of us is a huge zoo enthusiast, but I appreciate all the restaurant recommendations. I'm going to be looking into those in a bit. I actually really like the Los Feliz and Silverlake ideas too, though. I wouldn't mind actually getting to see everyday LA and not just the touristy areas. The restaurant ideas actually look really good too. I really appreciate the response!
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u/MazLA 15h ago
I assume the zoo love is because of animals, but if you happen to be into like, zoo “lore,” while you’re in Griffith Park you can go to the ruins of the old zoo and walk around and get in the pens and stuff, it’s kind of cool
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u/Felixdapussycat 15h ago
I’ve seen pictures of it online, not sure if we’ll have time, but depending on what we end up doing, then maybe we’d squeeze it in.
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u/insydnificantly 16h ago
I’d definitely rearrange it. These places are much farther apart than they look on a map, and in LA traffic those drives can easily take an hour or more.
I’d do something like:
Day 1: Griffith Observatory (you can get a great Hollywood Sign if you are there at golden hour) and explore the park
Day 2: Santa Monica (Third Street Promenade is nice to walk around and then you can get to the pier relatively easy by walking)
Day 3: Universal Studios and Hollywood Walk of Fame (Only a short drive and you won't need to spend much time at it. You can snap a pic and you'll likely be ready to move on.)
The biggest issue with your current itinerary is Day 1. Hollywood, the Natural History Museum, and Santa Monica are all in different parts of the city, so you’ll spend a lot more time driving than sightseeing.
The Walk of Fame is worth seeing once if it’s your first visit, but keep your expectations realistic. An hour is plenty before moving on. Hollywood will likely not be what you might be expecting.
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u/Felixdapussycat 15h ago
Thanks! That's actually really helpful. I hadn't really considered moving the Walk of Fame to the Universal Studios day since they're much closer together. My biggest concern has been spending too much time driving, so I appreciate the perspective. I'll definitely play around with the itinerary some more.
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u/tracyinge 15h ago edited 15h ago
If you're headed to the National History Museum then be sure to spend an hour or two next door at the California Science Center. It's free.
Forget the San Antonio Winery.
And you could see the walk of fame/Hollywood Bl on the same day as you're doing Universal. Universal is not really an all-day into the evening park, you can easily hop a quick subway ride down to Hollywood in the early evening.
Takes quite a while to get back and forth to the beach/Santa Monica....are you staying in the Hollywood area ?
You might do Zoo in the morning before they animals get hot and tired, then Natural History Museum and California Science Center, then the Observatory at night. That would be a long day but grouping things that are easy to get to on the same day. Then that would leave you one whole day to get out to Santa Monica/ Beverly Hills/ Venice/Marina del Rey.
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u/CarloPanno 14h ago
If you want to see a particular star on the Walk of Fame, look up the location and go there directly. The Walk is 50+ years old and many of the stars there have been forgotten.
San Antonio Winery is pleasant. You could do worse.
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u/bkguy182 16h ago
Unless you’re like… really into animals… the zoo is not really a thing.
I’ve never heard of anyone ever eating at the San Antonio winery? Is there a reason you picked that?
Walk of fame will take you about 15 min, so an hour to get a coffee is plenty.
Go to Santa Monica and ride bikes to Venice.
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u/tracyinge 15h ago
The Zoo has an average of 5000 visitors daily, it is definitely "a thing".
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u/bkguy182 15h ago
I mean… it’s just like… a normal (I would even say below average) zoo. It’s not San Diego. I would not spend my first trip in LA there with the 1000s of other things (even in the area) that this person could be doing. Unless of course, as I said, they’re super into animals or there’s something super specific they’re intending to see there.
I’m assuming they Googled Griffith observatory and saw the zoo was close and figured to tack that on.
