ajGoes

You could spend a couple of hours walking around Westwood (the neighborhood adjacent to UCLA) and the UCLA campus. Or stop in nearby Santa Monica on your way there, parking near the pier, and do the same.

Vic121

Those are good idea's and I might do that.

@TWA884 those are good guides as well. I am interested in Technology and just exploring.

I will be taking transit as well.

ajGoes

Public transportation in Los Angeles has improved enormously since I lived there, but it's still very spotty. Be sure to look at the estimated travel times in Google Maps (or whatever tool you're using) before you embark on what could turn out to be an all-day journey.

downinit

UCLA/Westwood is pretty much in the middle of nowhere. Best bet is to take a bus to downtown Santa Monica. You can easily spend a whole afternoon or evening wandering around Santa Monica and Venice, with plenty of dining and shopping options. There are also several museums covering a very wide variety of interests between downtown LA and Santa Monica.

Otherwise, you can take a bus down Sunset Blvd to Hollywood or all the way to downtown LA, which offers up LA Live, Little Tokyo, and what is left of the old Chinatown. Everything from Hollywood to downtown is well-served by subways and light rail.

FlightCancelled

Mileage-run with 24 hours stop in LA. Living on CET-time (-9 hours from LA) when I'm there. Land around 14 local time friday (23 CET) and leave around 15 local time saturday (24 CET).

Thinking of booking a airport hotel (though I am open to other suggestions) and go straight to sleep when I land, will probably be around 16 local time (01 CET) when I get to the hotel considering I have to go through immigration, get luggage, take the the hotel shuttle and so on. Can probably sleep long and get up around 14 CET which is 5AM local time. Any suggestions on what I can do/see at that time of day on a saturday? Never been to LA before.

bzcat

At 5 AM not a lot of places are open but if you wait until 7 AM, all the coffee shops will be up and running.

The Westchester business district is a short walk away from most of the airport hotels located on Century Blvd. The Coffee Company is a good local spot. And across the street, there is a Starbuck and Panera Bread.

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Cour...d33.957594!3e2

And if for some reason, you can't sleep in the middle of the night, there is an all night diner in Manhattan Beach call The Kettle (a short Uber ride away from airport).

infy9001

Hi FT'ers.. arriving into LAX from SYD at 7am and leaving for YYZ at 10pm on a Monday.

I plan to rent a car to go to Long Beach for half a day and Santa Monica pier for the other half.

As I have zero idea about traffic patterns and seeing both locations appear opposite directions from the airport, is there one location I should go first versus the other in order to avoid rush hour traffic throughout my journey?

Also plan to grab a shower by first heading back into TBIT to the lounge unless y'all have a recommendation of gym somewhere along the route that offers a day pass.

Thx.

bzcat

1. Which airlines? Is it UA+AC?

2. When is this travel taking place? Before or after the terminal moves?

3. What do you plan to do at Long Beach? There is no "rush hour" on this part of town... the traffic on I-405 is thick both ways all day. It's one of those rare omni-directional cluster <deleted>. You'll need 1 hour to travel from LAX to either end. that being said, it's probably slightly better going to Long Beach first.

4. You have approximately 12 hours of free time, how much of it do you want to spend taking in the view of I-405? I will say it generally looks better than 401 in Toronto...

Need

If you land at 7am, you probably won't get out until 8am and getting rental car will move it out to 9. You will hit some traffic no matter which way you go from LAX. Unless you are planning to visit Queen Mary or the Aquarium of the Pacific, you really don't need to go to Long Beach if you are already going to Santa Monica. If you want to see another beach area other than Santa Monica, I would either go up to Venice Beach to all the way down to Laguna.

Need

You know I think Long Beach city must have spend a fortune on tourism advertising. I have so many people visiting LA asking to go see Long Beach. One of them even booked an Airbnb at Long Beach. The pictures look really nice inside the house and the description matches.. 10 minutes from beach, aquarium, etc.... When I drove there I was a little scare as all the houses have iron bars on the windows and there is very little street lights.

infy9001

1. Yes UA+AC. Plan to check my luggage in for the onward flight prior to leaving LAX.

2. Happening that Monday.. the 15th..so smack in the middle of the move. Will that really make a difference other than maybe going to the wrong terminal when departing? Need to add a bit of extra time i guess for going to T2 vs. T6?

3. Long Beach. Heard lots about it. Poke hunting ground and some good local eats in the area I heard about. I know SM is better likely but figure since I have time, I at least want to say I went there (Long Beach) to do what i aimed to do.

4. Better than the 401 during rush our? Okay, I can handle the traffic then So looks like Long Beach first then unless others want to chime in otherwise?

So what time would I need to leave SM to get to LAX to catch the 10pm flight assuming I have to drop off the rental car as well (no idea how long that takes, never rented a car there before).

Hey..that's a great idea.. maybe get a airbnb just to have a shower and nap in Long Beach. Unless you were being scarily sarcastic...is it okay during the day time?

ajGoes

Rental car companies around LAX pretty universally suck, so I allow more time to return a car there than at other airports. Rent only from one of the companies on Century Blvd. near the 405, or on Airport Blvd. When topping up the tank, remember that Arco stations don't take credit cards.

I start from Santa Monica Canyon (just north of the Santa Monica city limit) and try to leave two and a half hours before departure time for a domestic destination.

It takes less than half an hour to get to the airport rental-car lots from the Canyon, often on surface streets rather than the freeway (which you should avoid unless your phone tells you it's running reasonably freely), but the wait first for an agent and then for a shuttle at the rental-car return can eat up at least another half hour.

infy9001

So leave the SM Pier by 7pm should be fine? Taking Lincoln from what i read elsewhere? Though i'm flying to YYZ..so..do i need to add extra time.. say 6pm to be safe?

Need

It's not that bad, but all the houses do have security bars on the doors and windows. It is definitely not in the tourist part of Long Beach.

Yeah if you really want to go to Long Beach, go there first is better I think. The traffic in the morning is slightly better going south on the 405 from LAX than going north. When you said Poke hunting ground do you mean Pokeman hunting or Poke like raw fish? I thought Santa Monica pier is the Pokeman hunting ground.. I didn't know Long Beach is one. Also another good place is Redondo Beach pier. Lots of pokeman and good seafood there.

infy9001

Yes. Pokemon One of the youtubers I follow hangs out there often, so maybe meet up for coffee and the Pike I see him showcase has a lot of good Poke I don't get here. Yeah.. SM has way more, but not necessarily the rarity you get at the Pike (not to get off topic though).

Thanks for the tip on Redondo.. maybe i'll hit that on the way to SM if the Pike becomes a wash. ^