I have 2 days in LA before my tour begins, never having been to the US and a solo traveller, could anyone advise me how safe it is during daylight hours in the city of LA, and is it easy to get around on the public transport system, or would i be better just to spend a bit more and organise day tours that will pick up and drop off at the hotel.

Hi Tara.... About LA... The LA area is very large and getting around can be difficult. It might help if you could let me know some of your interests. Are you a "Disneyland" person? Hollywood type? or maybe looking for museums? Or... looking for a great beach to layout in the sun. Southern California has so many sights. Drop me an e-mail @ michaelstark@prodigy.net (or post on the Insight bulletin Board). I used to live in LA but now reside in Northern Calif. Being a former teacher, I took my kids on a number of field trips throughout Southern California. (If I had my choice... I'd head for San Francisco) Mike

tara, I visited LA a couple of years ago and it was great! Lots to see and do and I found very safe - well some are not but the majority are.

IMHO I would suggest Hollywood over Disneyland...I found Disneyland lame...but Hollywood Blvd with the sex shops that we've all heard about, the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Mann's Chinese Theatre with the famous handprints and footprints...plus the stores, the people...WOW! A lot of fun.

You MUST visit Rodeo Drive which is an easy bus ride from anywhere in LA and a must see....IMHO.

When I went there I also waited in line to get in to see a popular game show called The Price Is Right and I ended up winning a car, a dining room set, etc.

Also great to see is the famed Venice Beach.

So much to see in LA, Hollywood and the surrounding area. The folks that work at the hotel you're staying at will tell you what places to avoid (East LA, etc) and how to get to some of these places...feel comfortable travelling there.

Sue, why do you have to go into really low-level stuff like sex shops and game shows.
Those things exist in all Western countries. Why would you want to "drag yourself down to base level" if you were a tourist in L.A.? There are far better things to see.

Tara, go to Disneyland and Universal Studios for a little "escapsism". They will take up a day each. Universal is closer to L.A.central.
Take a locally escorted day tour(I pre-booked mine through Qantas) that takes in Mann's theatre, the Walk of Fame, Venice Beach,Santa Monica, Marina Del Rey,Rodeo Drive, Hollywood and the "stars" houses. I did such a tour and it was great fun. Think it took up about half a day.
Can't believe that anyone would deliberately "send" you to the trashier areas of town if you had never been before.

I would say that if you had two days, I would head for Universal studios and the nearby "walk" of interesting shops, and the "local" tour. The Old Market area is very interesting and is quite safe. It's near the main railway station, if I remember rightly. It isn't hard to find. I'm still dragging around my favourite handbag "ever" and that's where it came from.
Still trying to get over why ANYONE would direct you to a sex shop or a game show in L.A.!!!
Linda

linda_t, maybe you should walk by a sex shop sometime. It might straighten out your base level.

LastminuteSue, look what you started. And I sure don't know what her problem is with game shows in Los Angeles.

General Max

Tara,
If I might be so bold as to ask where are you staying in LA? That might direct you as to where to visit. There are many lovely places to see, I really love Beverly Hills and the Santa Monica area. Those areas you could probably get around by bus. But, if your hotel is by the airport, you might have a different agenda. LA is very large and spread out, if you want to rent a car at the airport then you would be wise to get good directions at the car rental agency. I was born and lived in LA for a long time before moving to NJ. Like Sue said there are many things happening, it just depends on your fancy.
Kathy

Sue, you must be a very lucky person, not many people win on the game shows. I used to own an ice cream parlor on Hollywood Blvd.
Kathy

Linda, here's a question for you...if you went to Amsterdam, would you go to the Red Light District? If yes, I rest my case.

I'm not saying go in to the stores and buy a battery operated device for heaven's sake, I'm saying, visit Hollywood and walk Hollywood Blvd and smile as you "walk by" Fredericks of Hollywood. Take a picture and keep going.

Hey, if you went on vacation and won $30K US in prizes you'd quickly change your tune. Besides, if you knew anything about LA, you'd know LA is the home of game shows...Match Game, the Dating Game, the Price is Right, etc. etc. etc.

Why am I even arguing this with you? You obviously know absolutely nothing about LA and it's history and pop-culture.

I feel, IN MY HUMBLE OPINION, that going to Los Angeles and visiting Disneyland is a waste because you can visit theme parks in your own home town, you don't need to do it in Los Angeles...if I was in Paris you couldn't pay me enough to visit EuroDisney. You want to see what Los Angeles and the surrounding areas and their history not theme parks.

So much HISTORY in Los Angeles...Tower Records, yes, you can do a tour of famous people's homes, but it's not like years ago when all the old stars were alive and you just may see one of them but hey, go for it and have a blast.

I went to Hollywood Blvd and placed a flower on my favourite old time actor's star on the walk of fame...Dean Martin, then when I won the stuff on the Price is Right, I had my picture taken on the host of the show's star.

Max, I didn't know I would start this...holy smokes!

Kathy, being goofy, blonde, and Canadian is a sure-fire way to get on the show...they interview all 300 people in the audience to find the "most perky" folks.

Wish I'd known about your ice cream place when I went!

Linda, are you getting so old you must repeat yourself 3 times?

Still trying to get over why ANYONE would be such a prude in Australia!!!

golly gosh - just what have i started? a major war between countries???? makes me scared to ask for any more info if it causes hostility amongst us all. anyway thanks for your info everyone, i will be staying at the howard johnson wilshire royale 2619 wilshire blvd los angeles. i am not into scary rides so don't think disneyland is really for me, thinking along the lines of universal studio instead. definately wont be hiring a car - would be hard enough driving in a new city let alone on the wrong side of the road. and also not economically viable as i am travelling alone. would like to see where the stars have their handprints etc but no idea where that is. have checked out something called a city pass for $69 US - gives entry to universal studios, kodak theatre, hollywood entertainment museum, autry museum of western heritage, and a starline tours of hollywood. i am wondering if i take this pass whether i will manage to get myself to these places easily enough. thanks for your help eveyone.

tara, this always happens on these bulletin boards. You get such a wide variety of people that sooner or later we get on eachother's nerves.

The place where you can see the star's hands/feet is at Mann's Chinese Theatre which is on Hollywood Blvd. You can see the Walk of Fame while you're there as well.

If you're staying on Wilshire, it's just a hop, skip and a jump to Rodeo Drive. You can walk down this expensive street and go into some stores...my favourite is the Gucci store...they were so friendly, not at all snobby like in Pretty Woman.

Yes, you will be able to get to these places...the hotel will help you as well. They're really quite good at helping tourists get where they want to go.