Pre cruise sightseeing LA area

[Shami]

We will be cruising out of San Pedro in Feb. We have never been to the LA area before and want to  see the sights pre-cruise. My first thought, after some research, was to stay at the Doubletree in San Pedro. But when I started looking into booking sightseeing tours, I realized that I was traveling away from the "sights." Now decided to stay at the "H" Hotel near LAX. Now I am trying to decide whether to come in two or three days early. My plan now is to arrive LAX, stay at "H" hotel (using their airport shuttle to get there). Booked a full day Iconic sights tour, with pick up from the hotel, for the next day. Take a cab/Uber to the San Pedro port the next day to board the cruiseship. Are there any other tours I should do? I didn't see anything that was worthwhile to come in an extra day earlier. Wanted to know what people that know the area think.

 

Thank you.

[CruiserBruce]

The key issue is LA is a very large area, with dozens of interesting things to see, spread over an even bigger area than LA itself. You need to try to nail down what you really want to see, and then figure out how get there. Your introductory tour is good, but I would be thinking,  if I had never been there, that more time is probably needed, and probably a car.

[KeepCalmBearOn]

I would not stay near LAX to see LA. All a "tour" from LAX is likely to do is transport you to Hollywood or another location where an actual tour would start. That is the norm.

 

How early to come in and where to stay depends on what you think you want to see.

 

When is this cruise? If it is soon, stick with your current plan at this time. If it is not until 2023, I'd figure out what you actually want to see in the VAST city of LA and then figure out where to stay and how to see those sights.

 

I think many visitors are disappointed by "Hollywood" because it is not what they expect. Hollywood, the physical place, is not the center of the movie industry. It is the place where the movie industry started and the name stuck. Burbank is more Hollywood than Hollywood is.

 

Santa Monica is certainly iconic and the Santa Monica Pier has been in more movies and TV shows than Kevin Bacon, plus it has other amusements.

 

The very unique things about LA like the La Brea Tar Pits, the Getty Villa, the beach cities, etc are very spread out, which is why I say research what interests you and go from there.

[Shami]

Thank you very much for your replies/insight.