13 hours at LAX
 

We arrive at LAX (from Sydney Aust) at 8am and leave at 9.15pm. Being aware that it will be an hour and a bit to go through customs and security, we would like any advise on what we can do. We have been told that we can transfer our luggage to the next flight but still have many hours to fill in.

You cannot check luggage for your 2nd flight that early, but if you are on a single ticketed itinerary (both flights booked by same agent, etc) and the airlines have a baggage agreement, you can CHECK YOUR BAGS THROUGH TO YOUR FINAL DESTINATION, which is done when you check your bags in Australia. (Watch to see that they tag them correctly.)

AT Lax you will then go through customs, then hand your bags back to your airline.

What day of the week is this, and are you willing to rent a car for the day?

Some thing to know:

1) Los Angeles almost invented "urban sprawl," and it can accurately be called 100 suburbs without a city. As such, attractions are VERY spread out. Unlike a place like Philly, you can't pick one area and see a lot of stuff there. Even with thirteen hours to spare, you must pick something you want to experience, and go the place where "something" is. And that means you'll have to give up seeing any of the rest.

2) The area around LAX is about as uninteresting an area to visit as any place on this planet.

3) With a city as spread out as this, mass rail transit isn't as useful an option as it is for cities with a "center." Unless the "that" you decide you want is the Civic Center, you'll have to rent a car. Here's an idea of what you can get to via rail mass transit:

http://www.metro.net/riding_metro/ma...s/rail_map.pdf

Apparently you want to experience "something" during your stop in L.A. If you can tell us which "something" is your highest priority, we can probably tell you how to get there, what to expect, and even whether you should expend any effort to find that "something" in thirteen hours in L.A.

perhaps rent a car and go to Malibu for lunch? Or down to Hollywood(near the Chinese theater to see the sights there...have lunch at one of the many restaurants in the area . As the other poster said...LA has a vast area to cover and you would be better served if you gave us an idea of what you like to see.

Frankly, jal57, if I were you I would be a little disappointed in the responses you've received so far, since they basically tossed the ball back to you by asking what you would like to see. I just want you to know that I noticed that, so I'll give you some ideas based on my own preferences.

Rent a car. Then drive (roughly north) about 20 minutes to the La Brea Tar Pits and Page Museum. It opens at 9:30. Give it maybe 1 to 2 hrs. From there you could walk next door to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). But at this point you might want to break for lunch and for that I suggest you get back in your car and drive 5 minutes north to the the Original Farmers Market and select from the numerous ethnic food booths there. Great informal place to eat.

You can then go back to the LACMA, or if you don't feel you have enough time, head north to Hollywood and the Walk of Fame and Grauman's Chinese Theater. After rubbernecking around there for awhile, go west to Santa Monica and visit the Pier and amusement park. Ride the 1922 Carousel.

Drive back to LAX, return your rental (hire) car, and then if you are too early, stop in the Encounter restaurant right there in the airport parking lot and have dinner and a drink.

To get around, you can of course map out your routes using Google Maps or Mapquest. If you have your own GPS navigation device loaded with US maps, that would be handy. Or some rental cars have a built-in unit.

Here's a list of links for the destinations I mentioned.

http://www.tarpits.org/

http://www.lacma.org/

http://www.farmersmarketla.com/

http://www.hollywoodchamber.net/index.php?page=7

http://www.manntheatres.com/chinese/

http://www.santamonicapier.org/

http://www.encounterlax.com/

If you are not interested in renting a car, Manhattan Beach is a relatively inexpensive cab ride away:
www.downtownmanhattanbeach.com
You can rent bikes and ride along the beach (assuming you are not schlepping heavy carryon baggage), shop, eat and not have to deal with L.A. traffic at all.

A spa day could be great for you to recover from your long flight from Oz. These are places not far from LAX:
http://trilogyspa.com/manhattan-beach.html
http://www.murad.com/spa/pricelist.html

Another option would be to take a tour. Most tour companies pick up at LAX area hotels, so you could take a cab or airport shuttle to a hotel for pickup. Starline Tours has a hop-on, hop-off route:
www.starlinetours.com/hotels-airport-area.aspx
www.viptoursandcharters.com

I can't imagine you will have the time to see all the sites mentioned above! LA traffic can be an unpredictable nightmare. You don't want your only memories of LA to be taillights ahead of you.

I think a hop on hop off tour might be good, if the timing works.

Or I second the idea of taking a cab to Manhattan Beach and riding bikes up to Santa Monica. Much more relaxing than driving, parking, driving, parking. . .

One of my favorite outings in LA is the Getty Villa. Gorgeous grounds and ocean views, gardens, art antiquities. If you are up for renting a car, that is.

If you don't want to rent a car, you can use the Flyaway bus services to either Westwood Village or downtown's Union Station. Either one has some activities you might enjoy, and from downtown LA you can also take the Red Line Metro to Hollywood.

There are also connecting bus services from Westwood Village, ie to the Getty museum.

Taxis are a reasonable option if you want to go to Manhattan Beach or Venice.

"<i>Rent a car. Then drive (roughly north) about 20 minutes to the La Brea Tar Pits and Page Museum. </i>"

Not such a great idea IMO. You are getting off a very <B>VERY</B> long flight and will likely be totally zonked/jet lagged. Sorry -- but I wouldn't advise any of my Aussie or Brit friends they should hop off an inter-continental flight and straight into a car on the wrong side of the road. And in the middle of LA no less(!)

I'd take a cab to Manhattan Beach and relax . . .

I echo mlgb's thought of taking the flyaway bus. Westwood Village is interesting, as is Union Station area downtown. From Union Station, you could walk across the street to Olvera Street, walk around, have mexican food, or walk a little further to Philippe's for a French dip sandwich, or a little further than that to China Town. All in easy walking distance. Or take the dash from that area to other parts of downtown L.A., like the Walt Disney Theatre, the Museum of Modern Art and the like.

This is a huge topic on Flyertalk and there are many, many ideas here: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/los-a...d-threads.html


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Vic's travels: http://my.flightmemory.com/vogilvie

Thanks everyone. I agree about not renting a car and I think a cab ride to the beach sounds fine. We will be back in LA to see the rest of the city after we see NY and SFO so thanks for all the ideas. It has given me food for thought.

As I was driving back to the Westside from Pasadena yesterday, I realized that another cool thing to do from Union Station, if you get tired of downtown, is take the Gold Line to Old Pasadena. Their courthouse is beautiful, old town Pasadena just a wonderful walking, browsing experience, and Pasadena (further down Colorado Blvd.) hosts my absolutely FAVORITE So. Cal. art museum, the Norton Simon Museum. Especially if you like impressionist art, Mr. Simon's collection (IMO) is only bettered by the Musee D'Orsay in Paris. He was a complete Degas freak, so there's a lot of his stuff there, but some pretty famous Van Gogh's and Renoirs, and a very special painting by Modigliani of his wife.