Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
151
Once you emerge fr om the strip, things calm do wn considerably as y ou drive through
the tony neighborhoods of
Beverly Hills,
Bel Air,
Brentwood,
and
Pacific Palisades.
By
the time you've reached
Malibu
and the beach where
Baywatch
was filmed, you'll have seen
a vivid cross section of the city and hav e a pretty good idea of what L.A. is all about.
ICONIC HOLLYWOOD
Probably the first misconception about Hollywood—at least the areas described here—is
that it is crawling with celebrities. You may find one or two at some of the hot spot
restaurants and bars, but when we say “iconic” Hollywood, we mean old Hollywood, or
at least the r emnants of it. We're talking stars in the side walks, the sign, glorious old
theaters, the places where the movie industry grew up. A good place to star t is near one
of the major intersections like H ollywood and H ighland or S unset and Vine and walk
through the str eets fr om ther e. You'll find paid par king garages at the shopping and
entertainment complexes, lots on many of the side str eets, and plenty of meter ed street
parking. Prices get steep on weekend nights (up to $20).
Visitors by the millions flock to
Grauman's Chinese Theatre
for its famous entr y
court, where stars like Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Ginger Rogers, Humphrey Bog-
art, Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe, and about 160 others set their signatures and hand-/
footprints in concr ete (a tradition star ted when actr ess Norma Talmadge “accidentally”
stepped in wet cement during the premiere of Cecil B. D eMille's
King of Kings
). It's not
always hands and feet: B etty Grable's shapely leg; the hoofprints of G ene Autry's horse,
Champion; J immy D urante's and Bob H ope's trademar k noses; Whoopi G oldberg's
dreadlocks; George Burns's cigar; and even R2D2's wheels are all captured in cement.
7
Value
Mone y-Saving Tourist Passes
If you're the type who loves to cram as many tourist attractions as possible in one
trip, then you might want to consider purchasing a
Hollywood CityPass
or
GO
Los Angeles Card.
The CityPass (
&
888/330-5008;
www.citypass.com) booklet
includes tickets to four attractions, all within 2 blocks of each other : the
Holly-
wood Wax Museum,
Star Line Tour of Hollywood,
Redline Tours,
and the
Kodak Theatre Guided Tour
or
the
Hollywood
Museum.
Purchase the pass at
any of the above attractions, or visit the CityPass website to buy advance passes
online. The pass costs $50 for adults ($39 for kids 3-11) and expires 9 days from
the first use. Is it a good deal? I f you use all the tickets, you end up saving about
45% over individual, full-price admission.
I think the better deal, however, is the
GO Los Angeles Card
(
&
866/652-
3053;
www.golosangelescard.com). It offers free or discounted admission to
more than 40 of L.A.'s most popular attractions, activities, and tours; has far more
flexibility (available in 1-, 2-, 3-, 5, and 7- day increments over a 14-day period);
and comes with a nifty little full-color guidebook that fits in your back pocket.
The 2-day card costs $90 for adults ($58 for kids 3-12), and doesn't need to be
used on consecutive days. The 3-, 5-, and 7-day cards include admission to Uni-
versal Studios Hollywood (a great bargain). You can purchase the GO Cards via
their website or at the Hollywood Visitor Information Center (6801 Hollywood
Blvd. at Highland Ave.;
&
323/467-6412
).
