Currently I have a stopover planned at LAX on June 5th, I will land at 05:13 PM and leave for Rarotonga at 11:00 PM. Since I basically lose a day since I fly in from IAD I was thinking about changing my flight so that I will arrive at 11:35 AM so that I have a 11.5 hour layover. In this time I would like to go and see something however I don't know what is doable in the timeframe and won't cost me an arm and a leg.
And would it be worth it to spend $155 to change my flight and spend some time in the LA area or should I just stick with my current itinerary and hang around the airport for 6 hours?
SWCPHX
Apr 22, 11, 6:04 pm
I wouldn't spend $155 to change my plans to spend 11.5 hours in LA. If you have friends or family that you could visit, possibly, but IMHO it's not worth the money. Go again another time and budget a couple of days. With only 6 hours, read some threads about how to do an In N' Out run. Get off the airport property and have a nice hamburger. If you're adventurous you could conceivably take a taxi up to the Santa Monica Pier area and have a look/walk around for a bit.
sk3
Apr 23, 11, 12:11 am
I wouldn't spend $155 to change my plans to spend 11.5 hours in LA. If you have friends or family that you could visit, possibly, but IMHO it's not worth the money. Go again another time and budget a couple of days. With only 6 hours, read some threads about how to do an In N' Out run. Get off the airport property and have a nice hamburger. If you're adventurous you could conceivably take a taxi up to the Santa Monica Pier area and have a look/walk around for a bit.
I seriously don't understand this connection: visiting LA means you should eat a hamburger at In n Out? :rolleyes:
With 6 hours to kill - go to Santa Monica, see the Pacific, have a Mojito with some fish tacos and chips and salsa - or anything that's somewhat regional. Afterall you can have a burger anywhere! (Sure In n Out is tastey for fast food... but it ain't that tastey).
To the OP: is it important to you to see some of LA? Will you have plans in the near future to visit it for a longer period of time? If your answers are yes to the first question and no to the second, than $155 could be money well spent. You can see alot of LA in 11.5 hours, enough to form a fair-enough impression. (Just my opinion of course, as someone who grew up in NY but who's lived here for the last 36 years).
rwalia99
Apr 23, 11, 12:42 am
Currently I have a stopover planned at LAX on June 5th, I will land at 05:13 PM and leave for Rarotonga at 11:00 PM. Since I basically lose a day since I fly in from IAD I was thinking about changing my flight so that I will arrive at 11:35 AM so that I have a 11.5 hour layover. In this time I would like to go and see something however I don't know what is doable in the timeframe and won't cost me an arm and a leg.
And would it be worth it to spend $155 to change my flight and spend some time in the LA area or should I just stick with my current itinerary and hang around the airport for 6 hours?
Agreed. I live in Los Angeles too and don't think it's worth the $155. But if you don't get to the beach much, that's a good way to spend the time. You could do one of the star homes tours if you're into that kind of thing, have some good sushi, and do quite a few things here. But it's better to at least have a weekend to do it, IMO.
SWCPHX
Apr 23, 11, 12:55 am
Just bear in mind to that your 6 hour layover is in reality closer to 4 or less. You are expected to land at 5:13 but then will spend several minutes taxing, waiting to deplane, and getting through the terminal. I would say that you would be off airport property at about 6pm. Back at the airport by 10ish or earlier since it's international flight?
Another option would be to take a cab down to the Hermosa Beach pier area instead of Santa Monica. If you take a cab up to Santa Monica, tell them to take Lincoln Blvd, not the 405 to the 10.
SkiAdcock
Apr 23, 11, 10:10 am
Agree that if you don't do the 11.5hour layover, you should just head to the beach. BTW - if you want to avoid paying for a cab, catch one of the hotel airport shuttles (I'd say Sheraton or Marriott one) to the hotel & then catch the "Ocean Express" shuttle ($2/each way) to downtown Manhattan Beach. The MB pier is there, along w/ restaurants, bars, etc. Fun area. Alternatively, you can get rental cars for cheap out of LAX area, so you could do that & head to MB or up to Venice or Santa Monica.
