Tips for planning your Los Angeles trip

This is everything you need to know about planning your trip to Los Angeles. Do you need to fly to LAX? Are you planning on taking public transportation? Want to know what museum exhibits are happening while you are here? I answer all of these questions and more in my Tips For Planning Your Los Angeles Trip.

Tips For L.A. Tourists Traveling By Train

If you prefer train travel, Union Station in Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) is a stopping point for Amtrak, Metrolink, and Los Angeles Metro. The station, which just celebrated its 84th birthday, is a destination in itself.

Pacific Surfliner–San Diego to Oakland

This train follows the coast and has awesome views of the Pacific Ocean-awesome as in awe-inspiring, not the 80s valley girl term; we are in L.A., after all. The route starts in San Luis Obispo in the north and winds down to San Diego, with a long stop in Los Angeles in between. This is an excellent option to escape Los Angeles for Santa Barbara or further north.

Coast Starlight–Seattle to Los Angeles

When the pandemic lulled for a moment in 2021, I knocked something off my bucket list. I took a long-distance train up the Pacific Coast in a sleeper car. The journey on the Coast Starlight was one of the highlights of my life. You pass through the northern beach cities and through breathtaking mountain passes.

Other Amtrak Routes

• The Southwest Chief–Chicago to Los Angeles. (This is one of the most scenic routes to see the beauty of the Western United States.)
• The Sunset Limited–New Orleans to Los Angeles.
• The Texas Eagle–Chicago to Los Angeles.

Tips For Where To Stay In L.A.

Now that you know how to get here, my next tips for planning your Los Angeles trip have to do with finding a place to stay.

I suggest staying in the area where you plan to spend most of your time. See this post. Also, check that hotel name in Google Maps because the Seaway Hotel on Venice Blvd is not near the beach, and the views are of Kaiser Permanente Hospital.

(Side note: The two house rentals I would recommend are no longer available to rent.)

Saving money on lodging

Since I live in Los Angeles, I haven’t had much experience staying in hotels in the area. I did want to share some of my secrets for getting lodging deals. 

Get a travel credit card.

There are two travel credit cards that I always have on hand for travel. The Amex Platinum and Capital One Venture Card. Both offer tons of perks for travelers, including airport lounge access and hotel upgrades. You can use miles or discounts by using the card’s travel portal. This route is best for people who travel frequently. (I didn’t mean to have this sound like an affiliate link, this is an authentic review of the perks for these cards.)

Pay your entire balance each month to make sure these perks are really worth it. 

I recommend one website/person that is well-versed in using credit cards to hack travel, and that is AskSebby. I am not affiliated, but I watch his content all the time. 

If you are credit card adverse, use Booking.com.

Booking.com is a website I frequently use for my travels. I like that Booking has a frequent-stay program that isn’t hard to participate in or has strange rules to get discounts. Being a Booking.com Genius means 10% off your stay. Also, the virtual tour guide has great touristy deals. I have received discounts and jump-the-line access at museums and other cultural sites while traveling worldwide. (I am not an affiliate.)

Another way to min-max booking.com is also to use Rakuten. That 10% genius discount + 4% Rakuten discount can save you some money. 

Not using Rakuten yet? Here is a discount code. (I may get a kickback if you use this code. I am not an affiliate.)

House/Apartment Rentals

There are thousands of properties on home-share sites like Vrbo  (verb-o)and Airbnb. Vrbo is my slight preference because the homes need to be owned by the vendor, unlike Airbnb, where people can rent out their apartment unbeknown to the building owner, leaving some people in sticky situations.

Apps to download/Websites for research

Before you leave your home city, I recommend you download and familiarize yourself with the following apps. If you are traveling from outside the United States, it is so much easier to download these on your local provider than have issues when you arrive. 

If you want to use Public Transportation

Los Angeles is known for its need for more convenient public transportation. It is getting better, and if you are traveling between specific areas–Universal Studios to Downtown or Santa Monica to Downtown–public transportation is pretty convenient. 

Transit––This is my favorite app for public transportation worldwide!

I use this app whenever I travel. It covers all of my needs.

Realtime GPS located route information–wherever I am, I open the app, and it tells me which routes are closest to me, where its are going, and when it is coming. If you want to travel later, you can open the route to see the schedule.

1. Not just the Los Angeles Metro schedule! Get information for Santa Monica Big Blue Bus, Culver City Transit, and more.
2. You can buy fare directly through the app and save it to your phone’s wallet. 
3. I have used this app in Chicago and New Orleans. It is also available in Berlin, London, and Toronto.

Tap to Go

This is Los Angeles Metro’s app. Although similar, I don’t think it is as good. You can load tap cards and add fare to your phone, but it doesn’t give real-time transportation information. I think it is supposed to, but the user experience isn’t as good as Transit. Even Metro suggests using Transit instead.

If you want to use shared ride services (Lyft or Uber)

The shared ride services in Los Angeles and the surrounding areas are Lyft and Uber. Both are available in the Apple and Google Play stores. If you are trying to stick to a budget in mind, compare the prices between Uber and Lyft. The service on both is similar. 

If you want to make restaurant reservations

My favorite tips for planning a Los Angeles trip have to do with finding great places to eat. I write extensively about food on this site. My most frequently asked Los Angeles question is Where should I eat?

Neighborhood guides

Reservations

I would err on the side of making reservations for popular Los Angeles restaurants. The following websites and apps make it easy to see when tables are available without negotiating over the phone. These apps are in order of foodie level–from “I dabble” to “I must collect all of the Michelin stars!”

OpenTable

This website/app makes it possible for you to make reservations around the world. You can find restaurants in a wide variety of cuisines and budgets.

Resy

Resy feels part food blog and part reservation system. There are some great top ten lists, recommendations for outdoor dining, and other Eater-style articles about Los Angeles restaurants. Sure, these lists feed into their reservation system, but as a local, I find their recommendations to be pretty legit. You can use this website around the

Tock

This is for the hardcore foodies, those who collect Michelin stars and want more experiential dining. Tock’s listings are a who’s who of top chefs and awarded restaurants. Here you will not only make a reservation but may also pay for the ticket in advance. These are the more expensive and, at times, exclusive restaurants in the city. 

Note: You may still pay taxes, beverages, and service at the restaurant.

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Want to know what’s on at the Los Angeles museums?

Here are all of my tips for planning your trip to Los Angeles. Have more questions about LAX, other airports, and the best places to exchange currency? Head over to my post for your first moments in Los Angeles.