As you might know, I won the Fashion InfluencerHer of the Year award for 2018 through InfluenceHer Collective! That meant that I was flown out to LA to accept the award! I knew I wanted to get as much in for one day as I could. I met up with my friend Gabby Whiten (Rising Star of the Year) and we spent the day traveling around LA!
My flight arrived into LAX (cue Party in the USA) around 9am, and then we started our way around the city! My hotel was in the middle of Hollywood, so we wanted to start farther away and virtually work our way inward. This proved to be a great plan! For full disclosure, this took us two days just because of an event we had.
If we hadn’t have had the event, this plan totally would have worked! This plan is the best if you’re able to start your day in LA at around 8:00am-9:00am for the most consistent results. I’ll also add in photos of the distances between each location as well as talk about the traffic we hit at certain times of the day!
Stop 1: Santa Monica (9:00am-12:00pm)
To start the day, I suggest Santa Monica if you’re staying in Hollywood! That way you can start by the coast and work your way inward throughout the day. This is best because of the LAST stop on this list! I promise you’ll want to read through to see the last place because it’s great!
I would say if you’re planning to go to the beach, plan to stop by your hotel to shower in the afternoon or maybe do this in the evening. This is just to freshen up before you potentially have dinner! Santa Monica Pier is about 15 miles from the Hollywood Walk of Fame. I wanted to use this as the main location throughout my post!
In the photo of the map, you’ll see that right now it’s about an hour and 15 minutes round trip. At 8:30am it will likely be about half of this! When we went at around 12:00pm it was only about a 40 minute trip to the pier. That included the time our Uber got turned around because I suck at directions.
After we waked on the pier (which really reminded me of Coney Island), we headed over to the street across from it to take photos and eat lunch! We ate at Blue Plate Taco for lunch and it was so good. Ask for the queso (it’s on the secret menu). They had affordable hispanic food!
After lunch we headed over to the 3rd street promenade which just had a bunch of various shopping options! They have everything from Zara to Sephora. My favorite part was the extremely random dinosaur statues/fountains that they have throughout the area. It was completely random but you have to see it!
Stop 2: Beverly Hills (12:30pm-3:00pm)
The second stop that I think will make your one day in LA worth it is Beverly Hills! Sadly I was not able to stop here on my trip, but this was one place Gabby and I really wanted to hit just for the iconic-ness of the area. I also suggest this stop next because it’s on your way back into the city toward Hollywood.
Beverly Hills is where so many movies and tv shows have been filmed over the years! It’s a piece of history as much as various other areas of Hollywood (Fun fact: My hotel was directly next to Manny Pacquiao’s training gym). This area is also where Rodeo Drive is! For me the shopping is honestly what I was most sad about missing.
In the photo of the map that I added into this post, you can see that it’s only about a 20 minute Uber ride to Beverly Hills! For LA that’s actually about 5 minutes. Beverly Hills has a TON of places to eat so this is a great place to grab some lunch as well! That’s why I also added it from 11:30am-1:00pm.
You have to make sure that you get the most perfect photo op there is and find the road full of palm trees! If you’re a blogger/influencer like I am, this is the place to be! I love all the various photos people take at this location and it’ll be an awesome shot to show your friends.
Traveling alone but still want the shot? Check out my post on how to use a tripod to take photos (here).
You have to end your trip to Beverly Hills with a trip to Rodeo Drive! Now since I’m a fashion blogger, you know that yah girl loves to shop! This is the place to be if you’re a lover of shopping as well. There are so many Rodeo Drive shops, but most are more high end (for obvious reasons), so if you have a problem controlling yourself, be careful here!
Stop 3: Hollywood (3:30pm-5:00pm)
The next stop is HOLLYWOOD! Every time I think about Hollywood I think of the emoji that has stars for eyes. Just me? Okay. Well anyway, I suggest going to Hollywood next because this brings you closer into the city. Gabby and I ended up just walking to the Hollywood Walk of Fame after our event because it was so nice out.
