Travel adventure to Los Angeles without a car

I'd like to share this story from lonely planet with you cuz it's just so funny and amazing.

And imagine how Angelenos feel about living with the nation’s worst traffic: GPS maker TomTom calculates that the average LA commuter spends 95 hours per year in traffic above normal drive time.

Pin this imageSanta Monica is one of LA's most pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods. Image by Russ Quackenbush / Getty

Coming to the rescue of locals and visitors alike though are new services that make it easier to forget about renting a car, traffic jams and parking hassles – and to be more environmentally sensitive too. Public transportation options are expanding, neighborhoods like Downtown, Hollywood and Santa Monica/Venice are increasingly pedestrian- and bike-friendly, and LA leads the country in the use of app-based ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft.

Keys to LA transport

For the bargain price of $8, Flyaway buses (www.lawa.org/FlyAway) connect Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) with Downtown LA (estimated travel time: 35min), Santa Monica (40min) and Hollywood (1-1½hr). Buses depart from the lower (arrival) level of each terminal, under the green signs. Purchase tickets online or on board the bus (Visa, MasterCard and American Express accepted).

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Once you’ve got to your preferred destination, public transportation is handled by LA’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (known as Metro), or, in Santa Monica, the municipal Big Blue Bus company (bigbluebus.com). Metro’s base fare is $1.75 ($7/25 for an unlimited day/week pass). Big Blue Bus fares are a cool $1.

Pin this imageLA's expanding subway system takes visitors to many popular destinations. Image by Gary Conner / Getty

On the Metro Rail network of light-rail and subway lines, the Red, Gold and Expo Lines are most useful for visitors as they travel to the areas with most tourist-friendly attractions.

Use of Uber or Lyft requires a free smartphone app and advance registration. They’re a convenient and generally inexpensive (if traffic-dependent) way to get around the city, although Uber is subject to “surge pricing” at peak demand times, when fares can rise steeply. At the time of writing, the mayor had announced that the super popular Uber X will be able to pick up from the airport in the next month or two.

Downtown

Flyaway Shuttle buses let you off at Union Station, LA’s main rail terminal, built in 1939 and well worth a peek for its Spanish-Mission-meets-Art-Deco design. From here it’s a quick rail connection (or about $5 via ride share to save hauling your baggage) for a stay at hotels from old school (Millennium Biltmore) to too-cool-for-school (Standard Downtown and the new Ace), on the Red and Expo Lines.

Barely a decade ago, locals would have told you that there was no reason to go Downtown unless you worked there – no one says that anymore. Visitors throng to the area for the new Grammy Museum and restaurants at the adjacent LA Live, all reachable on the Expo Line, as are some of LA’s top museums around Exposition Park, including the California Science Center  where you can see another (once) futuristic form of transport, the Space Shuttle Endeavour, one of only four on exhibit in the world.

Pin this imageFrank Gehry's Walt Disney Concert Hall is one the key buildings that contributed to the regeneration of Downtown LA. Image by Peter Schickert / Getty

Hop cultures along the Gold Line to Olvera Street (the city’s original settlement, now like a trip to Mexico without the passport), Chinatown, and the ethnic-meets-hipster cultural mashup of Little Tokyo. Or take the Red Line to check out landmark architecture from the Bradbury Building (Blade Runner was shot here) to Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Downtown’s dining scene has exploded too, in restaurants like Baco Mercat and Bestia alongside trusty standbys Philippe the Original and the rejuvenated, gourmet-chic Grand Central Market.

Hollywood

The FlyAway bus to Hollywood terminates near the Metro Red Line subway stop at Hollywood & Vine. The Red Line also connects to the intersection of Hollywood Blvd and Highland Ave, from where it’s just steps to the HCL Chinese Theatre, where generations of stars have enshrined their foot- and handprints in the cement; the Dolby Theatre, home to the movie world’s biggest night, the Academy Awards ceremony; and the humble-jumble Hollywood Museum, chockablock with film history.

Pin this imageThe hand- and footprints on Hollywood Boulevard always provide a top photo opportunity. Image by Mark Williamson / Getty

West Hollywood is just a couple of miles away and well worth a visit: take a ride share; ride on Metro bus line 2 down Sunset Boulevard; or head down to Fountain Ave near La Brea Ave to pick up the free daytime CityLine shuttle buses operated by the city of West Hollywood. WeHo, as it’s known, is one of LA’s great walking neighborhoods by day, and great party destinations by night, primarily along the Sunset Strip (largely straight) and Santa Monica Blvd (largely LGBT). It’s also fun to (window) shop and dodge paparazzi amid the fashion boutiques on busy Robertson Blvd between Melrose Ave and 3^rd St.

