(Photo by bdjsb7)
Los Angeles, my hometown, has not always been the most tourism-friendly city. It’s big, it’s sprawling, there is no efficient method of public transportation that will allow one to explore the entire city. You really have to rent a car, something that scares the bejeezus out of many out-of-towners, who take one look at our 7-lane highways and constant gridlock and say, “No thanks.” First of all, driving in Los Angeles is not as terrible as many people imagine. There are some simple rules to keep in mind when driving here:
1. Stay off the freeway between 7:00am and 9:00am and between 4:00pm and 7:00pm. Unless you want to spend a lot of time staring at the bumper in front of you while doing zero miles per hour.
2. The accelerator is your friend. Slow, defensive drivers frustrate Angelenos. Move at the speed of traffic and don’t suddenly stop in your lane if you realize you’ve missed your turn.
3. There are no left turn signals at many intersections. Pull forward into the intersection with your blinker on. Wait for all traffic to pass and the light to go red. Then, turn. Two cars can turn left on the red when all traffic has passed them. Please don’t sit there and wait for the light to turn green again, hoping that this time there will be a break in traffic. That will never happen.
Someone finally figured out that having to drive all over town was not the best way for tourists to see the sights in Los Angeles and they introduced buses that shuttle visitors to major points of interest. Starline Tours‘ red double-decker buses have become a familiar sight around town, with happy tourists sitting on the top deck in the sunshine, waving to passing commuters. Starline offers a number of tours, including some featuring “homes of the stars” (or, as I like to call it, “the hedge outside a home where a star you never heard of might have lived for six months about forty years ago”), the local movie studios and the Walk of Fame and the architectural sights of Downtown L.A. A couple of these tours are the “hop on, hop off” variety, which allow visitors to get out and spend some time in a particular area before catching a later bus to the next point of interest. This week, Starline will introduce a hop on, hop off bus in the Santa Monica area. This allows passengers to explore areas like the Santa Monica Pier, Third Street Promenade and the Hammer Museum. While there’s no doubt that the double-decker buses focus on touristy locations as opposed to what Angelenos might consider more authentic parts of the city, they are a great way for visitors to the city to see the major sights without having to contend with driving in L.A. traffic. So, hop on. See Los Angeles in a new and different way.
[...] view it? It could actually be pretty educational. Also, with these new discounts, you could ride a Starline double-decker “hop-on, hop-off” bus all around town, then have a spa treatment at the Renaissance Hotel and then go see a movie at the [...]