This is where even more iconic landmarks are! Be aware beforehand though that there ARE street vendors trying to sell things and they are aggressively (more so than New York surprisingly). Be careful, but don’t be scared of them! Just walk quickly past and keep a move on.
As you can see from the map below, Beverly Hills is about a 20 minutes drive from the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It will probably take 30-45 minutes depending on the time of day, but just factor that in and maybe cut some time out somewhere else in order to compensate for travel.
The Hollywood Walk of Fame was so cool! It stretches on for about 15 blocks (around 1-2 miles). My first Uber driver into the city suggested that you just start at one end and walk down! Gabby and I were a little rushed at this point, so we didn’t do the whole thing. That being said, I was a Disney cast member at the time and seeing Donald Duck’s star was so cool!
At the older end of the Hollywood Walk of Fame, there’s the Chinese Theatre! It was the COOLEST thing ever and I’m pretty sure Disney has a structure of it in Hollywood Studios. As you can see there was a ton of people out front. That makes sense though because it’s something people come to Los Angeles to see!
Stop 4: In-N-Out Burger (5:00pm-6:00pm)
One food location that EVERYONE says to try while out west is In-N-Out Burger. Feel free to eat somewhere else obviously, but I feel like everyone should try it once! When we were here a couple high schoolers were there before Prom even. That’s how much of a staple it is!
As you can see from the map below, In-N-Out is right near the Hollywood Walk of Fame! We walked here as well since it was so close. It’s a pretty small restaurant, but there was seating outside as well! Since Los Angeles has amazing weather almost year round, you should be fine if that’s your last resort.
Okay I understand the picture above looks REVOLTING but I promise you have to try this. Everyone told us that “hey you HAVE to get In-N-Out fries and do them ‘Animal Style.'” I looked at them like they were crazy, but these were so good (and affordable!!). It’s basically just fries with cheese and their signature sauce.
If fast food isn’t your jam, there are plenty of other places in Hollywood to eat at! To name a few: Musso and Frank Grill (Hollywood), The Prince (Koreatown), The Fountain Coffee Room (Beverly Hills). Whatever you’re feeling, pick something you really want to try that’s different from your usual!
Stop 5: The Griffith Observatory (6:30pm-8:00pm)
The last stop of your day HAS to be the Griffith Observatory. Gabby had been to the observatory before and said we had to do it before we left! It’s literally on the top of a mountain and overlooks virtually all of Los Angeles. I could not believe the view once we made it to the top!
It’s almost terrifying being up there because there are ravines all over the place (with railings though). That being said, it’s so easy to forget about those because of the magnificence of it all! There’s also a park around the entire area so you’ll see people walking on the road.
If you look at the map below, it’s about a 20 minute trip from In-N-Out Burger to the top of the Observatory! It may be a tad bit longer just as some of the others, but this one will 100% be worth the extra time. The best time to go is around sunset, so that’s why I said to head over about 6:30pm!
The front entrance of the Griffith Observatory looks like this! There’s a long path before you arrive where you can literally see the Hollywood sign. The observatory is completely free and they even have cool demonstrations throughout the building. Definitely check out the Tesla Coil!
The photo above is the area where the Hollywood sign is! This is a panoramic view that I took so you can’t see the sign unless you zoom in REAL far. It’s very small on that tall hill in the center of the shot. It looks A LOT closer in real time, so just know that you’ll be able to get a glimpse of it there!
What to Pack:
I was surprised that I actually packed everything I needed for a weekend…and in ONE carry on suitcase. I got a CalPak suitcase to travel with and it was great. I suggest investing in one! I found mine at Marshalls. Here are some travel essentials that I brought with me on my trip:
What to Wear:
When I went to LA the first weekend of June, it was still int he 60’s the entire weekend! They also don’t have humidity, so coming from Florida I was living my best life. Here are some clothing ideas that aren’t bulky, but will keep you warm at the pier and at the observatory at night!
Below is What I Wore:
I hope you guys enjoyed this post and that it helps you plan out your One Day In Los Angeles! I has an amazing time while I was here and I definitely want to go back so I can experience Beverly Hills. If you have done LA in one day (or even a weekend), feel free to leave trips for others in the comments!
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