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This section includes shopping, eating and drinking. However, in my opinion, the best way to maximize LA's location is by taking road trips. Snow or sand, lakes or beaches, all will be within a two hour drive from the city.

More Information:

  • Your options

    Within approximately two hours drive from Hollywood you can enjoy skiing in Big Bear Mountain, or getting sun burnt in Palm Springs. Santa Barbara is another popular destination and to make it a great journey you should experience the drive alongside the Pacific by taking Highway 1, (also known as "Pacific Coast Highway" or "PCH").

    Regional tourist destination points include;

    Further afield; you will find the drive to San Diego takes around three hours. www.sandiego.org

    Mexico is also a very popular destination, http://www.mexonline.com/

    Las Vegas will take about five hours to drive and well worth a visit. Vegas is not just about gambling, there are shows, shopping and nightlife. Flying takes about an hour, though this is not as quick as it sounds as you still need to go through the airport system on both ends! Most people agree two nights stay is enough. www.lasvegas.com

    The Amtrak is an iconic train and travel information can be found at Amtrack Title

  • Shopping

    LA is famed for its shopping and has many different areas, depending on what you are looking for.

    The obvious choices are;

    There are also many areas such as Melrose Avenue that have shops selling everything, but mainly clothes and second hand clothing.

    For those who don't mind driving out of town there are two outlet malls that are pretty straightforward to get to, and take between one and two hours to drive;

  • Restaurants

    There are so many restaurants and places to eat most of your initial choices will likely be via recommendations. For more info; www.calendarlive.com Another source is the book The Zagat Guide. This can be purchased from most bookshops. It gives information on each restaurant including opinion on food and clientele and also a price guide. NOTE: The tip is usually between 10% and 20%, or double the sales tax (which will be itemized on the bill). However if you have a large party, usually the gratuity is automatically added to the total (check this before getting ripped off).

  • Bars and clubs

    There are many great bars and clubs throughout LA. Central areas like Sunset Strip are hugely popular at the weekends, resulting in frequent traffic grid lock. LA Weekly is a good source of information but the same as every where else in the world ask somebody what they would recommend. Be sure to tip $1 per drink. There are very few (if any) private members clubs. For a good up to the minute source of places to go visit http://losangeles.citysearch.com

  • British pubs

    You will need to use your imagination slightly here as they tend to feel British but something is not quite right about them (the sun shining outside perhaps). However they are frequented by some of the British expat community, the most famous being in Santa Monica, called The Kings Head, the newest and in my opinion best is The Village Idiot on Melrose (more for the atmosphere than the food);

    Two of the best known in Hollywood are;

  • The gym

    LA is a fitness conscious place. There are many gyms and most will offer monthly as well as permanent memberships. If you choose monthly be sure that you have checked the gym out, as you may be limited to using just one facility.