U.S. West Coast – Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Grand Canyon

For our graduation trip, we went to the west coast of the U.S.; Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Grand Canyon. Exploring Hollywood, Universal Studios, Warner Brothers Studio Tours, Griffith Observatory, Santa Monica, In-N-Out Burger, road trip to national parks, Upper Antelope Canyon, Horseshoe Bend, and casinos were some that were checked off our to-do list! Here are our tips on the trip.

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Our Trip in summary

City	Los Angeles (CA), Las Vegas (NV), Grand Canyon (AZ)
Date	February 26 – March 6, 2018
Companion	Remi and Koichi
Purpose	graduation trip!
Total cost	around ¥200,000 – ¥250,000 each
Overall	★★★★★
Thoughts	so much energy so ready to do it all over again

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1. Day 1 – getting to LA and our Airbnb room –
2. Day 2 – Universal Studios Hollywood –
3. Day 3 – UCLA and Santa Monica –
4. Day 4 – Warner Brothers Studio Tour and Melrose Avenue –
5. Day 5 – from LA to Vegas to Grand Canyon –
6. Day 6 – Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend –
7. Day 7 – back to Las Vegas and our hotel room –
8. Day 8 – exploring Vegas and casinos –
9. Day 9 – from Las Vegas to Maui –
10. Overall thoughts and recommendations

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Day 1

getting to LA and our Airbnb room

17:30	United Airlines Tokyo(NRT) 17:30 → Los Angeles(LAX) 10:20 duration of flight: 9h 50m
12:00	Airbnb room
13:00	exploring the streets of LA
18:00	dinner at Panda Express

• definitely rent a car!!! you cannot go anywhere without a car.
• we rented from one of the major rent-a-car companies(I forgot which one), which we booked online beforehand. once we did the registration and payment and stuff, we were told to go to the parking lot and just take whichever car we wanted. we were all confused, but it turned out that you can actually pick any car that is the same type of car in which you booked(normal car, minivan, truck, etc.), the keys are inside the car and when you drive up to the exit gate, it requires you to show them your receipt.

• our Airbnb room was just outside the strip, Hawthorn Avenue. the access was great, but the neighborhood was a bit sketchy.
• for the four nights we spent there, we had absolutely no problem, but if you want to stay in a more quiet and safe neighborhood, you might want to choose a place a little further from the strip.
• it was also pretty hard to find a parking spot near the strip, you just have to go around and around until a spot opens.
• near the strip, there were some very suspicious people on the streets, it was a little scary to make eye contact with them even from our car.

Day 2

Universal Studios Hollywood

10:00	Universal Studios Hollywood
19:00	dinner at Mel’s Drive-in

• if you go to Universal Studios Hollywood, you must take the tour! you wouldn’t need extra fees for the tour, the “1-day general admission” ticket would do just fine.
• we booked our tickets online via the official website, but I think it wouldn’t have been a lot of difference if we just bought them at the park.
• we went on a weekday, so we barely had to wait for the attractions. no more than about 15 min or so.

• who doesn’t love a classic American diner? Mel’s Drive-in was great!

Day 3

UCLA and Santa Monica

11:00	UCLA
13:00	Santa Monica
18:00	dinner at Chipotle

• since we had some time, we visited UCLA and Santa Monica. not so far from the strip
• Santa Monica had a different atmosphere than the main the strip, so it would be lovely to take a stroll if you have time.
• if you want to go to the pier by car, you might need to park at the shopping center

Day 4

Warner Brothers Studio Tour, Melrose Avenue, and Griffith Observatory

10:30	Warner Brothers Studio Tour
14:00	lunch at In N Out Burger
16:00	Hollywood Sign
18:00	exploring Melrose Avenue
20:00	Griffith Observatory

• if you love FRIENDS, book this tour. the normal tour will do good enough! you might want to revise some of the Warner Brothers movies or TV series beforehand lol.
• we bought the tickets via the official website a couple of days before.
• and if you haven’t, please go to In N Out Burger. they only have stores in California (I think). we went to the one nearby the Warner Brothers Studio Tour, I think it took about 20min. there are quite a lot of stores so it wouldn’t be hard to find the nearest one in LA.

• we also went to the Hollywood Sign. we were blessed with this gorgeous weather.
• we didn’t know if this was the closest we could get to the Hollywood sign, we tried to get a little closer by car, but there didn’t seem to be a good way there. we saw some people hiking, so there might be a way there maybe on foot? but it seemed pretty far.
• Melrose Avenue is one of those areas that has fancy cutting-edge stores. the whole neighborhood was very pretty, I felt like I didn’t belong lol. again, not so far from the Hollywood Sign, about 30-40min I guess.

• the Griffith Observatory, now widely known as the set of La la land, at night was very romantic and had a great view of the entire city.
• I am not sure if there is another way there, but I think you would need a rental car to get there. we parked by the streets a little further from the observatory since it was full, and walked our way up to there.
• the view in the daytime would have been great too!
• it was still pretty chilly at night in March.