Stop for lunch or daydrinking at the Abbey (often called the world’s best gay bar – maybe it’s the hunky bartenders), the celeb power lunch spot the Ivy or, for adventurous ethnic cooking, the new District by Hannah An (thedistrictbyha.com), where Vietnamese cuisine takes a California turn with banh mi sandwiches and ‘shaken’ beef with homemade noodles. Or simply ensconce yourself at a café on Santa Monica Blvd to observe an only-in-LA street scene of muscle boys, tiny dogs, hipsters and the occasional tourist family wondering what they’ve gotten themselves into.

WeHo-based Bikes and Hikes LA (bikesandhikesla.com) rents bikes and offers cycling tours of Hollywood, Beverly Hills, stars’ homes and a signature 32-mile ‘LA in a Day’ route for fit cyclists, covering WeHo to the ocean.

Santa Monica & Venice

Santa Monica melds beach culture with big city sophistication. The Flyaway Bus takes you to the Civic Center area, from where it’s an easy walk to ocean views and the mini-amusement park atop the world famous Santa Monica Pier, or some of LA’s most spirited street life on the pedestrianized Third Street Promenade and the adjacent Santa Monica Place.

Art lovers can head a couple miles east by Big Blue Bus line 4 or ride share to Bergamot Station for dozens of art galleries and the Santa Monica Museum of Art in a former rail yard, soon to be served again by train (see The Future below).

Pin this imageDedicated bike paths make cycling a great option for getting around Venice. Image by Christian Kober / Getty

Just south of Santa Monica is Venice, cool since the days when Jim Morrison lived here and now restyling itself as a hipster haven, particularly along Abbot Kinney Boulevard. On weekends especially, the Venice Boardwalk is a wacky seaside carnival and LA must-see. To get here from Santa Monica, take Metro bus 733 down Ocean Ave and Main St, or it’s a classic California stroll along the ocean of about 1.5 miles (30 minutes).

On the Santa Monica side, stop for farmers market-inspired menus in an urban-meets-rustic, indoor-outdoor vibe at M Street Kitchen, Japanese musubi (rice balls with assorted flavorings) at Sunny Blue, or get your three squares at Three Square Café & Bakery.

As well as being highly walkable, Santa Monica and Venice are also easily cyclable. Numerous shops rent bikes including Santa Monica Bike Center and stalls along the beachside South Bay Bicycle Trail (22 miles).

The Future

When the Expo Line is fully complete (scheduled for early 2016), passengers will be able to travel between Downtown LA and Santa Monica station (a quick walk from Third Street Promenade and the Pier) in about 45 minutes. If that sounds long, trust us: it’s a lot quicker than current rush hour traffic.

As for that train to and from LAX, you’ll need (a lot) more patience. It’s not scheduled for completion until 2024.

Read original version at: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/usa/los-angeles/travel-tips-and-articles/los-angeles-without-a-car#ixzz3pnjYfcd4

Los Angeles: Family trip or a "Dark" Destination?

A tour through Los Angeles can be a bit like driving through one big, palm tree-lined cemetery. Lurking about the city’s grimy streets, manicured lawns and dusty canyons are homages to Hollywood’s dark past, from long-abandoned mansions to the iconic Hollywood sign itself where the aspiring starlet Peg Entwistle leapt to her death from the “H” in 1932, back when it still read Hollywoodland. (Her spirit is said to wander the nearby Griffith Park trails.) Perhaps because so many travel to Los Angeles with soaring expectations, the city — unwilling to embrace every fresh, new face — feels suffused with melancholy.

Ms. Entwistle’s short career as siren and her untimely death at the age of 24 are emblematic of the strange dichotomy of the city: sparkling, yet dark; seductive, yet scary. Just beneath a shiny surface lies a graveyard of secrets and dirt. All around the city, from Hollywood to Compton, the duality of glitter in the dark is on view; you just have to know where to look. Fortunately for the noir-curious, an entire branch of tourism trafficks in the city’s underbelly. Call it Morbid Los Angeles.

