Los Angeles & Southern California - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [6]
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NO CAR? NO PROBLEM! Three Days
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Hollywood Sign. Walk of Fame. Walt Disney Concert Hall. Rodeo Dr. Beach. Yup, it can be done. LA without a car. You’ll need patience, an open mind, a sense of direction and a couple of Metro day passes. Get an early start and plan on being back in the hotel at dinnertime.
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May we present: the logistics for three fun-filled carless days in LA, the city infamous for its traffic. West Hollywood makes a handy base of operation and puts you within walking distance – or short DASH bus ride – of the Farmers Market/Grove, Museum Row, hip restaurants and bars, and stylish shopping. Explore your immediate surroundings on day one, then the following morning catch the DASH bus north on La Cienega Blvd for Hollywood Boulevard, perhaps stopping for a gut-filling breakfast at the Griddle Café. Explore the legendary strip, then board the Metro Rail Red Line subway at Hollywood & Highland and head to Union Station in Downtown LA. Spend the afternoon following our walking tour on Click here, making sure to return to Union Station before 5pm. Catch the Red Line to Pershing Sq, then take Metro Rapid Bus 720 from Broadway & 5th St West to Fairfax & Wilshire and catch the last DASH at 6pm.
On day three, pack a swimsuit because you’re headed to the beach. But first, Beverly Hills. Board the DASH on La Cienega, transferring to the Metro Rapid 720 west bus at Fairfax & Wilshire. Get off at Rodeo Drive for a whiff of the lifestyles of the rich and famous and perhaps breakfast at Nate ‘n Al’s. Then it’s back on the bus and on to Santa Monica. Spend a couple of hours in the sand, check out the Santa Monica Pier or squeeze in some quality shopping along Third St Promenade. Catch the Metro Rapid 720 east no later than 5pm, again changing to the last 6pm DASH at Wilshire & Fairfax.
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DESERT RAMBLINGS One Week
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Open roads, big skies and breathtaking scenery await on this 800-mile magical mystery tour through the SoCal desert and the glamour capitals of Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Pack a good camera, a keen eye and an open mind.
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Start your trip with a couple of days in dynamic Los Angeles, then head east to retro-chic Palm Springs, the hip-unhip-and-hip-again former hangout of Elvis and Sinatra. Budget some time for the Desert Hills Premium Outlets to snap up deals from Gap to Gucci, then spend the afternoon kicking back poolside with margaritas and planning the next day. Options: exploring palm-studded canyons, trading the heat for a pine-scented alpine wonderland, going Gumby with a massage – or all of the above.
Then it’s goodbye to civilization and off to near-mystical Joshua Tree National Park, whose weathered boulders and whimsically twisted namesake trees have inspired many artists, most notably the band U2. Take time to linger, maybe joining a ranger-led walk to better engage with and understand this unique ecology. If you think this is stark beauty, turn your wheels north toward the starker-still Mojave Desert, a quiet pastiche of sand dunes, mountains, volcanic cinder cones and ghost towns.
By now, you’re surely ready for a big-city fix. So step on it, and head northeast for Vegas, baby. Sin City is exciting, seductive, outrageous and absolutely unique. Where else can you climb the Eiffel Tower, kiss your sweetie in a gondola and witness sexy sirens battle it out with pirates, all in a couple of hours? Before you gamble away your life savings, get back in the car for the drive west to Death Valley National Park, where the desert puts on a truly spectacular show. Singing sand dunes, desert floor covered in saw-toothed miniature mountains, hills erupting in fireworks of color and mysteriously footloose