USA Week 2: Los Angeles city with many faces
Last week we were in beautiful San Diego.
This week we arrived at the City of Angels Los Angeles. Curious how we experienced this famous and huge city? You can read all about it here!
Best train journey of our lives
Last week we were hoping that the journey from San Diego to Los Angeles
would be a little smoother than the journey from Los Angeles to San Diego. The original plan was to cover this distance with the rental car. But after a chat with a San Diego resident, we decided to take the train (Amtrak). She advised against driving to Los Angeles by car during the day. The traffic jams are huge and it can take up to three hours more before you arrive at your destination. That would mean that our trip to Los Angeles would take about five hours. That seemed too much to us.
We chose to take the train and that was an excellent choice! The train was luxurious,had a small restaurant on board and had free wifi. On top of that, the train ran all the way along the coast and we had a magnificent view of the ocean. This was the most beautiful train trip of our lives and a magnificent experience!
City of Angels
Arriving in Los Angeles, we caught up with the crowds again. Tall buildings, dirty streets and little to no restaurants on site, were our first impressions of Los Angeles. This town is really big. And by big we mean huge! The first days we decided to buy a GO pass online which gave us three days of access to various attractions and museums. This is without a doubt the cheapest solution to see a lot in short time.
Universal Studios
We spent our first full day visiting the impressive Universal Studios. This amusement park is where (originally) films were made from Universal Studios. There are still movie sets you can visit and all sorts of themed attractions to live out. We were very much looking forward to this visit and it didn’t disappoint us! We experienced the best 4D attractions ever and we got a look behind the scenes of well-known movies and TV series. A unique experience that we recommend to everyone!



Well-known museums
The days after that we went from museum to museum with our entrance pass. First of all we visited the famous people of Madame Tussauds. This museum was small but very nice to do! We have to admit that Madame Tussauds in Amsterdam and London are more impressive.
Then we headed down Hollywood Boulevard in search of our favorite celebrities who have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. We also expected this to be bigger. Hollywood is very small in reality. All the well-known museums about celebrities,you can find around this boulevard.
We also visited the
Hollywood Museum,
where marilyn monroe’s world famous white dress can be seen. Then we visited the Dolby Theatre. This is better known as the theatre where the Oscars are handed out every year. This visit was very special. So we were in the same place where all the world famous movie stars have already moved. Leonardo DiCaprio, for example, finally won his well-deserved first Oscar two years ago. A special place to visit!
Furthermore we also visited the Grammy Museum
, which was very very amusing! As a true music lover this is a real must-see with lots of interaction as a visitor. Finally, we did a Celebrity Homes Tour. This was a long tour through Beverly Hills and surroundings looking for the homes of well-known celebrities. So we passed the house of Justin Timberlake, Katy Perry, Beyoncรฉ and Jay-Z and even one of the houses of Michael Jackson. We have never seen such an imposing place in our lives! You just have to see it for yourself because you really can’t imagine. This tour is definitely recommended when you are in Hollywood!
With this pass we walked in and out everywhere and so we saw a lot in three days time. So we definitely got value for money!



Disappointment
Outside of these three fantastic days thanks to the pass, Los Angeles was a disappointment for us. Because the city is so big, it is difficult to discover nice and cozy places. You don’t ‘suddenly’ walk past a nice place.
Our trip to coveted Santa Monica, for example, couldn’t be more disappointing. This seaside resort is known for its long pier on the water with amusement park. In reality, it was disappointing for us. It was very busy and not even as beautiful as we imagined it. The attractions were pricey and in our opinion not super. This is absolutely not recommended for us when you are in Los Angeles.
Another, albeit smaller, disappointment was Venice Beach. There is a lot of talk about this too, but we have been a little disappointing. We understand that some people may like this seaside resort. There is a long promenade along the beach, there are several souvenir shops,a nice expanse of beach and of course the cosy canals reminiscent of Venice. However this place for us was far too crowded, anything but easily accessible and not really impressive. We like quiet and smaller beaches more.