Still interested? sure Get a vacation rental at HomeEscape

Today, on a charter bus, the couple hosts tours with titles like “Blood and Dumplings” and “The Echo Park Book of the Dead.” The former tour takes passengers through the San Gabriel Valley to sites like the Alhambra chateau where the music producer Phil Spector shot the actress Lana Clarkson in 2003; a dumpling course from one of the many Chinese restaurants in the area is included. For the devotee of true crime, Esotouric’s excursions dive deep into cold case files, like the bizarre 1922 “Bat Man” case in which a housewife hid her lover and husband’s murderer in the attic.

But Ms. Cooper and Mr. Schave also devote a fair amount of time to infamous tragedies like the 1947 murder of Elizabeth Short, the young actress known as the Black Dahlia and one of the city’s oldest cold cases. Instead of theorizing about her killer, Esotouric’s Real Black Dahlia Tour portrays Ms. Short through the lens of the era, visiting her regular haunts (including the site where her body, torso cut in two, was discovered). To Ms. Cooper, Ms. Short is a case of an interesting nobody whose story is told only “when terrible things happen.”

If Esotouric is for students of the arcane, then Dearly Departed (dearlydepartedtours.com) is for those who appreciate a bit of humor alongside a drive-by of Marilyn Monroe’s grave site. “It’s a lighthearted look at the dark side of Hollywood,” said the owner, Scott Michaels, whose decade-old company specializes in celebrity-focused dark matter including the notorious Manson family murders. His popular Manson-focused Helter Skelter Tour includes a circuit of the infamous Laurel Canyon murder site. For several years, chunks of Sharon Tate’s fireplace were distributed as unsettling souvenirs until the supply ran out.

Photo A house used in "Nightmare on Elm Street." Credit Trevor Tondro for The New York Times

If a self-guided tour is preferred, Creepy LA (creepyla.com), a website about the city’s supernatural happenings, has a Google map dedicated to documenting hauntings. Within a few short blocks, ghost chasers can visit the ritzy Roosevelt Hotel where Montgomery Clift’s spirit is said to carouse with Marilyn Monroe’s, and pause outside the Knickerbocker Hotel, now apartments, where Rudolph Valentino was said to be a habitué of the bar. Bess Houdini, Harry Houdini’s widow, held a séance in 1936 on the Knickerbocker’s rooftop in a final attempt to communicate with the dead magician.

Just down Hollywood Boulevard, another self-guided tour can be had at the Museum of Death (www.museumofdeath.net). This truly dreadful menagerie of dusty, death-soaked knickknacks includes the severed head of the Parisian serial killer Henri Landru; a collection of letters and art from serial killers; a diorama of a bunkroom of Heaven’s Gate, the San Diego-based U.F.O. cult, with an actual bunk bed acquired from the members’ mass suicide (Nike-clad mannequins included); and a faded quilt adorned with floral swastikas sewn by the Manson family, which guests brush by on their way out.

Even the Los Angeles Coroner’s office finds currency in creepiness, opening a gift shop called Skeletons in the Closet, which sells body-silhouette mouse pads ($8), coroner cotton tote bags ($5) and Los Angeles County medical-examiner compact cooler totes ($18) perfect for a picnic lunch among the headstones in the idyllic Hollywood Forever Cemetery. (Cecil B. DeMille, Douglas Fairbanks and Rudolph Valentino, to name a few, reside here.) And, spooky as it may sound, an al fresco meal so close to Tinseltown’s oldest masters is very Los Angeles.

Disney World on a budget: Tips and tricks to help you save

A trip to Disney World is a dream for many kids. It’s also a fantasy for parents who don’t think that a stay in the “Happiest Place on Earth” is financially possible. Guess what? It is.

At first glance, the total cost of a Disney trip can appear more frightening than Cruella de Vil’s quest for a puppy fur coat, but a weeklong stay on Disney’s property doesn’t have to freeze your finances Queen Elsa-style.

 

With a lot of pre-planning, a trip to Disney World is memory-making money well spent, at least I think so. Below are a few of my best (and updated) budget-conscious Disney trip tips, most helpful if you intend to fully indulge in the Disney experience and stay on property.

Don’t go at it alone: In the past I prided myself on calculating cost-conscious trips to Disney. This year, we went through a travel agency, Magical Vacations Travel. Every year the New Jersey-based outfit offers exclusive packages that even my penny-pinching prowess can’t counter. Travel must be made in a specific time-frame, and the package we purchased included park tickets (even water park passes) and lodging. Disney accommodations are divided into three categories: value, moderate and deluxe. We’ll be staying at a top-of-the line deluxe resort for less than the cost of mid-range room.