Cheers.
styloboy
Apr 24, 11, 11:45 am
My original intention was to go to Santa Monica and rent a bike. However it all depends on luggage storage, since I will be stuck with two suitcases I have to store my luggage somewhere for the day. Do any of you have any experience with laxlugaggestorage.com or any other ways to store my luggage. However since I'm 19 renting a car will not be a possibility.
styloboy
Apr 24, 11, 11:53 am
I seriously don't understand this connection: visiting LA means you should eat a hamburger at In n Out? :rolleyes:
With 6 hours to kill - go to Santa Monica, see the Pacific, have a Mojito with some fish tacos and chips and salsa - or anything that's somewhat regional. Afterall you can have a burger anywhere! (Sure In n Out is tastey for fast food... but it ain't that tastey).
To the OP: is it important to you to see some of LA? Will you have plans in the near future to visit it for a longer period of time? If your answers are yes to the first question and no to the second, than $155 could be money well spent. You can see alot of LA in 11.5 hours, enough to form a fair-enough impression. (Just my opinion of course, as someone who grew up in NY but who's lived here for the last 36 years).
Yes, I would like to see a bit of LA. The only reason I will be there now is to get to the Cook Islands. But I probably won't go back to LA for a long time since I live in The Netherlands/Belgium. After some more digging I also found a different flight which gives me an 13.5 hour layover and is $150 to change. The only difference is that I won't fly from Dulles but from Baltimore.
SWCPHX
Apr 24, 11, 1:11 pm
My original intention was to go to Santa Monica and rent a bike. However it all depends on luggage storage, since I will be stuck with two suitcases I have to store my luggage somewhere for the day. Do any of you have any experience with laxlugaggestorage.com or any other ways to store my luggage. However since I'm 19 renting a car will not be a possibility.
Enterprise may rent you a car. I rented from them before I was 25 and just had to pay a premium rate or a little extra. I still don't believe that 13.5 hours is enough of a layover to justify an extra $150. Yes you could make it a lot further to someplace like Hollywood but again, unless you just want the ability/experience to say I was there, you won't have a lot of time to "do" anything. If you stick with your original itin, you should have just enough time to make it to a beach and watch a gorgeous sunset into the Pacific Ocean. Personally I'd pick the Palisades Park bluffs in Santa Monica. It's a nice area for a stroll, adjacent to the Santa Monica Pier, some good restaurants, people watching etc. Just mind the transients, some of them are a bit odd.
styloboy
Apr 25, 11, 11:15 am
After calling United again and speaking to another agent, I got a different quote to change to a 6.55 am flight for $60. So I did change my flight. And I rented a car from E-Z car rental. So I have almost everything booked, only thing left is to decide what to do.
I was thinking about going to Beverly Hills and then to Santa Monica before returning to LAX is this possible in 10 hours?
iapetus
Apr 25, 11, 3:54 pm
I was thinking about going to Beverly Hills and then to Santa Monica before returning to LAX is this possible in 10 hours?It is, particularly since we're talking about a Sunday. But, even then, don't underestimate traffic around here. If you have a web-enabled phone, check sigalert.com for traffic information.
What is there in Beverly Hills, California, that you want to do? I'm not really sure that it would be worth your time unless you had a specific reason to go there. I am also of the mind that your time would be better spent near the beach. (But think about parking ahead of time, too.)
SWCPHX
Apr 25, 11, 7:08 pm
It is, particularly since we're talking about a Sunday. But, even then, don't underestimate traffic around here. If you have a web-enabled phone, check sigalert.com for traffic information.
What is there in Beverly Hills, California, that you want to do? I'm not really sure that it would be worth your time unless you had a specific reason to go there. I am also of the mind that your time would be better spent near the beach. (But think about parking ahead of time, too.)
+1 on the parking especially around the Santa Monica Beach area. The beach parking lots are full on most weekends. You'd be better off trying to find a space in the multi-story structures along 2nd or 4th Streets, walk around on the 3rd St Promenade area and then head a couple of blocks further West to the Pier and beach areas.
