LA is famous for its sprawl. This reputation is enough to scare visitors away from making a quick trip to the City. But even if you have a reason to stop while flying through LAX or if you can drive into town for a couple nights, Los Angeles can be a surprisingly rewarding place for a short visit.

Making plans for a trip to LA can be overwhelming because there are so many options.  If you’re into sightseeing, I recommend the Go Los Angeles Card.  It aggregates 40 top museums, tours and attractions from across the area onto a single ticket. It is priced to save you money compared to buying separate tickets. Buy it for the number of days you need and you only need to see 2 or 3 things to see the savings add up.

One popular destinations for visitors to LA is Hollywood.  Here you can take pictures under the Hollywood sign at the Kodak Theatre, take walking tours with Red Line Tours, jump on the double decker bus tour, visit the Hollywood Museum, and the Wax Museum all on one block.   Parking is very easy and inexpensive at Hollywood and Highland ($2-$6 with validation), so you can park early in the day and spend the rest of your time on foot.  In Hollywood, it’s easy to see a lot in just one day, and the Go LA Card covers pretty much anything you would want to see.

The Internet abounds with sites and tips dedicated to saving money on flights and hotels. Even people who don’t exhaustively read up on how to get the best deals typically visit multiple sites before booking a flight. Hotel booking used to be a one and done activity, but now typically involves a variety of sites as travelers make sure they are getting the best deal.

Expedia and other online travel agents’ sites dropping their booking fees was a direct reaction to travelers’ habit of researching flights options on their sites, picking the one they wanted, then booking it directly from the airline to save the $5 fee. It was easy to do, so not surprisingly most people did. Some went even further, using multiple sites and trying to find the optimal day and time to save even more on their flights. This behavior spawned a whole host of “meta search sites” like Kayak.com, looking to make this kind of exhaustive searching easier. The NY Times’ “Frugal Traveler” had a great article on all the best tools and tips for researching travel and getting the best price, referencing sites like Kayak and Hotels.com as well as a number of research options.

But the NY Times article - and most travelers - had no ideas past getting flights and hotels locked in. Despite the fact that the cost of the time a traveler spends in his or her destination often far exceeds the costs of flights and housing, people seem resigned to paying full price.

It doesn’t have to be that way. Not surprisingly, the Internet offers a variety of options that a growing number of travelers are tapping into to save on their “destination experience.” It is no secret that individual tours and attractions offer deals on their web sites that are available to anyone who buys in advance. And not surprisingly, aggregators of a wide variety of these type of buy before you fly deals are starting to have a growing presence online.

On popular example is Viator.com. This site allows travelers to select from destinations across the world and select from tickets to attractions, tours, events, airport transfers, and so on, often at a significant discount to walk up prices. And travelers might be surprised at the breadth of the offering. Disney, Grand Canyon, Broadway Shows, etc. are all on offer. But so is a Ghost Hunting tour in Edinburgh, skydiving in Australia, kickboxing matches in Bangkok - the list goes on and on.

Obviously committing to specific sites and activities in advance requires a bit of pre-planning. This fact alone has been as much a barrier as anything to more rapid expansion of travelers seizing on destination deals. For those looking to save while preserving flexibility and spontaneity, an attraction pass like those offered by Smart Destinations could be just the ticket.

The company offers a credit card sized ticket in 14 North American destinations that allows the holder to go into most if not all of the main attractions and tours in that destination for one prepaid price. Perhaps best of all, there’s no need to decide in advance what you intend to see. In destinations such as Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, San Diego, and Oahu, the savings offered by the card can be as much as 55% compared to individual tickets, and that’s not counting deals on shopping and dining that are included in the card.

So as you plan your next trip, make sure you don’t stop with flights and hotels, but give some thought to the things you plan to do once you get where you are going. You could end up significantly lowering the total cost of your trip with just a bit more effort.

94% of the customers surveyed said they were either “satisfied” or “extremely satisfied.” And most of that 94% said they were “extremely satisfied.”

The reasons why customers were so overwhelmingly positive about the Go Card experience were primarily:

• The quality and quantity of the attractions that accept the card for admission
• The fact the card was convenient and easy to use
• The fact that it saved them money compared to having to buy separate tickets at each attraction

Another key finding of the research was that 91% of the customers surveyed would recommend a Go Card or Explorer Pass to someone else.

So if you are considering buying a Go Los Angeles Card, it is nice to know that previous customers have such strongly positive reviews of the product.

The Downtown Center Business Improvement District is gearing up for the Downtown Los Angeles Open House 2008. The weekend extravaganza, set for June 6–8, will give visitors and Angelenos the opportunity to sample living and playing in Downtown’s eclectic neighborhoods. Thousands of visitors are expected to attend Open House weekend events, which include residential open houses, cultural activities, food samplings and entertainment.

The event will offer residential open houses from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Residential property owners and developers, restaurants, retailers, hotels, bars, nightclubs, museums and art galleries will all be featured on the exclusive Open House web page. The Wilshire Grand Los Angeles is offering a rate of $99 per night exclusive for participants, and other hotels are being encouraged to offer special rates. For more information or to learn how to participate, contact openhouse AT downtownla DOT com.

Ciudad Restaurant in downtown Los Angeles has an amazing late night happy hour from 9pm – 12 midnight on the weekends, and 9pm – 11pm on Wednesday and Thursday nights. Food specials include their signature dishes like Peruvian Ceviche, Argentine Gaucho Steak, Crispy Potato Rajas Tacos, and much more. This happy hour includes $4 drink specials to top it off!

Ciudad also offers a free dessert with purchase of an entrée to Go Los Angeles Card customers.

Get tickets now for a show at the Hollywood Bowl this summer. With dramatic views and beautiful sunsets, the Hollywood Bowl is one of the best places to see a concert in the U.S. Mozart Under the Stars, Les Miserables in concert, Diana Ross, and Gnarles Barkley are just a few of the performances you can catch at the Hollywood Bowl from June to September. Tickets are available online or by calling 323-850-2000. Opening Night at the Hollywood Bowl is Friday, June 20.

The Farmer’s Market has been open since 1934 and continues to be the premier market in Los Angeles for fresh groceries and eclectic dining. The Farmer’s Market is attached to a hip and trendy mall called, “The Grove,” which makes for an odd pairing but keeps visitors entertained for hours on end.

There are over 30 restaurants in the Farmer’s Market, including French, Chinese, Korean, and American fare. Parking can be tough in this area, so come early for breakfast and spend the day shopping at The Grove afterward.

The Grove also offers an exclusive discount book with the Go Los Angeles Card.

With sweeping melodies and a magical storyline set in the land of Oz, Wicked: The Musical is the perfect outing for theater-goers of all ages. This Tony-winning musical by Stephen Schwartz follows the surprising friendship between Glinda the Good Witch and Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West). Wicked’s Los Angeles run is frequently sold out, but you can get tickets by calling TicketMaster at 213-365-3500. You can also stop by the Pantages Theatre Box Office at Hollywood and Vine (open daily at 10 am).  The show runs Tuesday through Fridays at 2 pm and 8 pm; Sunday at 1 pm and 6:30 pm.

Plenty of local charter boat companies are available from Marina Del Rey, a beautiful coastal town close to LAX airport. If you’re looking to enjoy a relaxing day on the water with a private skipper, then VisitMarina.com has information about our local charter boat companies and more.

Blue Pacific Sailing, Bluewater Sailing, Marina Sailing and Paradise Bound Yacht Charters are a few of the companies that provide this service. As the weather heats up, tours will book up in advance so be sure to call ahead before you travel.