For the whole summer, I would imagine it being pretty expensive. That being said though, everything would be worth it.
If you do go to LA, you have to see these places: Hollywood (walk of fame w/ stars, Grauton’s Chinese Theatre w/ handprints, wax museum, get a star map and find your favorite star’s house); Universal Studios Theme Park; Disneyland; Santa Monica Pier & Promenade; and enjoy all of the sunshine and scenery!
Good luck with your finances and have fun no matter what you do!
First of all, I hope you do come out here. The Euro is exchanging with the US Dollar at a favorable rate right now so this is a great time for someone from the EU to travel to the USA — you’ll add about 20% to the value of your money.
With that said, airfare isn’t that much more than you’d spend flying to London or Greece (unless you fly ValueJet or RyanAir and prowl around for the 1-Euro airfares).
You’ll have two big expenses to deal with when you get here — car and lodging. If you’re going to stay for a month, it might be worth it to you to contact a real estate agent to do a one-month sublet on an apartment. One place you might look is http://www.southbayrentals.com; what you’re looking for is a place that’s rented by a college student who will be going back home for a month while you’re on holiday. Expect to spend $1,500 to $2,000. The south bay region (Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach) is also a good place for you to be if you’re single and looking for nightlife as part of your holiday.
Renting a car is also a substantial expense. You should shop around and see if you can get a good deal on a month-long rental from one of the major companies and with a little shopping around you should be able to find a small car to rent for less than $1,000.
You will also want to spend a little bit of money on insurance for the car. The rental agency may make that available to you, especially if your insurance from France does not transfer. Los Angeles is a dense, urban environment like Paris or Berlin, only without the extensive public transportation network — there are busses and there is some light rail but it’s nothing like what you’re used to in Paris. You’ll pretty much need your own wheels. Do not expect to spend a lot of time on the American equivalent of an open, free-flowing autobahn because that pretty much doesn’t exist in Los Angeles.
After that, it’s a question of how much you want to spend on food and drink and the sorts of things you want to do. Disneyland will set you back at least $100 a person; Universal Studios is about $75 for a day’s worth of fun. The beach is free. There’s a wealth of interesting things to see and do here aside from that; have fun researching all the things you can do.
It’s expensive for anyone, whether you are European, American, Asian, or Antarctican.
Summertime is pretty expensive in LA, and it’s virtually impossible to find any hotel room under $100 per night. Your best bet is to find a hostel.
We recommend $10,000 for people who are going to MOVE here permanently. You need first and last month’s rent, security deposit, and money to live on while you find a job. You can probably get by on about half of that.
For the whole summer, I would imagine it being pretty expensive. That being said though, everything would be worth it.
If you do go to LA, you have to see these places: Hollywood (walk of fame w/ stars, Grauton’s Chinese Theatre w/ handprints, wax museum, get a star map and find your favorite star’s house); Universal Studios Theme Park; Disneyland; Santa Monica Pier & Promenade; and enjoy all of the sunshine and scenery!
Good luck with your finances and have fun no matter what you do!
First of all, I hope you do come out here. The Euro is exchanging with the US Dollar at a favorable rate right now so this is a great time for someone from the EU to travel to the USA — you’ll add about 20% to the value of your money.
With that said, airfare isn’t that much more than you’d spend flying to London or Greece (unless you fly ValueJet or RyanAir and prowl around for the 1-Euro airfares).
You’ll have two big expenses to deal with when you get here — car and lodging. If you’re going to stay for a month, it might be worth it to you to contact a real estate agent to do a one-month sublet on an apartment. One place you might look is http://www.southbayrentals.com; what you’re looking for is a place that’s rented by a college student who will be going back home for a month while you’re on holiday. Expect to spend $1,500 to $2,000. The south bay region (Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach) is also a good place for you to be if you’re single and looking for nightlife as part of your holiday.
Renting a car is also a substantial expense. You should shop around and see if you can get a good deal on a month-long rental from one of the major companies and with a little shopping around you should be able to find a small car to rent for less than $1,000.
You will also want to spend a little bit of money on insurance for the car. The rental agency may make that available to you, especially if your insurance from France does not transfer. Los Angeles is a dense, urban environment like Paris or Berlin, only without the extensive public transportation network — there are busses and there is some light rail but it’s nothing like what you’re used to in Paris. You’ll pretty much need your own wheels. Do not expect to spend a lot of time on the American equivalent of an open, free-flowing autobahn because that pretty much doesn’t exist in Los Angeles.
After that, it’s a question of how much you want to spend on food and drink and the sorts of things you want to do. Disneyland will set you back at least $100 a person; Universal Studios is about $75 for a day’s worth of fun. The beach is free. There’s a wealth of interesting things to see and do here aside from that; have fun researching all the things you can do.
We hope to see you soon.
It’s expensive for anyone, whether you are European, American, Asian, or Antarctican.
Summertime is pretty expensive in LA, and it’s virtually impossible to find any hotel room under $100 per night. Your best bet is to find a hostel.
We recommend $10,000 for people who are going to MOVE here permanently. You need first and last month’s rent, security deposit, and money to live on while you find a job. You can probably get by on about half of that.