I kind of agree about Beverly Hills. Unless you're going to plunk down some serious cash at a store on Rodeo Dr. or one of the other boutiques it's just not that interesting, to me at least.
If you really want to see something neat near the Beverly Hills area, try the Original Farmers' Market at 3rd and Fairfax instead. Collection of shops, food stands, and The Grove shopping center.
Get your rental car and put the luggage in the trunk. Drive to Downtown Santa Monica; you will be there pretty early in the morning so parking shouldn't be too hard to find in one of the parking structures in Downtown. Leave your luggage in the car... it's generally pretty safe area with lots of people and the garages have 24 hour security camera monitored by the police.
Stop A: Go down to the beach and find a bike rental place - I suggest this one: http://www.yelp.com/biz/sea-mist-rentals-santa-monica $15 for all-day rental. You pick your own bike.
Now you can ride the bike up and down the coast and enjoy the weather and scenery.
Stop B - Check out the farmers market on Main St next to the Victorian: http://www01.smgov.net/farmers_market/sunday.htm (good place for some breakfast)
Stop C - Ride over to Abbot Kinney street in Venice Beach (not very far from Main St farmers market): http://www.abbotkinneyonline.com/index.php?/Details/Intelligentsia.html There are lots of coffee shops and places to hang out and relax for a while.
Stop D - Ride towards the beach via Venice Blvd and get back on the bike path next to the beach and head back towards Santa Monica via Venice Beach bike path. Check out the weirdos on the boardwalk and do some people watch :)
Stop E - Ride north about another 5 km north to Santa Monica Beach House. The ride is very easy to do... flat, no hills, with a light ocean breeze. This area north of the pier is less touristy and fewer people will be on the beach on this section. You can park your bike and actually go down to the ocean. Sit and relax for a bit. http://beachhouse.smgov.net/
This bike loop I suggested will probably take about 4 to 5 hours to complete at a very slow and leisurely pace, taking into account time for breakfast and lunch and any detours along the way.
Return your bike Get in your rental car by 6 pm, drive down Lincoln Blvd and grab some dinner. A couple of possiblities:
Baby Blue BBQ (awesome ribs) http://www.yelp.com/biz/baby-blues-bbq-venice
La Cabana (Mexican) http://www.yelp.com/biz/la-cabana-restaurant-venice
Sakura House (Japanese yakitori) http://www.yelp.com/biz/sakura-house-los-angeles
If you tell us what kind of food you like, we can probably suggest a few other places.
Drive back to LAX and return your rental car by 9 PM
SoCal
Apr 27, 11, 2:15 pm
-If you keep the shorter layover, you could splurge and eat dinner at the rather kitchy, but somewhat fun, Encounter restaurant in the spider-shaped building in the middle of LAX. http://www.encounterlax.com/, Excellent plane-viewing. Food is pricey but you could always get a drink and snack in the bar.
-If you go for the longer layover: you're sure you can't check your bags through to your second flight? I have not used the luggage storage service but I think they've been around for a while. I thought I read about a shuttle from near LAX to Manhattan Beach. To get to Santa Monica by public transportation, rather than a taxi, you'd have to get the free shuttle from the airport to the "LAX transportation center" across Century Bouleard, then get a bus from there. For bus schedules, you could check http://www.metro.net/ or http://www.bigbluebus.com/home/index.asp You could get to downtown L.A. and Hollywood by taking the FlyAway bus to Union Station and then subway.
-Unless you can really map out a feasible schedule to see places in L.A. that you'd like to see, within your time frame, I'd give it a miss. L.A. is huge and spread-out. Also note that "Los Angeles" is used by many to describe not just the City of Los Angeles, but also the wider County of Los Angeles and even neighboring counties such as Orange. You could get to Santa Monica or the great Getty Center (art museum) in Brentwood by public transportation, but it could be quite a task. If you rent a car, you'll need to allow the etra time to get from the airport terminals to the car rental locations (each company has its own shuttle) and back, and, of course, contend with rush hour traffic in th late afternoon and evening.
