Santa Monica is plenty safe. I grew up there. Check out the Shan Gri la hotel on Ocean ave right across the street from palisades Park. It is really nice. I would not call it close to Hollywood, but maybe a 30 minute drive deepening on traffic conditions. Check out Venice Beach on a Sunday afternoon for a real slice of Americana.

IF you are riding take PCH north up to the LA/Ventura county line to Neptunes Net and then head up to the Rock Store in the hills of Calabasas for see a real AL biker hang out. Eat at Neptunes or Malibu Seafood for some killer seafood, (I prefer Malibu seafood as the food is better).

If staying in Santa Monica, do some shopping on the 3rd St. Promenade and in the newly redone Santa Monica Place which are right next to each other. The world famous Santa Monica Pier which appears in a lot of movies is a short walk from the hotel as are the shopping locations I gave. Plenty of good restaurants to walk to as well.

Feel free to PM me with any questions.

Drew

 

We just moved back from LA to TX.. So I'll take a stab...

1) how is the weather in LA and Las Vegas in december? Depends, can be as low as 40's, but generally count on high 40's to mid 50's inland at night, 40's to 50's on the coast. Daytime high's are 58 - 65 generally.Very nice light jacket riding.

2) whats the best/safe LA area to stay in a hotel? I would recommend you stay near the Long Beach / 405 / 710 area for easy access to the connectors to get in and out of the city. You can easily head north to Santa Barbara or South to OC and San Diego from here. Plus there's ample corporate lodging with parking and security.

3) Nice places to visit arround, landscapes, atractions etc..Bartells HD in Venice Beach is a must see. Lots of historic old bikes on display. Definitely take the drive up the 101 to Santa Barbara / Ventura. Also, going south on the 405 from L.A. to the 91 East will take you to the I-15 / I-215 and Palm Springs which is a nice Desert Ride. (160mi round trip) You can also take the 101 4-5 hours north to Monterey where the views are breathtaking. Hearst Castle is also up there.

4) where NOT to go (this is important) Do not go inland into north Long Beach, do not park your bike in Korea Town, or anywhere in Downtown L.A. Do not go into Inglewood, Compton, any numbered street (16th - 21st street particularly). Also, In general the bad areas are the industrial areas so when you stop seeing a starbucks on every corner you should flip a U-turn.

5) has anybody done a helicopter tour from Las Vegas to Great Canyon? Does it worth the money? I haven't, but I would imagine its totally worth it. Even better would be to drive to the GC and walk out on the new Glass Arc Walk that extends 70 feet over the Canyon. (See this months Hog Tales.)

6) nice outlet mall in LA, San diego or Las vegas area to go shopping just pick. Cali is the capital of outlets but there's the 3rd street promenade in Santa Monica, there are several outlets inland on the 91 near Chino Hills, and Corona. Off the I-5 in Carlsbad off Palomar Airport Way there's a really bad *** outlet mall. Very near Camp Pendleton as well.

7) Best HD dealer/store to buy parts - Easy GO TO Bartells ! in Venice ! or Fullerton HD in OC.

8) Best rock pubs in LA to have a drink. The Roxy, The Troubador, Pig N Whistle on Hollywood Blvd. Wednesday night is Bike Night at the "Starting Gate" in Los Alamitos on Katella and Valley View. I like the $2 beer joints myself. Best thing to do is hit the local dealerships Sites and look at their event calendar...Lots of times their local business will put bike night ads etc. up on the wall. You can also hit www.ocregister.com, local newspaper for events and goings on

Thank you very much for your help!!!

 

Bartel's in Marina Del Rey is my local dealer and a great place to check out. I still think Santa Monica is a better place to stay. It is very tourist friendly and everything you need is walking distance if you stay in downtown Santa Monica. The only thing is there in not an "outlet" mall in Santa Monica. Here is a map of downtown SM.

You can see 3rd st and Santa Monica Place. The hotel I recommended is on Arizona Ave and Ocean Ave.
There is also the Georgian Hotel about a block down which is very nice. Come to think of it, I would choose the Georgian.
http://maps.google.com/maps?oe=utf-8...ed=0CBYQ8gEwAA

Drew

 

The Georgian is awesome.