Rent points: Disney has a time-share program dubbed the Disney Vacation Club. DVC members pay for, accumulate and own points, which are used to reserve villa-style rooms at the premier resorts on Disney’s property. Owners can opt to rent the points out to anyone, and in exchange for payment, the owner makes a room reservation for a rentee. Last year we rented points and paid less-than-half of what we would have, per night, if we booked directly through Disney.

Let the web be your guide: There are hundreds of Disney travel and fan websites offering insider tricks and tips to help you plan a discounted Disney trip. Two of my favorites are MouseSavers.com and WDWinfo.com. You can also find special offers directly through Disney throughout the year. You can visit their official website, www.DisneyWorld.com or call (407) 939-7905.

Have your groceries delivered: If you aren’t planning to use Disney’s Dining Plan — a pre-paid meal package — you can have groceries delivered directly to your room. This year we are purchasing water, milk, my husband’s vital energy drinks and some adult beverages through GardenGrocer.com. Order what you’d like online and the company will shop for you and deliver directly to your resort. They do require a $40 minimum purchase and charge a $14 delivery fee, but if you break it down, you come out way ahead of what you’d pay at a park store. For instance, cans of microbrew beer ring in around $8 a pop at the Beach Club Resort’s poolside eatery. A six pack through Garden Grocer is $9.79, a substantial savings. If you have a rental car, even better. You can pop into Publix or any other local grocer and stock up.

Travel off-season: If you are flexible, and willing to travel during what Disney terms the “value season,” you can find great bargains. Room rates at “value resorts” start around $90 a night. Typically, off-peak travel periods include January to mid-February, the tail-end of summer and most of fall. Because bookings tend to be lower during the value season, Disney tries to entice travelers with free dining plan promotions or steeply discounted room rates.

Track down ticket deals: If you are a Florida resident, AAA member, government employee and or military personnel, you may be eligible for discounted passes. If not, you can still save some cash. There are legitimate ticket agents offering discount passes, including UndercoverTourist.com and Orbitz.com. Online rebate site Ebates.com offers cash back on an “activity reservations” — sometimes as much as 20 percent — made through travel website Orbitz.com. Register with Ebates.com, search Orbitz deals to see what’s available. If something entices you, click the link and you’ll be instantly routed to Orbtiz.com. Reserve the tickets and the cash back with appear in your Ebates.com account within a day or two. The cash-back site disperses funds quarterly either by check or via Paypal.

Explore Disney’s free attractions: They do exist. Take a spin on the monorail and explore the resorts location along the railway, many of which offer musical entertainment throughout the day and movies under the stars; cruise across the Seven Seas Lagoon on the complimentary ferry location by the entrance of the Magic Kingdom; walk along Disney’s Boardwalk and enjoy the Coney Island-esque sites — jugglers, magicians and midway games and more. There’s always Downtown Disney, too. It’s in the midst of a major overhaul, but there are shops, street performers and much more to enjoy.

7 Tips For Managing Your Bootstrapped Travel Budget

I used to run an international business, and we bootstrapped it from the start. Working constantly to a tight budget is hard. A huge component of our cost base is travel and related expenses. I'd like to share some of the most effective tips I have on making sure that you reduce unnecessary spend. Breaking away from the rich man's spending habits acquired in corporate America can be hard to do. Knowing that every dollar saved on travel is another dollar to the bottom line should have you reappraising this pretty quickly. While the medium term goal is to relax some of these over time, they are nonetheless the sorts of disciplines I believe are critical to optimizing value from any travel.

AirBnB and HomeEscape are your go-to's for accommodation in expensive cities

I used to regularly travel to New York for work. I stayed in hotels at $350-$500 per night. Most corporates will be happy to pay that--well not exactly happy--but in the drive to have standards and policies, they normally end up picking a set of hotels or a chain that you are ok to stay in.

Now when I go to New York or Boston--another very expensive city for hotel rooms - I make sure to always check AirBnB and HomeEscape. When hotel rooms in Boston were $400 a night (I was travelling last minute) I found a great little AirBnB for $125 a night, which was in a nicer area than most of the hotels. I've done the same in New York, and recently got a 4 star hotel for just $100 plus taxes through HomeEscape.

I don't acquire points, miles or any type of loyalty bonus, but I save my partner and myself a chunk of change to reinvest in our business activities by being agnostic on supplier. With services like HomeEscape you can over time learn which hotels are which due to their business descriptions, and I know some travelers who know with certainty the hotel they are booking in to.

