Things to do in Los Angeles

-The beach for one, I like manhatten beach/venice area. Manhatten beach is more proper beach, lots of houses around it. Venice is more about the boardwalk and the canals. Drive up to Malibu too, much more scenic out there, nice beaches, surfing if you are willing to rent a board. Go early, as it gets foggy/muggy later in day I found. Santa monica pear is also good.
-Catalina Island is cool, completely different atmosphere, really laid back- you have to pay to ferry there though.
-Hollywood, walk of fame- there lots of tourist traps there but buskers etc on the street so easy to spend hours/day there. You can pay for the tours too, I never have.
-Foodtrucks, google them, find which ones you want great way to eat, fairly cheap meals.
-in and out burger- it is just good.
-Getty Center- museum, its free- we ended up paying for parking couldn't find free parking.
-Griffith observatory- great views, downtown, hill,s Hollywood sign- Also free
-Go to a tv taping, saw jimmy kimmel last time I was there, there always free but you have to plan ahead.
-Topanga state park
-Little tokyo, koreatown- food was amazing.
-eat LA for amazing mexican food.

A few free or low cost things to do:

1. Mulholland Drive. - Take a drive up this winding road, both day and night if you can. Great view of the city below. This is where countless movies have been filmed where a couple or group gets out of their cars and gazes over the city lights below.

2. Beverly Hills/Rodeo Drive - It may cost you a bit to park here, but it's quite interesting to walk around this nice neighbourhood and visit stores with merchandise that most us can't afford.

3. Santa Barbara - It's bit of a drive north of LA, but once you are there you won't have to spend money if you don't want to. Just walk around or drive through this picturesque town.

You mentioned that you are going to Universal Studios..don't miss the back lot tour..it's great.
I am partial to baseball and LA has both the Angels and Dodgers. The games arent free but cheap tickets can be had.

I think you might be pressed for time in San Diego with the zoo and seaworld in a single day. Since it's two guys going would the USS Midway interest you?

SD is also home to Coronado, which is one of the best beaches on the west coast in my mind.

Unreachable wrote: ↑I'm going to be in Los Angeles from July 1st- 6th. I'll be with my dad, so we're looking for things to do in the Los Angeles area. So far, I was looking around various websites and what seemed to interest me was: The Getty Center, Griffith Observatory, and Universal Studios. We're also going to spend a day at San Diego and check out SeaWorld and the zoo. What are some similar attractions for sight seeing that are generally free or low admission?

I was just there in early may with my bf. Seaworld imo was a bit of a waste of time (check out the map online), and from LA, it was a good almost 2 hour drive, so you might want to budget your time.

But if you're going to see a bunch of touristy things, you might want to check ou tthe So Cal pass and the Go LA pass. The So Cal pass offered 2-day Universal studios, 3-day park hopper Disneyland pass, and Sea world for like $279 (slight discount).

https://secure.universalstudios.com/Web ... in&C=MDMPT

If not, you can check out the GO LA pass; wth that, you can get a bunch of studio tours and stuff for flat rate days. I htink if you buy the 3-day pass, you can Universal Studios for free. When I got this, the only thing is that you have to book some studio tours (i.e. WB, Paramount, Sony) ahead of time and you can only go on a weekday. With those, since reservations have to be made before, you have to call the studio to book a reservation because the only other way to make reservations is if you buy a ticket online which you don't have to do since the pass covers it. Sounds confusing, sorry, might be better if you just take a look at the website, you'll get a better idea. Not a bad idea if you want to see all the touristy things.

http://www.smartdestinations.com/los-an ... QAod2F4PXQ

The Griffith Observatory was a cute science-centre-ish kind of place, but small. But also the greatest place to see the Hollywood sign.

Hope you have a good trip!

Definitely check out the beaches. I'm not a beach-person but it's all about the atmosphere and scenery as each beach has it's own vibe.

Hermosa and Redondo are nice beach communities worth checking out.

Santa Monica Pier is something you should definitely visit.

Malibu is nice and there are plenty of public beaches to visit, just bring cash for parking.

Long Beach has a nice vibe as well.

Venice is sketchy but interesting.

The Grove and Farmer's market is a nice place to shop.

I would recommend Huntington Park, art gallery (that has the classic Blue Boy painting from Europe), and Shakespearean library which are all relatively close to the Griffiths Observatory (movie Charlie's Angels 2 was filmed there with Demi Moore jumping) and zoo. Sea World in San Diego is quite pricey (over $30 each) for what u get to see. Downtown San Diego and the superb Balboa Park with its 18+ museums (low cost admission for most) is about 3 hours drive during non-rush hour from L.A.

sedated_xtc wrote: ↑I was just there in early may with my bf. Seaworld imo was a bit of a waste of time (check out the map online), and from LA, it was a good almost 2 hour drive, so you might want to budget your time.

if i didnt read your post, i would have told OP not to go to Seaworld in San Diego with capslock. I went there, and i thought it was a total waste of time and money..unless you like the nice drive on the highway.

Anways, places to go to; Universal Studios, go in the morning, and you will probably catch most of the rides. wear comfortable shoes 'cause there's going to be a lot of walking.

if you are into eating, and you love seafood, i have to suggest one place; boiling crab. must get the shrimps! fries, and chicken wings!

I will go home and find out the name of the place for authentic Korean BBQ i went to. the owners of the restaurant have their own farm. the meat i had that day could top a one or two michelin star restaurants. the marbeling on the meat was amazingggggggg!

Hollywood & Santa Monica. (there is a place that sells funnel cake on the dock...MUST try)

btw, where are you staying in LA?

if you're willing to drive to San Diego, might as well drive to Vegas. 3 hours there. inbetween, there is shopping.

I completely forgot to mention and I don't think anyone else has; you can sign up for studio tours (some require advance notice). Those should be fairly low cost and might be of interest.

Theres one local beach that mostly locals know about that I think is my favorite beach. Its just past malibu on the PCF and its called El Matador Beach. Its a small beach but its not full of tourists and has beautiful views with a cliff and huge rock formations. Its just past Zuma beach which is another nice beach.

Last year when I was strolling along the Santa Monica Pier, I randomly ran into a street busker that I've talked to a few times at Dundas Square in Toronto. He was the fork bender magician and I talked to him for a bit about life. It was pretty cool.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone! Think we'll skip Seaworld and San Diego altogether. We'll be driving from Vegas, so we'll be getting our shopping done there. Thanks again!

my recommendations:

-Getty and Griffith observatory as everyone suggest
-downtown LA
-Trump golf course
-palos verdes (its a really nice stretch of road that goes along the southern coast line (plenty of beaches you can stop by along the way)

there's also something called the Amazing LA Race (I never got to try it myself tho)
http://www.amazinglarace.com/Welcome.html