Not to mention the heirloom tomato omelette with burrata cheese, fresh homemade bisquits and that fresh strawberry jam or orange marmalade. Hopefully, someone will order the "ravioli special." It is always amazing. Homemade ravioli filled with something delicious :) IMHO, the best ravioli in the world is to be found at Coras..this being said by one who spends a lot of time in Italy.

Im in a similar situtaion altho it will be 4 hours between flights. OH wants to stay at the airport but I doubt we will ever be in LA again. Im guessing the Big Blue bus is good enuff for a bit of a drive about the place?

Four hours really isn't much time given LA unpredictable traffic, etc. and if you decide to venture forth you may be better off ponying up for cab fare to either Manhattan Beach (south) or Playa del Rey/Marina del Rey (north) - also depends on time of day. Not much to do aside from hang at The Shack or the like, but you can get to PDR in less than 15 minutes. Marina has a Ritz Carlton and a couple dockside joints amidst the boats. MB has much more of a town.

My advise is to head to THE BRIDGE, which is closer to LAX than Marina Del Rey, Venice or Santa Monica. (Those 3 places are good as well -- but my advise would be more of an alternative to consider.)

Get a manicure, pedicure or some relaxing massage at The Bridge, then shop at Nordstrom Rack (always a nice way to buy time while on a layover), pick up a few good books or magazines at Borders, see an IMAX movie (if you're up for it), and get a nice meal or some drinks at the restaurants there.

It's not a big place, but it can surely entertain (or relax) you for the 4 hour stay you have. Otherwise, if you wish to see something more to remember LA by -- definitely consider a trip to Marina Del Rey, Venice or Santa Monica.

Good luck and have a safe trip!

And to make sure the cab takes you there, make sure you call it "The Promenade" or "Howard Hughes Center" ("The Bridge" is the name of the movie theatre :D)

I would also suggest Manhattan and Hermosa Beaches... those are nearby LAX. Also has shops and restaurants for your layover enjoyment. ^

With all due respect to BellaG, I would not consider going to The Bridge. IMHO, it is just another rather dreary-looking mall with mediocre chain food restaurants and shops. The best thing of all is the movie theatre, but that requires too much time. I rather like the idea of just getting out of the airport and heading to Marina DelRey, look at the boats, have a drink at the RC and head back to LAX.

I wouldn't call it "dreary-looking," but I do agree that it's not the place to go if you've only got 4 hours in town. MdR or Santa Monica is the place to go.

By the way...the full name of the mall on Sepulveda south of Centinela is "The Promenade at Howard Hughes Center." But, if you tell a Westside cabbie you want to go to "The Promenade," you'll end up at Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade. Everyone I know around here calls it "Howard Hughes Center" or just "Howard Hughes."

Howard Hughes Center definitely isn't much different to the typical open-air mall -- just smaller with less stores. However, a trip to the nail spa, Nordstrom Rack and the bookstore has been making many layover travelers to LAX very happy and relaxed. This is just a suggestion -- if you're in that frame of mind where you wish to avoid the crowd, tourists, and simply do something different for a short period of time.

While a trip to Santa Monica Promenade, Venice Boardwalk, Santa Monica Main St, Marina Del Rey Pier, etc are great -- definitely a great way to enjoy LA -- consider my suggestion if you're running out of time or the roads are congested. You'd be surprise how many women dig the idea of going to a nail spa during a layover.... over sightseeing. (By the way, I just got home from the Nordstrom Rack there -- great sale on all their Neutrogena stuff!)

bellaG I wonder if there are any recommendations for nail spas in some of the hotels closer to LAX. The Spa idea is a good one; whether for nails or a workout. ^

Does the Big Blue Bus (express) have an actual stop in the LAX terminal?

Nope. All of the buses that serve LAX (Santa Monica #3/Rapid 3, Culver City #6) stop at a transit center at Parking Lot C (96th & Sepulveda.) Then the Lot C shuttle bus hops across and makes the terminal loop.