I am amazed how many entrepreneurs say "I just use Uber" when discussing their business travel. Yes, I use Uber and other ride shares. A lot. We all know the benefits. But if you are managing your time and your cost in New York, you really need to be down on the Metro. Many cities like Boston also offer free shuttles from the airport into the city. So get your Uber from downtown not the airport if you really need to. Taking the time to work out the optimal cost/time equation on the various travel options is really important.

If you plan your travel right,you can save a lot of money and time by walking between meetings, and planning routes. I know it isn't easy, but I've generally found that people can accommodate your plans if you tell them you'd like to see them at 11 as you finish with your other meeting round the corner at 10:30. So I make sure I don't overpack, so that I can walk quickly and arrive without looking like a sweaty mess from carrying excessive luggage. There is a certainty to walking that you don't get with any other transport.

I live on the West Coast. If I am flying to the East Coast, I do so overnight. This saves me a night of hotel and dining expenses away from home. Sleeping in economy is not any fun, but again the rewards are there in the savings. I've always been pretty horrible at working on flights anyway--I just don't find the setting conducive to anything more taxing than reading, so it suits me well.

Free breakfasts in hotels, grabbing free coffee or lunch at your client's co-working space, free cocktails in the hotel or airport lounge are all things to plan for. You can end up spending a lot more money on a business trip than you'd care to admit to yourself--justifying it all with your former corporate lens, and your $50 or $75 per diems. I have hung on by my fingernails to my British Airways silver executive card. It gets me free soup, salad and a glass of wine in every American Airlines lounge, and free noodles every time I fly to Asia with Cathay Pacific.

Allowing for travel breaks, note taking and comfort breaks, I believe your target for a day in any city or town needs to start at five meetings. I've done more, but it is tough. If you are properly planning and doing your follow up, that is likely 20-plus hours of work in total per travel day (research, meeting time and follow ups).

I see some people not filling their travel days. I just don't understand this. Even if you need to meet with people who are at best tenuous opportunities for your business, it is still an opportunity to practice your pitch, to see what resonates, to hear what is going on in a related field, or to reconnect with a former colleague to get them out there cheerleading for you.

I can't think of a better time to be using my acquired points for hotels and airlines than now. I have saved hundreds of dollars on free hotels and reduced airfares by carefully using my accumulated points and miles. Using them now is truly converting them into cash for the business. You do more with your budget. Even a lot of entrepreneurs think of these as being theirs, for personal use. I think they are best used in helping fund more growth opportunities with your firm.

Learn the public transport systems

Learn to pack for mobility

Learn to sleep on planes

Free is good

Five meetings per day is doable

Start using those points you earned in Corporate America

How to Advertise your Vacation Rental?

Ok let's say you already have decided whether you want to advertise on a free vacation rental listing site or a paid site.

What's Next?

How to market it? How to list it? How to take a picture of it?

Let's see...

7 ways to promote your vacation rental

This is a great resource, it includes this great table and other awesome tips

 

Methods to promote my vacation rental property

Method	Cost	Time	Return
National paid listing sites	High	Medium	High
Local paid listing sites	Medium	Medium	Medium
Free listing sites	Free	Medium	Low
Personal property website	Low	High	Medium
Local property management companies	Free to Low	Low	Medium
Email newsletters	Free to Low	Medium	Medium
Local Search Listings	Free to Low	Medium	Medium
Facebook page	Free	Low	Low
Google AdWords	Medium	High	Low

How to Advertise your Vacation Rental property?

This post includes more details about other tips like craiglist, postcards and their own data from testing.

 
Business Cards and Postcards

Classifieds

Donating to Charity

Free Listing Sites

Paid Listing Sites

Own Web Site    

5 Must-Follow Tips for Marketing Your Vacation Rental on Facebook

The people from flipkey nailed it with those facebook tips, this is a realistic way to do it when you already have a base of friends/fans.

Cottage Blogger

Even this is a podcast version,  Heather Bayer, always have great advice and insight from the vacation rental world.

What Sells Your Vacation Rental Home?

From HomeEscape I found this great tool called Smart Host to calculate best price for your vacation rental. They also have Top 10 Tips to Market your HomeEscape Listing but it's more specific for your listings at HomeEscape.

Seven Vacation Rental Marketing Tips That Can Boost Your Bookings

• Track & Test

• Find a Niche

• Email Marketing

• Website

• Social Media

• Diversify your Paid Advertising 

Conclusions:  There is no easy way to do it. List it and forget it won't book you the whole year. The keyword for this research is DIVERSIFY your efforts and methods.