Los Angeles, California in 6 Days Travel Blog
After receiving a $500 airline voucher, I decided to fly to the West Coast and explore Los Angeles, California for the first time. My mom met me out there and we spent 7 days trying to fit in as many touristy things in a week as possible. LA has so much to see and do that you could live there for years, and still not have done it all. I bought the 5-day Go Los Angeles city card pass that gave me admission to 35+ Los Angeles attractions and experiences. The pass is also available in 1,2, 3, and 7 days, although Universal Studios is only included in the 3+ day options. The pass comes with an easy-to-use app with a guide of the city. This helped me plan out our days. I used the pass for 5 days on days 2 through 6 of my trip. I also made an itinerary on Sygic Travel that you can view. Day 1 Miracle Mile After traveling for 24 hours, I was exhausted so the first day of the trip was a day to relax. We stayed at the Renaissance Hotel close to the airport on the first night before transferring to our AirBnB the following day. After getting settled in, I walked to the La Brea Tar Pits, which are a group of tar pits around Hancock Park. Natural asphalt has seeped up from the ground in this area for tens of thousands of years. Over many centuries, the tar preserved the bones of trapped animals. You can walk around and see the tar pits without paying for the museum. The George C. Page Museum is dedicated to researching the tar pits and displaying specimens from the animals that died there, including several animals from the Ice Age. The price to enter the museum is $12 or can be used with the Go Los Angeles card. However, I did not start my 5-day pass until the following day. Directly beside the Tar Pits, is the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. This art museum is located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile vicinity. It is the largest art museum in the western United States and holds more than 150,000 works spanning the history of art from ancient times to the present. In addition to art exhibits, the museum features film and concert series. The admission price is $25. Here, you can also find “Urban Light“. Let there be light – is definitely the thing that will come to your mind when you see the 202 street lamps arranged into one sculpture by Chris Burden. Even though the lamps are of the same color, they differ in heights and types so it is not a totally uniform sculpture. Right down the road from these two attractions is the Peterson Automotive Museum. Tickets cost $25. I did not go in, but it is something to consider if you are in the area. The night I arrived, I went out to two bars in Venice. One was The Lincoln and the other was Roosterfish. Day 2 Santa Monica, Malibu, and Venice Beach Today was the first day that I used my Go Los Angeles pass. I started off by catching an Uber to the Santa Monica Pier. On this popular pier, you will find many attractions like an amusement park, aquarium, arcade, shops, an iconic carousel, and many places to get food. I arrived right at 9AM and went straight to the Starline office to ask if there was room on the 9:30AM celebrity homes tour. I was in luck! This is free with the Go Card on a standby basis so as long as they still have room on the bus, then you can go. There were only about 9 people on the tour and the bus could fit roughly 20. On the tour, I enjoyed the bus ride from Santa Monica to Malibu along the pacific Coast Highway, where I admired elite beachfront communities. Homes I saw on the tour included: Leonardo DiCaprio, Bruce Willis, Cher, Adam Chandler, Jennifer Anniston, Courtney Cox, Matthew Perry, Ellen, David Beckham, Paris Hilton, Jim Carrey, and more. These are there summer/vacation homes, so don’t be expecting anything overly extravagant. My favorite homes were actually the ones on the hills, like Cher, Ellen, and David Beckhams, versus the beachfront homes. The tour lasted about 2 hours and ended back at the Santa Monica Pier. Our tour guide, Leo, recommended a few places to eat at for lunch. I ended up eating at an authentic Italian restaurant called Bruno’s. It was very good. After lunch, I headed back onto the Santa Monica Pier. I took photos with the Route 66 sign. This was cool seeing because I just taught my students about it when learning about the Westward Expansion. U.S. Route 66, also known as the Will Rogers Highway, the Main Street of America, or the Mother Road, was one of the original highways in the U.S. Highway System. US 66 was established on November 11, 1926. The highway, which became one of the most famous roads in the United States, originally ran from Chicago, Illinois to Santa Monica, covering a total of 2,448 miles. US 66 served as a primary route for those who migrated west, especially during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. I next used my Los Angeles Go Card to redeem my unlimited ride wristband at Pacific Park. This normally costs $35. This park looks directly out on the Pacific Ocean, in the direction of Catalina Island. It is the only amusement park on the West Coast of the United States located on a pier and LA’s only admission-free park. There are a total of twelve rides in Pacific Park, including the world’s first and only solar powered Ferris wheel that provides a view of the Pacific Ocean and a roller coaster that circles the majority of the park. It has appeared in over 500 movies and television shows, so was definitely