by Denise40

Created on: September 08, 2009

VIP Tours of California - Grand Tour of Los Angeles

On my way home from my GAP year away my husband and I decided to stop in LA. We stayed in a Holliday Inn hotel near LAX, once we arrived here we found a brochure on VIP Tours and decided to go on what they call the most popular tour which was called the 'Grand Tour of Los Angeles'. It cost in American dollars $59 (adult) and $40 (child). One American dollar is roughly equal to roughly 0.6 United Kingdom Pounds.

It was very easy to book this tour with the representative in our hotel for the next day. We had a few different times we could have chosen to go on out tour. On the morning of the tour a bus lifted us at the hotel and took us to their offices so we could pay for the tour and change buses to start the tour. This annoyed me slightly as I felt that we were wasting my valuable holiday time. It would have been better if we were able to pay the representative in the hotel or on the bus.

To start the tour we drove straight to Venice beach and got off for a short stroll. To be honest the beach seemed dirty and had graffiti all over the place. You had the opportunity to take your picture under the big 'V' sign. It wasn't really beach weather the day I was there and the place seemed deserted. It was rather windy and not overly warm, I would imagine that the place would be totally different on a nice day. There were a few scatters about and people out walking with their dogs.

Beside the beach which had very tall palm trees there was lots of tiny colourful shops however most of them weren't opened but it was first thing in the morning when we arrived. I was disappointed that I didn't get enough time to explore as you only stopped for about 20 minutes or so.

After the beach stop we headed to the Farmers' Market. Here you could get a snack. This place was buzzing with people and had every type of shop you could think of. It was very crowded and I reckon bargains could have been found if you had the time to look for them. Every corner had a different quaint shop. It to me seemed like lots of permanent stalls and it was fun exploring. I think it would be easy to get lost looking around.

The most memorable think to me about here was a shop that was dedicated to pet's sweets. I had only ever seen a place like this on the television and was rather amused by it all. My husband and I got food here as the guide highly recommended it, but to be honest, mine wasn't that great - maybe I just went to the wrong stall.

Once

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