Budget Travel: Culver City, CA

Culver City is the first place people travel in Los Angeles after they land. Often times people drive right through it, straight to Santa Monica Boulevard. Or newbie travelers will stop at the In and Out Burger joint right after they get off the plane. There are some hidden gems in Culver City that will give you the true LA experience.

This is a wonderful place to stay when visiting Los Angeles.  The city is close to Santa Monica, Venice Beach, Marina del Rey, and Beverly Hills.

Centralized Location

Even though when you think of LA, you think luxurious hotels or houses in the hills. What people don’t realize is that the best place to stay in LA is centralized. That way you don’t have to drive an hour to get everywhere.

To the natives of LA, Culver City is the “College town” of the county. It is where college students or young driven dream makers stay in LA because of the lower rent prices and the ability to commute to any part of LA.

This part of LA is a quieter, safer part of the city. Recently, LA has been known for its homeless population. Culver City is not exempt from the homeless population, but there is one thing I am going to make clear in this article.

The homeless population is a population of humans. I’m not asking you to give them money, or go and buy them food. You don’t have to interact with anyone you don’t feel comfortable with (homeless or not). But you do have to treat each other like the humans we are.

Whether you stay in Culver City, Santa Monica, Venice, or Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA), you will always be in the presence of the city’s homeless population.

Staying in Culver City, you will be able to understand more of the LA culture by being 10-30 minutes away from Beverly Hills, Santa Monica Pier, Venice Beach, Hollywood, Hollywood hike, Westwood– really anywhere in LA.

Best Places to Eat.

Next, When you visit Los Angeles, people often go to the best restaurants that are based in Culver City. Here are some of my top:

Cafe Vida: Southern California is known for its Hispanic culture. This restaurant combines the organic views of LA with the amazing culture of Hispanic food.

The Auld Fella: This Irish bar opened in November 2019. Even though it is relatively new, it’s getting raving reviews by LA critics. I highly suggest to check this place out. Plus, who doesn’t like their local Irish pub?

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Honey’s Kettle: Another local fav, they serve classic American soul food. Well known for their fair pricing, this restaurant has everything from fried chicken to hotcakes. They even sell their mixes to go, so you can enjoy their food at home!

Wellesbourne Lounge: This lounge will take you straight to a movie scene. With its mob bar feel, it’s a fun start to your night out. It has regular pricing for LA ($14 a mixed drink)

Movie Hub

Most people think of Hollywood when they think of movie sets. Warner Brother Studios and Universal Studios will have live sets, but Culver City is where a lot of offset recording happens.

The one place that is always seen in movies is this street:

This is a fun place to walk around. There is a bar, lobby and fun shops around this historic site. This is what it looks like today:

Some famous movies shot in Culver City include:

The Wizard of Oz, The Thin Man, Gone with the Wind, Rebecca, the Tarzan series, and the original King Kong. More recent films made in Culver City include Grease, Raging Bull, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, City Slickers, and Air Force One.

Things to do

When you think of LA, what is the first thing you think of? Is it the Hollywood sign? Palm trees? Psychics? Vegans? Famous chefs? Celebrities? After you visit the Culver City hotel, here are a few examples of activities that will truly excel in your Los Angeles experience in Culver City.

LA Psychic

Local Psychic, Alexis, is a fifth-generation psychic. When I went to visit her, she did a tarot card reading. She mainly uses tarot cards to help her put a timeline to the energies she uses for her readings.

I’m going to be completely transparent, I was a skeptic before visiting Alexis. I thought all psychics were hoaxes. But I have more than one friend who believes in them, so I went ahead and did a Classic LA activity and went to her studio.

We went through the whole reading. There was never a time she was overly vague. In fact, she often would refer to specific happenings in my life pertaining to goals and people who would help or de-rail them.

But, what really amazed me as we went through the reading, was how she changed the energies in the room. I kid you not, the deeper we went into the reading, the more calm, relaxed, healing energy I felt.

With someone with high anxiety, this is liberating. Afterward, she spoke on how she does energy cleansing for people. Sometimes she spends months helping people through difficult times for their energy.

The best way to summarize this visit: Better than a one hour massage, a quarter of the price. This is a must-do activity for those who have never visited LA, or who have never visited a psychic. You can contact Alexis by calling her or texting her at (310)-775-5840 or through her yelp account or Website.

Full Movie Experience

Another activity you should enjoy in Culver City is the Arclight Cinema. This is an original Cinema with a bar and full menu. When you think luxury movie setting this is the place to go.

Often times, Arclight will have pre-showings going on or will be hosting events for huge screenings. But it is also a fun place to visit for a matinee.

The architecture of the movie theater is incredible, and there are a variety of shops located in this area next to the cinema.

If you love the movie scene of Los Angeles, you will feel spoiled in the seats of Arclight cinema. With a mixed drink in one hand and an artisan pizza slice in the other.

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