Get your rental car and put the luggage in the trunk. Drive to Downtown Santa Monica; you will be there pretty early in the morning so parking shouldn't be too hard to find in one of the parking structures in Downtown. Leave your luggage in the car... it's generally pretty safe area with lots of people and the garages have 24 hour security camera monitored by the police.
Stop A: Go down to the beach and find a bike rental place - I suggest this one: http://www.yelp.com/biz/sea-mist-rentals-santa-monica $15 for all-day rental. You pick your own bike.
Now you can ride the bike up and down the coast and enjoy the weather and scenery.
Stop B - Check out the farmers market on Main St next to the Victorian: http://www01.smgov.net/farmers_market/sunday.htm (good place for some breakfast)
Stop C - Ride over to Abbot Kinney street in Venice Beach (not very far from Main St farmers market): http://www.abbotkinneyonline.com/index.php?/Details/Intelligentsia.html There are lots of coffee shops and places to hang out and relax for a while.
Stop D - Ride towards the beach via Venice Blvd and get back on the bike path next to the beach and head back towards Santa Monica via Venice Beach bike path. Check out the weirdos on the boardwalk and do some people watch :)
Stop E - Ride north about another 5 km north to Santa Monica Beach House. The ride is very easy to do... flat, no hills, with a light ocean breeze. This area north of the pier is less touristy and fewer people will be on the beach on this section. You can park your bike and actually go down to the ocean. Sit and relax for a bit. http://beachhouse.smgov.net/
This bike loop I suggested will probably take about 4 to 5 hours to complete at a very slow and leisurely pace, taking into account time for breakfast and lunch and any detours along the way.
Return your bike Get in your rental car by 6 pm, drive down Lincoln Blvd and grab some dinner. A couple of possiblities:
Baby Blue BBQ (awesome ribs) http://www.yelp.com/biz/baby-blues-bbq-venice
La Cabana (Mexican) http://www.yelp.com/biz/la-cabana-restaurant-venice
Sakura House (Japanese yakitori) http://www.yelp.com/biz/sakura-house-los-angeles
If you tell us what kind of food you like, we can probably suggest a few other places.
Drive back to LAX and return your rental car by 9 PM
Thank you for the recomendations, renting a bike in Santa Monica was part of the original plan. :-) I was only wondering is there something to do in Santa Monica if it were to rain? Or is it better to go somewhere else if I'm stuck with rain.
And regarding the dining options, does one of you know of some places that serve vegetarian food, preferably Italian food. It doesn't have to be an vegetarian restaurant as long as they have some vegetarian choices, where it wouldn't look strange if I were to eat out alone.
bzcat
Apr 28, 11, 3:28 pm
http://www.lavecchiacucina.com/
Best Italian place in Santa Monica. Some of their pasta and pizza are vegetarian. They have a bar area if you are dining by yourself.
If you are coming in June, it probably won't rain. But in case you are unlucky, there are plenty of good museums on this side of town to kill a few hours and get away from the drizzle. Since you will have rental car, it is very easy to reach all of them.
Getty http://www.getty.edu/museum/ (Greek/Roman and contemporary European art)
LA County Museum of Art http://www.lacma.org/ (European and contemporary American art)
Petersen Automotive Museum http://www.petersen.org/ (it is very fun and interesting peek into LA's car culture)
SWCPHX
Apr 28, 11, 6:05 pm
Thank you for the recomendations, renting a bike in Santa Monica was part of the original plan. :-) I was only wondering is there something to do in Santa Monica if it were to rain? Or is it better to go somewhere else if I'm stuck with rain.
And regarding the dining options, does one of you know of some places that serve vegetarian food, preferably Italian food. It doesn't have to be an vegetarian restaurant as long as they have some vegetarian choices, where it wouldn't look strange if I were to eat out alone.
