"PTRAVEL" wrote in message
news:2j9jipFuh1q5U1@uni-berlin.de...
>
> "Matt Robinson" wrote in message
> news:xPMzc.95$J4.0@newsfe5-win...
> > Hi, I'm a 23 year old from London looking to go to L.A. for a couple of
> > weeks this summer with my best friend. We were thinking about grabbing a
> > cheap hotel around town, taking in the sun, the sites, heading to the
> > beaches, and enjoying a little bit of the night life.
> > However as much as I'm looking forward to it, the more I've started
> > researching, the more I'm starting to wonder if this is all such a good
> idea
> > as neither of us drive and therefore don't plan on hiring a car - and it
> > sounds like in the US there is much more of an emphasis on driving than
> > public transport? In London you can live quite easily with just using
> buses,
> > trains and the subway, but I'm wondering if that's possible (and safe)
in
> > LA. So any tips or advice along those lines would very helpful,
including
> > suggestions for places to stay around town that could cut down our
travel
> > issues, while still being in nice parts of town.
>
> Of all of the cities in the US, Los Angeles has the worst public
> transportation system. It has a subway (underground), but its reach is
> still quite limited. There is a public bus system, but it is unreliable
and
> the busses run infrequently.
I am sorry but that's just not true. LA's public transportation problem is
that it's a huge area covered by different municipalities. To get from one
place to another often requires long bus rides and several transfers.
>Additionally, virtually everyone in LA who can
> afford one has a car -- you will meet a very different class of people on
> the busses. There are some bus routes on which gang activity is a
problem.
>
> It is not impossible to get around LA without a car, but it is quite
> difficult. You might consider taxis as an alternative.
>
> "Los Angeles" is really a huge metropolitan area comprising a number of
> cities. It sprawls throughout a huge basin, i.e. there really isn't a
> central section. Areas that visitors would want to see include Santa
Monica
> and Venice, which are beach communities, West Los Angeles (the Getty
Museum,
> restaurants, Melrose, Sunset Blvd., clubs, etc.), Beverly Hills, and
> Downtown (the Music Center, Museum of Contemporary Art), Pasadena
> (restaurants and museums), Universal City (Universal Theme Park, Burbank
> Studios Tour, which is nearby).
>
> I lived in Los Angeles for more than 20 years (I left the area last
summer).
> I can't imagine getting around without a car.
>
> > Additionally, how feasible in that part of the country is it to take
> the
> > odd day excursion out of the city by train or coach and explore some of
> the
> > quieter surrounding areas (providing there's stuff worth seeing)? For
> > instance just grabbing a train down the coast for a change of scenary,
> that
> > sort of thing?
>
> There are trains that run up the coast (Santa Barbara and the area around
> Hearst Castle are worth visiting), and down (San Diego and Tiajuana,
Mexico,
> though I'd recommend avoiding the latter). However, train service in the
US
> is far below what you're used to in Britain. Amtrak is the US passenger
> rail service -- I believe it has a website with schedules.
>
> > Any advice, tips, places to stay and most importantly places to
> > definitely avoid would be really useful.
> >
> > --
> >
> >
> >
>
>
|