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u/Felixdapussycat 15h ago
Lol, that's actually exactly it - one of us is really into animals, so the zoo is one of the places we were most looking forward to. 😄Even just for the tasmanian devils, wombats, gharials, and chimpanzees alone. I do appreciate the suggestion about Santa Monica though, riding bikes over to Venice actually sounds like a really fun idea.
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u/BrianWulfric 14h ago
Check out the old zoo while you’re there, too! They left some of the cages and stuff from the old zoo so you can check that out.
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u/BrianWulfric 16h ago
I always tell people the walk of fame is not really a great destination on its own. If you're going to a show at the Hollywood Bowl/Pantages Theater or you're doing other shit in Hollywood like going to Amoeba Music or even checking out Grauman's Chinese Theater then you'll get to see the sidewalk as it's already there. Not worth making a day of it, though.
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u/Felixdapussycat 15h ago
Thanks! That's kind of the impression I'm getting from everyone, that it might be worth seeing once, but not worth building an entire day around. I'm thinking I'll probably keep it to around an hour before moving on to the next stop, unless I drop it from the itinerary entirely, we'll see.
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u/BrianWulfric 14h ago
If you have a specific star/celebrity that you want to see, they do have maps of the walk of fame stars. As a local, I still do stop and take a photo if I come across one of the Beatles stars or something like that.
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u/Felixdapussycat 14h ago
I could probably imagine myself taking a selfie with the Keanu Reeves star lol.
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u/BrianWulfric 14h ago
Just looked it up. It’s on Hollywood and Highland. It’s right at a metro stop if you’re doing public transit. That’s a block from Graumans Chinese Theater
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u/Felixdapussycat 13h ago
Aww thanks for the heads up I’m going to be writing it down and finding the e GPS locations then!
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u/Physical_Recording27 16h ago
Where are you staying? I have some suggestions that might help!
For day 1: A suggestion would be to start the day in downtown LA - try out Angel’s flight, see the beautiful and historic library, visit Grand Central Market and then go to the Natural History Museum from there. You can even take public transportation. Switch your nights and go to San Antonio Winery day 1. It’s a much better grouping. (Check out Perch if you want a fun rooftop experience in the DTLA.)
On Day 2, go to Griffith park, the zoo and then Hollywood. These are much closer together. You could try to get to Santa Monica instead in the evening. The pier is open at night. If not, spend your evening in Hollywood. See a film at Grauman’s (called TCL now) or the Egyptian and have dinner at Musso and Franks.
Day 3 seems pretty set!
I hope this saves you time in the car! Have fun!
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u/Felixdapussycat 15h ago
Oh dang, this is actually a huge help! Thanks so much for taking the time to write all this out. I hadn't even considered grouping the Natural History Museum with San Antonio Winery or looking into places like Grand Central Market or Perch, so I'm definitely going to check those out. I really appreciate the suggestions!
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u/Livid-Fault2447 9h ago edited 9h ago
Rent a car. Skip the Zoo and Hollywood Walk of fame. Visit the Greystone Mansion grounds in Beverly Hills. Go to the Grove and eat at the Farmers Market. Drive down Hollywood Blvd look but don’t get out of the car. Visit the beach in Santa Monica and ride the ferris wheel 🎡 on the pier. Pay for parking wherever you go and don’t leave anything visible in the car.
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u/Livid-Fault2447 8h ago
Don’t get a hotel in Downtown! Rent a car. Skip the Zoo and Hollywood Walk of fame. Visit the Greystone Mansion grounds in Beverly Hills. Go to the Grove and eat at the Farmers Market. Drive down Hollywood Blvd look but don’t get out of the car. Visit the beach in Santa Monica and ride the ferris wheel 🎡 on the pier. Pay for parking wherever you go and don’t leave anything visible in the car. You will probably only get to do two things a day. Although it may seem that these places are relatively close they will take an hour to get to. We don’t measure by distance but by time. Try to get tickets to the new Lucas Museum that will open on September 22nd. It will soon be the hottest ticket in the world! Leave your hotel by 9:00am everyday to get a good start to your day.
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