For Italian I would suggest either C&O Trattoria http://www.cotrattoria.com/ on Washington Blvd. (near the Venice Beach boardwalk area) and on the way back to LAX. Another option a couple of blocks away is The Pasta Factory http://www.yelp.com/biz/pasta-factory-italian-restaurant-marina-del-rey.
nov11
May 2, 11, 10:02 am
I was only wondering is there something to do in Santa Monica if it were to rain? Or is it better to go somewhere else if I'm stuck with rain.
You are visiting in June - chances of rain is close to 0. Chances of you seeing the sun along the coast is close to 0 too :p. If we have spring/summer like last year, it will be cold and foggy pretty much all day.
iapetus
May 3, 11, 1:20 pm
I was only wondering is there something to do in Santa Monica if it were to rain?
You are visiting in June - chances of rain is close to 0.Rain! :D Yeah, that's actually pretty funny. styloboy, you can almost definitely count on not having to worry about rain. Rain at that time of the year around here is something like a 2- or 3-sigma event.
Chances of you seeing the sun along the coast is close to 0 too :p. If we have spring/summer like last year, it will be cold and foggy pretty much all day.But I am a little more optimistic about sunshine. You should be OK, particularly later in the day. If you're not seeing sufficient sunshine, just go inland about 1 or 2 miles (literally). There should be plenty of sun just a little ways from the beach.
FlyMeToTheLooneyBin
May 3, 11, 10:20 pm
http://www.lavecchiacucina.com/
Best Italian place in Santa Monica. Some of their pasta and pizza are vegetarian. They have a bar area if you are dining by yourself.
If you are coming in June, it probably won't rain. But in case you are unlucky, there are plenty of good museums on this side of town to kill a few hours and get away from the drizzle. Since you will have rental car, it is very easy to reach all of them.
Getty http://www.getty.edu/museum/ (Greek/Roman and contemporary European art)
LA County Museum of Art http://www.lacma.org/ (European and contemporary American art)
Petersen Automotive Museum http://www.petersen.org/ (it is very fun and interesting peek into LA's car culture)
I agree with La Vecchia for Italian fare. I do also like Fritto Misto on 6th and Colorado. They also have a very low corkage fee ($2 per person) if you would like to bring your own wine (which you can purchase at the Vons on 7th and Broadway, 2 blocks away). The lines can be long though and they don't take reservations.
SWCPHX
May 3, 11, 10:54 pm
Forgot about Fritto Misto, yeah they're good! Another good neighborhood place in Santa Monica is up at 7th and Montana, it's called Spumoni.
http://www.spumonirestaurants.com/
OP also asked about vegetarian options and in the same area as Fritto Misto is Raw.
http://www.planetraw.com/
'Course if you want a quick sandwich while you're out and about, pop into Bay Cities Deli at Lincoln and Colorado for the Caprese sandwich!
http://www.baycitiesitaliandeli.com/
FlyMeToTheLooneyBin
May 4, 11, 1:01 am
'Course if you want a quick sandwich while you're out and about, pop into Bay Cities Deli at Lincoln and Colorado for the Caprese sandwich!
http://www.baycitiesitaliandeli.com/
Or, even better, in my opinion, is Mendocino Farms in Marina Del Rey. The kurobata pork belly sandwich is delicious! About $9 or $10. Lines are long, but it tends to move fast, and they let you sample some salad while you wait.
twa777
May 8, 11, 8:29 pm
And regarding the dining options, does one of you know of some places that serve vegetarian food, preferably Italian food. It doesn't have to be an vegetarian restaurant as long as they have some vegetarian choices, where it wouldn't look strange if I were to eat out alone.
For vegetarian food, when I'm in L.A. I always make a point to stop at Veggie Grill. It's not Italian, but they do some pretty amazing food and it's all vegan -- good enough that I have non-veggie friends in L.A. who eat there regularly and they've expanded to seven locations (including Plaza El Segundo which is just a short ways from LAX).
The restaurants have a great, modern look, and it's quick service (order at the counter and they bring the food to you) -- so no problem eating alone, and it won't take up that much of your time. My go-to meal is to get the "carne asada" and a side of sweetheart fries (with chipotle ranch dip).