Hi,
My husband and I are travelling to Mexico in April 2014. We are flying into Los Angeles – a necessary evil due to where we are coming from (New Zealand, but going via Australia). At this stage we have three days in LA before heading to Mexico City for 5 days, then to Puerto Vallarta. I am keen to avoid Los Angeles itself so am trying to come up with a plan for those three days. We have considered spending some time in Santa Monica, or maybe going into Mexico early, but we have enough time in Mexico City and I don’t really want to organise another stop in Mexico which will involve costly flights etc. So does anyone have any suggestions as to how to spend three days between a flight into Los Angeles and arriving in Mexico City? We are planning to fly from LAX into Mexico, but happy to change this, and we could make the time either 2 or 4 days if the location was better suited to that. Oh and we have been to San Diego, San Francisco and Las Vegas recently, so not really interested in flying to Mexico City from those cities. Thanks

Santa Monica is really considered Los Angeles, the western edge. You could go north of LA to Santa Barbara or Ojai. I love both. If you're interested in gardens there's a spectacularly unusual one, Lotusland, in a community adjacent to Santa Barbara. http://www.lotusland.org/

Or you could go south to Orange County, probably the easier drive, maybe Laguna Beach which has more going for it than just beach. April is also a nice time in the desert communities, Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage or maybe the original spa resort of Desert Hot Springs, all east of LA.

It makes the most sense, I think, to come in and go out of LAX and rent a car for the 3 days.

Thanks for the reply. We are a bit nervous about driving as we drive on the opposite side of the road in New Zealand and the driving is very different. Are any of those locations easily accessible by bus or train?

Santa Monica is quite close to LAX and there are buses directly there. It might be just the thing under the circumstances.

Here's the bus: http://bigbluebus.com/Routes-And-Schedules/Route-3.aspx

Now that I think about it, if you stayed in Santa Monica it would be easier and not terribly expensive to just take a taxi.

Thanks MmePerdu - that sounds like it would be an easy option. Is there enough to do in Santa Monica for two full days? I feel like since we're travelling across to the other side of the world we need to make the most of it, but then sometimes it's more enjoyable to take it easy and not spend half the trip travelling from place to place.

I agree entirely. Considering it's a rest after long flights I think a leisurely 2 days would be just the thing. You can walk along the water, loads of restaurants and shops and if the spirit moves you take a bus a few miles to Westwood or Beverly hills or the Getty Center.

http://www.fodors.com/world/north-am...ce-and-malibu/
http://www.fodors.com/world/north-am...iew-92089.html
http://www.frommers.com/destinations...014033701.html

Great, thank you so much for all your advice!

My daughter took me to Santa Monica for my b-day in March and some of our favorite activities we discovered thru Malibu Discovery Tours...very different from typical LA tours looking at celebrity homes. They have a Sunrise Hike into the hills overlooking the city, and we discovered the Venice Canals thru them which we returned to and enjoyed on evening strolls. They also have dining and wine tasting tours.
The Bergamot Station is a complex of upscale art galleries. And there's shopping and a wide variety of restaurants on the 3rd Street Promenade, on Montana, and Santa Monica Place.
And if you have a car, an evening at the Griffith Observatory gives amazing views both above and below.

Considering your long flights to LA, two days in Santa Monica could be very relaxing. Walks on the beach, the pier, good restaurants, and shopping at either the newly refurbished mall or the 3rd Street Promenade might make a nice stopover. If you wanted to go to Santa Barbara and not drive, there is a Flyway Bus from LAX to Santa Barbara. But I like the idea of Santa Monica.

Santa Monica, yes!,

Sounds like Santa Monica is the way to go, time to start researching places to stay! Thanks everyone.

The Georgian is a nice, historic hotel, directly across from the pier and close to the third street promenade. If you want really swanky, look at Shutters hotel.