 | Los Angeles Driving Reviews | Tips 1 - 10 of 90 |  |
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The attractions in Los Angeles are very spread out, unlike New York, Chicago or Washington DC where most of the sights that visitors want to see are in the central area or easily reachable by public transportation. LA has a limited metro and buses but you will want to rent a car to get around LA. My most recent rental in April 2007 was $16.95 per day from Avis booked via Hotwire for a full size since I wanted to guarantee I would get a 4 door car. When I got to Avis, I asked them for the most gas efficient 4 door they had and got a Hyundai. I drove over 900 miles on this trip so I was glad we didn't have anything bigger. Although I have used Priceline and Hotwire, they usually don't have enough of a savings for me to make it worth getting a nonrefundable car rental, you can check Bidding For Travel to see what the going rates are. Most of the big car rental agencies have a location at LAX, other places to look include Expedia , Travelocity and Side Step. Unless you are booking through Priceline or Hotwire, car rentals are usually cancellable. I have used Dollar, Hertz, Avis and Alamo and all of them have been fine. All of the car rental locations are offsite at LAX requiring a short ride in a shuttle bus which you can pick up outside the baggage claim area. A lot of the vehicles at LAX are larger vehicles such as vans and SUVs, a couple of times they've upgraded me, the first time it was a welcome upgrade to a van since we had 4-5 people traveling but the 2nd time I really wanted an intermediate car and they upgraded me first to a small SUV and then when I asked for something smaller I got a PT Cruiser which I did eventually get used to although it didn't get very good gas mileage. Leave a Comment Theme: Car/Motor Home
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| | | | Driving: You've heard this before, I... | Tip Rating: | | | | |
You've heard this before, I know, but I'll say it again . . . you need to get a car! Renting a car in LA is actually not that expensive (but I think you'll find that you do need to be over 25 for most of the major companies). Car culture is big in LA not because we particularly like them, but because it's very hard to enjoy (or work in) the city without one. (By the way, people that maintain that 'in LA you are what you drive' are usually people who are trying to convince themselves that spending more for their fancy car than their (less fancy) home really makes sense.) If a car is really not an option, try to stay in Santa Monica and use the 'Big Blue Bus' line. This is a good idea as (1) you'll be in Santa Monica/Venice area for your base, which means you are at the consistently most vibrant beach area in town and (2) you will have easy, clean access to a bunch of other places. That said, a car will add to your pleasure a great deal. Lastly, driving the LA freeways will probably feel daunting at first. Try to know where you are going before you get on as the road signs are not always are good as you would hope. For Brits especially, the fact that you are on a six or seven lane highway where everyone can overtake everyone else in any lane can be scary. Leave a Comment Theme: Other
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on June 8, 2004
Los Angeles
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