We arrived to LA by taking a Flexibus from Las Vegas. The ride was for about 5 hours.
The bus arrived about 10 mins prior to our flight and left exactly at 2:30. We caught it from the Plant Hollywood sign ride outside Ceasars Palace.
We reached LA late at night and directly headed to bed. The next day we took the metro to the Hollywood / Highland Metro station stop.
We bought a day pass for $7 and $2 for the card. As soon as you reach the station, you immediately step out to the walk of fame and the Hollywood star signs.
Indulge in Ghiradelli to satisfy your sweet tooth cravings and get your caffeine fix. Or else stop by Baja Fresh for your Mexican cravings! Their condiment bars with Mango salsa are a healthy add on.
Alternatively try a chicken bowl at El Pollo Loco. The salsa verte was so fresh and satisfying! I really enjoyed the concept of adding your own sides and as much as you’d like! If you did like their service make sure the ring the door bell before you head out!
Once you get off Hollywood’s You can go to the 4th floor of the mall and take a nice photo with the Hollywood sign. Further down, you can walk to Sunset/Highland and catch the #2 UCLA to get great view of Beverly Hills and the homes there.
You can get off and take a few pictures and then take it further down to UCLA. Walk around the inspiring campus and indulge in a Chick Fil A sandwich.
After which, just outside the restaurant, catch the #302 downtown LA from Le Conte/Westwood and head down to Korea town!
In Korea town we had an enjoyable all you can eat Korean BBQ for $12.99. Their miso soup is amazingly soothing specially since we got there on a rainy night.
Day 2 was to Universal Studios. We took the Metro, which costs us only $1.75 to Universal City / Studio City. Once here you take a bridge to a meeting area for a free shuttle that takes you up the hill for the entrance to Universal Studio.
We found from the upper lot, the rides we enjoyed most were Harry Potter and the Forgotten Journey
The rides we didn’t find worth waiting for, is Walk of the Dead, Flight of the Hippogriff. Ollivanders is where they show how a wand chooses a wizard. This was not really a ride/attraction but just an opportunity to a Harry Potter wand.
At the lower lot, both the Mummy and Transformer rides were good. But the Mummy ride was what was epic!
It was amazing to see the detail and little shops from Harry Potter, it truly felt like being in the books. From the subtle details of the shops – to being able to buy Butter beer was really fantasy like.
After you are done the rides, walking to City Walk presents a nice atmosphere for shopping and eating. If you are on a budget, there are budget fast food places such as Taco Bell, Subway, KFC, Pizza Hut. These present options more moderately priced than the eateries in Universal Studio itself.
A quick note – the Mummy ride and the Harry Potter Forgotten Journey require you to store your back packs in a locker. The Harry Potter ones are free for 2 hours whereas the Mummy ones are free for only 1.5 hours. A regular back pack is a tight fit but I was able to squish it in.
The next day we decided to explore the Downtown Santa Monica. Take the Expo Line from 7th Street / Metro Center and take it all the way to the last stop which is Downtown Santa Monica station
The best thing about the ride is that it is above ground so you get beautiful views of the city along the way.
It is a relatively long ride and can take up to 45 minutes
Make sure you try an E-Scooter for the experience!
We found a few companies such as Bird, Jump (associated with Uber) and lime. But we found Jump easiest to use.
The rate is 15 cents a minute. You can get speeds of upto 15 miles an hour. Definitely a thrill when you are at full speed! Please note the Pier and beach area are of limits for the e-scooter and you could be fined for riding them there.
You can walk down Santa Monica Pier indulge in a Jappa Dog and much on it while taking in the view of the waves. Behind the Pier is a nice Mall called Santa Monica Place where you can enjoy a coffee and cheese cake at the Cheesecake Factory.
There is a decent WiFi connection available on the Pier which gives a moment to catch up on things while on the Pier. This was our small but eventful stay in LA!