I had a going away dinner at the Fish Place downstairs. . . Pricey, but so worth it and right across the street from the Marina

 

Palm Springs is 105 miles east of LA via interstate highway 10. Palm Springs to Las
Vegas is 260 miles if you take the scenic route - hwy 62 to hwy 247 to Barstow and
get on interstate 15 to Las Vegas - this also misses LA to Barstow traffic which can
be bad at times.

I suggest you try Google maps but beware as the shortest route given as an alternative
often will take you through desolate country on some bad roads.

Palm Springs also has hotel casinos - the Spa, Agua Caliente and Fantasy Springs are
the nicest. Best biker bar is the Palm Canyon Roadhouse - downtown & live music/ no
cover.

 

I cant go to venice on sunday because im going to be in vegas so beside sunday what is the best day to go to venice? maybe saturday?

does farmers market worth a visit?

I have tickets for Clippers Vs Lakers and I was thinking on visiting downtown LA that day in the morning, whats the best to see in downtown LA? The idea is to get ther in the morning, leave the car in a private parking close to stapples centre and walk arround downtown LA

I remember (15 years ago) that downtown passadena was a nice place to visit with all the coffe places and restaurants, still a nice place to visit?

Also want to go to the walk of fame, kodak theatre and capitol records building, is it easy to find a private parking in this area?

Thank you

 

can anybody help with this?

 

Saturday is great at Venice Beach providing the weather is decent.
Farmers Market will put you near other places you want to visit & is pretty cool.
Downtown LA - really nothing other than the clothing district & (fake) jewelry mart.
Parking is hit and miss wherever you find lots of people - drive & look slowly.
Old town Pasadena is still way cool - parking on streets adjacent Colorado Blvd.

 

In downtown LA: The Library, The Train Station, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Old Town Los Angeles

Shopping: 3rd Street promenade in Santa Monica or Rodeo Drive . . . But Rodeo Drive only if your bank account can handle it.

As the Dr. recommended, a drive up the Pacific Coast Highway (Route 1, or called PCH locally) to Neptune's Net and return by way of The Rock Store and then The Sagebrush Cantina in Woodland Hills would be well worth it. All three have web sites that you can Google and use any mapping program to find them. Best to go on a Sunday but Saturdays are a close second particularly if the weather is nice (and it usually is). Bring your camera as there are more custom and classic bikes that folks ride to the Rock Store than show up at many "Bike Shows". Often various Hollywood celebrities show up as well. Most notably Jay Leno is a periodic visitor.

In Santa Barbara go see the Spanish Mission there. It's the largest oldest most complete of all the missions that were established in California when your county owned the place. Have lunch at Cold Springs Tavern (also has a web site that you can Google).

San Diego . . . go see the Zoo!

I wouldn't drive back and forth from Las Vegas. Fly . . . use Southwest Airlines and take a cab to and from the Airport to "The Strip". You'll waste way to much time driving back and forth from LA and the cost of the tickets isn't much more than the cost of the gasoline you'll have to buy.

Other: Take the Catalina Ferry to Catalina Island. Have lunch anywhere in the town of Avalon and take a tour of the "Casino". If you stay overnight the Best Western is actually pretty good and is reasonable (all things considered). While you are there be sure to take a jeep tour and see the Buffalo that roam the island or take one of the "Submarine" tours that show you the underwater part of this area. I SCUBA dived all my life and when I moved to California I saw more stuff in one dive here than I'd seen up to that point.

 

THANK YOU ALL!!!

3 days left to fly to california :-)

just one more thing, It would be great to have a good restaurant guide, those "secret places" that only people who live there knows and that dont usually apear on tourist guides...

I like BBQ, seafood and mexican and what I really love is home made food so please help me to find good restaurants in:

Santa Monica:
San Diego (true mexican please):
Down town la near staples center:
Santa Barbara:
Las Vegas:
Pasadena:

Also, people from San Diego, what is the best, gaslamp or oldtown? or both? I was thinking on going oldtown for lunch and gaslamp for dinner...

Thank you very much!