Help Locals! Need info for transportation for fam of in LA

HI Lovely local people on the West Coast. We are a Canadian family with four kids, so money is an issue.

Here is some of my conflict, and hoping to get some of your wonderful insight.

We will need to go from LAX to Hollywood walk of fame area. I was planning on taking an UBER.

We will be going for a day trip from Hollywood to Santa Monica the next day to do touristy crap. Can we use local transportation for this? Is this reasonable with four kids (ages 13, 15, 20, 20). Yes they are older. Yes they are useless lol, and mom needs to plan everything.

What is the most affordable way to get from Hollywood to Long Beach for our cruise. Again would it be Uber?

WE have to get from the debarkation to LAX. Again is uber the main way? Having never ever taken an uber before....Can you get ones that fit six people (mini van). Can you prebook them?

Any guidance would be appreciated.

Love a crazy Canadian mom.

I suspect a couple of questions may arise before answers begin to drift in. Have you already made hotel plans? If not, why Hollywood? While it sounds intriguing, the movies and all, most would not put it at the top for a place to stay. In fact Santa Monica would likely top it on most lists. Secondly how comfortable are you with driving in a big city. LA is truly car centric. For the six of you , renting a small van would give you much more flexibility in your tourist pursuits. I know LA can seem huge and you will hear some scary driving stories but a car allows you the ability to roam and makes your final drop off in LB easier I think.

I agree for 6 a rentai car would be the way to go. Uber is possible for 6, 6 and luggage I don't think so.i utilize Uber all the time and think it is a great service, but for 6 with luggage you either need two Uber's or a car service. Enjoy your trip.

if by "local transportation," you mean jumping on a city bus....I really don't advise this. the rapid transit system in LA is not rapid, and unless you really, really, really know this city, I wouldn't won't to risk this--if you get on the wrong bus, or fail to get off in time, you could easily end up in a dicey area.

HI Lovely local people on the West Coast. We are a Canadian family with four kids, so money is an issue.

 

Here is some of my conflict, and hoping to get some of your wonderful insight.

We will need to go from LAX to Hollywood walk of fame area. I was planning on taking an UBER.

 

We will be going for a day trip from Hollywood to Santa Monica the next day to do touristy crap. Can we use local transportation for this? Is this reasonable with four kids (ages 13, 15, 20, 20). Yes they are older. Yes they are useless lol, and mom needs to plan everything.

 

What is the most affordable way to get from Hollywood to Long Beach for our cruise. Again would it be Uber?

 

WE have to get from the debarkation to LAX. Again is uber the main way? Having never ever taken an uber before....Can you get ones that fit six people (mini van). Can you prebook them?

Okay, let me take a stab at this...

First, Uber cannot be pre-booked...just not the way it works...You contact them by cell phone or iPad app when you are ready to go. They DO have "UberXL" which has larger vehicles...but still might not be able to handle six plus luggage...

I, also, am not a fan of staying in Hollywood...First of all, many parts are not exactly upscale, if you catch my drift...For me, I'd only stay at the Loews at Hollywood and Highland, maybe at the stately old Roosevelt...Beware any place that's too far away from Hollywood and Highland...and don't let your kids venture out on their own! Second, it is a long way from LAX and from the pier, so your transportation would be more costly...

That said, it IS possible to get from there to Santa Monica using just the Metro...but you need to go via the Downtown/7th Street transit hub..and it will take you at least an hour and a half each way...

My preference would be to stay in Santa Monica and to do Hollywood as a day trip...or even to take the HOHO bus tour-- which uses Santa Monica as a hub. But, yes, Santa Monica can be a bit pricey...(Maybe for a "bargain" there, try looking at the Carmar...an odd little hotel, but well located).

If Santa Monica outprices you, take a look at Venice/Marina Del Rey...the area near Washington Blvd. where it hits the beach...this puts you both close enough to Santa Monica and very close to LAX...

Another alternative for your transport to the pier would be one of the shutttle companies...look at Super Shuttle, Prime Time Shuttle or others...with six of you, an exclusive van may make sense...

Good luck...

I agree, the shuttles are good for arrival and departure when you have luggage, this is a good time to spend a little more.

I've used public transit to get around LA successfully for years, somewhat to the consternation of friends and colleagues who live there. They are so accustomed to spending half of their lives in cars that they don't even think of public transit as an option.

There are tools on line you can play with to get a sense of how to get from point A to point B, such as:

https://www.metro.net/around/

http://www.ladottransit.com/plantrip.html

(This question reminded me of a business trip that ended on a Friday afternoon in Orange County. I was going to LA for the weekend to visit a friend and the salesman who I had been working with that week looked like he was about to cry when I told him I needed to get to LA on Friday afternoon. He'd been living in Orange County for at least a couple of years at that point and he had no idea there was a commuter train into LA, he thought I meant for him to drive me there ... which would have meant about four hours there and back at that hour of the day.)