Day 5

from LA to Vegas to Grand Canyon

09:55	United Airlines Los Angeles(LAX) 09:55 → Las Vegas (LAS) 11:18 duration of flight: 1h 23m
12:00	rental car to Grand Canyon very long trip
19:00	check-in at Maswik Lodge, located in South Village

• so sad to say goodbye to out Ford Focus lol. we booked a rental car again at Las Vegas and started our very very long trip from Las Vegas to Grand Canyon.
• I think it took us like 5-6hours, just how long google map told us it would be. it was long, and we were driving through nothingness most of the time, but it was a fun experience!
• also, don’t forget to check gas occasionally! you don’t want to get stuck in the middle of nowhere lol.

• when we got to the Grand Canyon national park entrance, you pay the entrance fee, and they will give you a big receipt that you have to stick to the dashboard of your car.

Day 6

Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend

05:30	watching the sunrise
09:00	Upper Antelope Canyon tour
12:00	Horseshoe Bend
15:00	back to Grand Canyon

• we drove from Grand Canyon to Upper Antelope Canyon. (I don’t remember why we went to upper)
• we didn’t book the tour beforehand(you can’t go without the tour guide by the local Navahos), but when we got there, we dropped our names down on the list and waited about 30min? to have our names called. we go in groups of about 10 people.
• please note that it will be very sandy the whole tour, so you might want to wear windbreakers or something like that.

• as of Horseshoe Bend, you wouldn’t need any tour reservation, you just park the car and walk your way there.
• can you see how small the people are in the picture? it looks bigger in person. there’s a horseshoe-shaped huge dent in the middle of nowhere, it is amazing what nature can do

• for your stay in grand canyon, I would recommend you to stay in one of the hotels or lodges in South Village. has stores or cafeterias nearby, and I think also the beginning or end of some of the trails

Day 7

back to Las Vegas and our hotel room

10:00	driving back to Las Vegas
17:00	check-in at Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino

• forgot to take a picture of our hotel, but it was very big and clean. Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino was not in the main area, a few monorail stations to get there, but I think it was cheaper because of that. the monorail station was very close to the hotel though.
• they had bars, stores, deli type stores inside the hotel too

Day 8

exploring Vegas and casinos

12:00	exploring the streets of Las Vegas
19:30	Legends in Concert
21:00	some throttles

• we explored some of the casino hotels, shopping centers, and stuff like that.
• Legends in Concert was a great show, a very high-quality performance. but I think it is enjoyable only if you like classic American pop culture!
• we were lucky to catch the famous fountain show at the Bellagio!
• if you want to do some gambling and you haven’t before, I advise you to do some research on how it works. lol

Day 9

from Las Vegas to Maui

08:00	driving to airport
11:19	United Airlines Las Vegas(LAS) 11:19 → San Francisco(SFO) 12:55 duration of flight: 1h 36m
	~ 40min layover ~
13:35	Hawaiian Airlines San Francisco(SFO) 13:35 → Kahului(OGG) 17:23 duration of flight: 5h 48m

• after we spent some time in the west coast, we went to Maui, Hawaii!!! our last destination of our graduation trip…

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Overall thoughts and recommendations

Overall, although there were so many other places we wanted to go, so many activities we wanted to experience, we were very satisfied for how our trip turned out.

We didn’t plan out our whole trip beforehand. We just had brief ideas of where we wanted to go or what we wanted to do, but didn’t know how we were going to actually manage them in a limited 9day-trip.

It was so hard to get the geological sense of how far apart the places were, and how we were able to access there. I hope this helps someone plan out their whole trip.

Los Angeles

• if you want to experience the local atmosphere, I will recommend you to rent an Airbnb room near the strip. if you want to stay at a more quiet and secure place, book a hotel away from the strip. is my advice.
• if you are comfortable with driving, you should definitely rent a car. especially if you are planning on going to Universal Studios, Warner Brothers Studio Tour, Disneyland, Santa Monica, Hollywood sign, Griffith observatory, or basically anywhere. they are not within walking distance, and I think it would be more flexible to take the car than other public transportation. but note that parallel parking spots are rarely vacant, so you might find it hard to find a place to park especially in popular areas.
• we didn’t go to downtown LA, one because we wanted to go elsewhere, and two because according to my research, it didn’t seem to be a safe area. I don’t know if I was right, but even just off the strip, some streets felt unsafe somehow. my advice is to stay on the main streets, and don’t go out alone.
• depends on what you want to do there, but I thought four days was long enough to explore the strip and do a couple of activities.

Grand Canyon, Antelope Canyon, Horseshoe Bend

• at Grand Canyon, I would definitely recommend you to stay at a lodge. our room in Maswik Lodge was minimal, but it was enough to just sleep in because there was so much to explore outside! and I loved the cozy atmosphere, it was so exciting to be indulged in nature.
• it was too bad we couldn’t spend a lot of time there. there seemed to have been a lot of activities to do like hiking, mule riding, guided tours, kayaking, or something of that sort. but it could be pretty expensive.
• Upper Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend were both breathtakingly beautiful. Japan has its own beauty of course, but you can never find anything so grand like that in a small island like Japan. It wasn’t so far from Grand Canyon, so if you have a half or a day to spare, please visit!

Las Vegas

• Las Vegas is fun if you have money to spare lol. loved the energy and lavish everything though.

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Here’s a google map, for reference

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