What Order to tour with 1 Day in LA?

[taymaesmom]

So we will have one day in LA to tour, we want to hit Hollywood and Highland area for walk of fame etc, possibly Griffith Observatory, the Warner Bros tour and the beach (probably Santa Monica unless someone has a better/closer one). We will be leaving from Disneyland that morning.

My first thought was the beach (not planning on swimming just want to touch the ocean lol), then head to Hollywood/Highland, tour it some, lunch at Ghiradelli, then head to an afternoon Warner Bros tour (will schedule in advance) and then end the day at Griffith Observatory. We will probably stay just north of LA that night or right in that area. Oh and this will be on July 7 (a Sunday) if that matters/helps at all.

But I'm starting to second guess myself and wonder if we should do Hollywood/Highland first due to parking issues, then Warner Bros then the beach and end with Observatory or is that too much back in forth in LA traffic.

 

[PHXscuba]

Warner Bros is fairly close to Griffith Observatory so I would do them together if at all possible. I think the schedule you outlined in your first paragraph is a generally good order. I can't comment on the LA-area beaches as we always do one in Orange County.

Dinner between Warner Bros and Griffith Observatory -- we got messed up when we tried this. There's no food on/around the WB tour other than a Starbucks-type cafe, and the cafeteria at Griffith had very few things when we got there later afternoon. I'd have something specific picked out between or near the two. We ended up driving all the way back to OC and eating at 8:30 p.m.!

PHXscuba

 

[Jajone]

This will be a very long day.Traffic is horrendous so you need to spend extra time just for that. I would try an evening near a beach closer to Anaheim. There are tours you can take from Hollywood BLVD that include the Hollywood sign. Might be an easier way to get around.

 

[loveswdw]

We stayed at VGC several years ago and drove to Newport Beach on a Wednesday morning (left around 9:30 am from Anaheim, traffic wasn't bad). Stayed an hour/hour and a half (it was chilly so just walked up and down the beach but we saw the Pacific!). Then drove up to Burbank and had lunch at Bob's Big Boy (famous--lots of stuff filmed there) which is about a mile or so from Warner Bros Studios. Tried to do Griffith Observatory but no parking remotely close. Took the 3:30 pm WB Studios Tour (last one of that day) thinking we'd get out late enough to avoid some traffic back to Anaheim. Got out of WB about 6:30/7:00 pm. Took almost 3 hours to get back to Anaheim on the freeway. The traffic around LA is just like you see on TV. It's that bad.

 

[oakleycat]

Your plan will work, it's just a really long day and a lot of driving in traffic! On a weekday traffic will be horrible from Disneyland to LA unless you leave early (before 6 am) and heading back unless you leave late (like after 8-9 pm) but all the attractions will be a little less crowded. Since you're planning on a Sunday the traffic won't be quite as bad, though it's always horrible in that part of the city, especially in the summer, but all the tourist spots are packed. The beach will be least crowded in the morning so that's a good plan and if you get there early you should be able to find parking. Parking is not usually a problem at H&H unless it's Christmas season; morning in July should be fine. As long as you're willing to pay just leave the car there and do your sightseeing. I think it's still $3/hour/$17 max per day. Ghiradelli only has ice cream/chocolate so not the best lunch spot (unless that's what you're going for) but there are plenty of restaurants around including the mall food court if you want something quick. Do an afternoon tour at Warner Bros and then hit the observatory in the evening for sunset/beautiful views of the city at night. It's open late on the weekends but buy tickets in advance if you want to see a show as they sell out during the summer. It will be crazy and there will be traffic between each stop, but if you leave early and get back late you can see all the places you want to hit.

 

[nkereina]

Don't mean to hijack, but we're doing a similar itinerary. Can anyone speak to how the Warner Bros tour compares to the Paramount studio tour? In the several posts I've read, Warner Bros is often mentioned but I rarely see anything about Paramount. Paramount is slightly closer to our hotel, and also on the bus route of the hop on/hop off bus we're considering buying passes for. Just curious if Warner is significantly better. Cost and time is not a concern. Thanks!

 

[ninergrl6]

Don't mean to hijack, but we're doing a similar itinerary. Can anyone speak to how the Warner Bros tour compares to the Paramount studio tour? In the several posts I've read, Warner Bros is often mentioned but I rarely see anything about Paramount. Paramount is slightly closer to our hotel, and also on the bus route of the hop on/hop off bus we're considering buying passes for. Just curious if Warner is significantly better. Cost and time is not a concern. Thanks!

I've done several studio tours, but I don't think I've done Paramount (just drove by it). The Warner Bros. one is great though. I've done it a couple of times.

Back to the original poster, if you end with Griffith Observatory, make sure you're there before sunset. There's no point being there in the dark as you won't be able to see the surrounding views, which is really the whole purpose for driving all the way up there.