Thanks for all the interesting suggestions. Several years ago my son won a contest to be on the Kid’s Choice Awards on Nickelodeon TV to help present the awards. We stayed at the Loew’s Hotel adjacent to the Santa Monica pier. So we were biased towards going back to this area and walking around.

We got off the plane from Australia and were on the tired side. We opted to take the airport bus to pick up the city bus going to Santa Monica. You do kill some time waiting for the airport bus and going around the airport, then waiting for the city bus and making the drive to Santa Monica. Then repeat the same thing on the way back. Hey we had plenty of time. There was no long wait for any of the connections and traffic moved nicely.

The ride itself is uneventful with the scenery being nothing exciting to write about. Is the local bus with mostly local working people. Cost is $.75 and we had no change so we just slipped in dollar bills for the machine gizmo at the front of the bus. On the ride to the Pier area my son did spot an In-and-Out burger place. One could have gotten off the bus and gotten their burger fix. On the way back we went by an In-and Out burger place approaching the airport, which I assume was the one closest to the airport.

On the way back it was partially dark, where you transfer to the airport bus a couple of people had sleeping bags, etc. As we got off the bus some distinguished female citizen on the bench gave another gentleman and myself some pretty good verbal abuse. Sort of made the quick assumption that some sort of a shelter might be close by or might be area frequented by less desirable LA citizens. During the day really didn’t notice anything unusual. We saw several airport buses up ahead and simply got on one right away. We are use to the city life in Boston having taken the buses and trains there for years, so it was not a big deal. However some might be uncomfortable if you aren’t able to get on a bus right away and have to wait on the sidewalk. Not really sure if my comments are reflective of other times at this location at night, but this is based upon one very short limited observation. LA folks feel free to comment on this observation.

We walked the Santa Monica Pier, the beach, Loews Hotel and the general area. We opted not to go further down and explore the other neighborhood as we were a little tired and more importantly wanted more than enough time to make our connections. It was a nice thing to do as oppose to hanging around the airport.

Did make one mistake in judgment. At the very end of the pier my son saw a Mexican Restaurant and we decided to go there. The margarita and appetizer were ok, but the meal itself was rather so so. Not sure if this place would make the top 100 restaurants in Santa Monica. Wondered if it might be an IDINE/Reward restaurant. J So as we walked by The Lobster suggested above I was wondering about the killer Bloody Mary and meal that could have been.

6-hour layover in LAX
 

Next Monday, I'll have a 6-hour layover between CI008 from TPE, which arrives at 18:50, and CO1794 to IAH, which departs at 01:10 the next day. What is there to do for those 6 hours (other than spotting)? How do I catch the shuttle bus from TBIT to T6? Do I have to recheck my bags for the CO flight at T6? If so, how early may I check in? While I wait for my flight, is there Wi-Fi at T6? I'm new to connections at LAX since it's usually my final destination, so any advice is appreciated.

Thanks.

If your bag is tagged through to IAH you can recheck it at TBIT, otherwise you can carry it to CO checkin at T6. It is a 5 minute walk to T6 from TBIT, or you can catch the bus curb-side. There isn't much you can do in 6 hours at LAX, leaving the airport is not worth it for that short a time unless you have a specific destination. There is an excellent bar/restaurant at LAX in the "spider" building in the center of the parking garage (the former control tower).

Stand under the "Airport Connections" sign on the lower (arrivals) level and wait for the free bus marked, "A - Airport Connections" that will take you to T6.

There are numerous what-to-do-on-my-6-hour-LAX-layover threads previously posted here. For example you could go to the Manhattan Beach shopping mall 3 mi S of the airport (take the free shuttle bus to the Radisson Hotel, and then take the Ocean Express free shuttle bus (gatewaytola.org), or take a city bus to the Santa Monica 3rd Street Promenade 10 mi N of the airport. You could go to Dockweiler State Beach immediately W of the airport. You could rent a car for $15 and drive around for a couple of hours.