A city with many faces
Los Angeles is a city with many faces. There are so many different places that supposedly are really worth visiting, but it’s not. We liked Hollywood for one day. Just like Beverly Hills was. The glamour that this place exudes is simply unique in the world. You must have been there once.
Downtown Los Angeles has left us anything but a strong impression. You will find mainly multinationals and other companies. Moreover, you see a lot of homeless people here and that doesn’t make the picture any better. There is little cosiness or uniqueness to this part of the city.
Beyond the fun museums and amusement parks that Los Angeles has to offer, we think this city is a bit of a calling. There’s a lot to see and do, but after a few days we kept it up for review. We really expected more from the City of Angels. Moreover, we were sorry to see how one side of this city belongs to the richest people in the world and another part of the city lives on the streets. This is not going to make us any happier. The
City of Angels
is for us rather the City of Many
Faces
.
From Los Angeles to Las Vegas
This was our week in Los Angeles. Let us know for sure what you think of los Angeles. We are now moving on to Las Vegas and we are looking forward to it! If only for the pool at the hotel. Read it here next week. Can’t you wait till then? Then you can follow us on
Facebook
or on
Instagram.
Our travel guide about America
can be found here.
Bella Beauty
Amerika staat echt op mijn bucketlist! Zo gaaf… jullie zijn weer een paar ervaringen rijker! ๐๐ฝ
roadtrippersofthesun
We hebben inderdaad heel veel gezien op deze roadtrip! Ik hoop dat jij ook snel Amerika kan gaan ontdekken!
verdraaidmooi
Heel gaaf zeg! Ik zou vooral een keer over the walk of fame willen lopen.
roadtrippersofthesun
Dat stond ook lang op onze bucketlist maar heeft een beetje teleurgesteld zoals je kan lezen in ons bericht. Wel een fijne ervaring!
Nicole Orriรซns
Urenlang in de file staan lijkt mij ook niks. Fijn dat de trein zo goed beviel, en goed dat je hoorde dat dit de betere optie was.
roadtrippersofthesun
Ja het was echt vรฉรฉl praktischer en leuker!
EsterDepret.be
Wauw, staat echt op mijn bucketlist!
Spijtig dat er ook enkele teleurstellingen waren, en goed dat je deze ook deelt ๐
roadtrippersofthesun
Het is onze bedoeling heel eerlijk te schrijven over onze ervaringen. Als er teleurstellingen zijn, delen we ook die… Als je richting Amerika trekt, zou ik LA zo laten en eerder Las Vegas/Nationale Parken en New York doen. Een pak leuker en mooier ๐
Ellen Das
Je foto’s zien er fantastisch uit! Ik kan me heel goed voorstellen dat jullie het als te druk en te veel ervaarden. Aan de andere kant ben je natuurlijk weer een superervaring rijker!
roadtrippersofthesun
Dat is heel erg lief, dankjewel Ellen! De ervaring nemen we altijd mee, dat is zo. En we hebben zo veel andere mooie plekken gezien!
Amelie
Ik wil ook wel eens naar LA! Die walk of fame moet je op zich toch al eens gezien hebben!
roadtrippersofthesun
Inderdaad ‘eens gezien hebben’ maar meer was er niet echt aan ๐
Simone
Deze stad hebben we overgeslagen. Maar ziet er top uit!
roadtrippersofthesun
Je moet het je niet beklagen, je hebt niets gemist! New York vonden we vรฉรฉl leuker en mooier.
stefaanvivant
Super leuke blogpost met fantastische foto’s! Universal Studios staat ook nog op men verlanglijstje! Allez Los Angeles staat volledig op men lijstje ๐
roadtrippersofthesun
Ik kan begrijpen dat het op je lijst staat, net zoals dat bij ons was. Maar LA is echt overroepen, vinden wij. Als je kan kiezen, zou ik voor Las Vegas gaan en New York. Twee toppers! Maar Universal Studios in LA was uiteraard ook heel erg leuk!
Hippiemeisje
die universal studio’s lijken mij echt wel eens de moeite om naartoe te gaan…
eerst maar eens in amerika raken…. hmmm
roadtrippersofthesun
Dat is helemaal waar! Maar verder is er niet veel รฉcht de moeite in LA (vinden wij). Amerika op zich is niet de allermooiste plek om naartoe te gaan…
Anne - Travelgoodies.nl
Wat jammer dat Santa Monica en Venice Beach tegen vielen. Maar lijkt me toch tof om ook eens die kant op te gaan… ben benieuwd naar het sfeertje etc!
roadtrippersofthesun
Ja, ik begrijp dat je nieuwsgierig bent, dat waren wij ook. Maar eerlijk gezegd zou ik je niet aanraden om er tijd noch geld aan te geven (aan Los Angeles). Een beetje overroepen… Ga liever naar New York of Las Vegas. Zo veel meer te beleven!