Welcome to our 3 day tour of Los Angeles, California, USA. We hope you enjoy traveling with us and are inspired to take your own trip. This trip was part of our seven month journey around the world which began in Flores, Guatemala. See a summary of the destinations we traveled to over our seven months here: link.
Three Day “Layover” in Los Angeles
Why Travel to Los Angeles, California?
We flew into Los Angeles (“LA”) from Costa Rica. After completing the first month of our around the world trip through Central America we were exhausted. Our next destination was going to be Hawai’i so we planned a long multi-day layover in Los Angeles to rest, recharge, and enjoy a few activities that LA has to offer.
How Long to Stay in Los Angeles, California?
LA is a huge city with a ton to offer. Our goal, however, was to rest; so we did minimal research into the what to do in the city and surrounding areas. For these reasons, we’d defer to any other travel blog, tripadvisor, etc. to plan your trip and help determine how long to stay. Here are the few items we did (other than sleep in every morning):
Top Things To Do In Los Angeles, California
1) El Matador Beach
This beach is a 1 hour drive from Los Angeles and has a lovely backdrop of cliffs. This was a nice way to enjoy the sun, relax, and dip our toes into the cold Pacific Ocean. We’d want wet suits if we were going in for a long period of time.
2) The Comedy Store
When in LA, it should be mandatory to drop by the Comedy Store. The number of big name comedians that come through this establishment regularly is astounding. We knew several of the people who were on set the night we went, which included more than 15 comedians changing every 15 minutes. We did leave before the last few couple comedians came on, as it did reach a point where they got progressively worse.
3) Six Flags Magic Mountain
We both love rollercoasters, so couldn’t pass up the opportunity to try a Six Flags. We went on a weekday and didn’t have to wait in line for longer than 15 minutes on any ride. Talk about a great day! Six Flags Magic Mountain had some great coasters with one of our all time favorites: Twisted Colossus, one of the longest metal/wood hybrid coasters in the world. The ride time is almost 4 minutes and there are several inversions and parts where you are racing along another train. This ride kept us coming back for more. If you love coasters, swing by this park.
Where To Stay in Los Angeles, California
Kurt luckily had some hotel loyalty points from his previous job, so we were able to stay at a nice comfortable hotel. Farewell stiff bedded hostels in the jungle….at least for now.
Other Recommendations of Things to Do
These are all adventures that we unfortunately didn’t have time to do on our own but would have considered if we had more time:
As we said earlier, LA was a rest stop for us where we we were able to enjoy some fun activities. However, big modern cities aren’t typically high on our list of to-travel locations so we have not given much thought to what we would do next time. Next time we go to California we would likely try Napa Valley (wineries), visit Yosemite National Park, or visit San Francisco rather than visit LA. So once again, we’ll have to defer to the actual gurus of LA to give you additional ideas for your trip.
Away We Go 