Category: Los Angeles

Information about traveling to and from Los Angeles, California

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Vegas Road Trip for Memorial Day

As soon as you flip the calendar from April to May in the U.S., you’re charmed by the sight of a three-day weekend on the horizon. It may not seem like much, but sometimes all it takes is a weekend travel deal to make everything right with the world again.

If you’re looking for a nearby spot to spend a few days outside L.A., don’t overlook Las Vegas. Even if you’ve got plenty of sun in your neck of the woods, Vegas offers all kinds of fun stuff to fill a three-day weekend and it’s actually do-able as a road trip from L.A., too.

For those who aren’t familiar with the geography of the region, it’s easy to make the mistake that driving from Los Angeles to Las Vegas wouldn’t be the best way to get from city to city. It’s also easy to assume that since Reno and Vegas are both in Nevada that it would take longer to get from L.A. to Vegas than it would to get from Reno to Las Vegas. Both of these assumptions, however, are wrong.

Reno-Vegas is more than 450 miles one-way, whereas L.A.-Vegas is only 270 miles. Yes, there are plenty of flights connecting Angelinos to Sin City, but if you like to drive and you’ve got a good road trip crew then that’s an excellent option – when everyone chips in on gas money, it’s much cheaper than paying for several plane tickets.

And speaking of saving money, one great way to do that is to stay in off Strip hotels in Vegas. The flashing lights and spectacular outdoor shows at the big casino hotels on the Strip are enticing, but there’s no reason to pay the high prices for rooms in those hotels if you can stay nearby in an off-Strip hotel for a fraction of the cost. Spend all your time in the fancy hotel casinos, restaurants, lounges, theatres, and bars if you like – but sleep cheap off the Strip.

Road trips don’t take nearly as much planning as a trip involving flights, so you’ve still got a little time to figure out a trip to Vegas for Memorial Day. Remember, however, that you aren’t the only one planning a Memorial Day trip, so don’t wait too long or all the Memorial Day travel deals will be gone.

photo by jdnx

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Los Angeles Things to Do

Going to Coachella

Whether or not you love everything about L.A. and southern California, you probably love the weather during most of the year. There aren’t many places in the United States where you can plan an outdoor music festival during mid-April and count on nice weather. With the case of the Coachella music festival, however, you get not just lovely weather but the pretty surroundings outside Palm Springs.

If you’re planning to go to Coachella this year and you don’t already live in the Los Angeles area, your first order of business is to find a flight. Time is running out, but you still should be able to find a cheap plane ticket to one of the area airports that will get you close enough to the festival.

The closest airport, of course, is Palm Springs International (PSP) – but it’s a smaller airport and may not have the best deals on tickets. Next in line is the LA-Ontario Airport (ONT), and after that is the monster of LAX. In every case you’ll still need to rent a car or find ground transportation to the festival site, since even the Palm Springs airport is 20 miles from Coachella, but you’re more likely to find more cheap flights to Los Angeles if you’re looking at LA-Ontario or LAX simply because of their size and/or proximity to L.A.

Of course, if you already live in L.A. and you don’t want to drive all the way to Indio for Coachella, you can absolutely make use of airport parking at LAX, hop on a short flight to Palm Springs airport, and then rent a car or hitch a ride with another festival attendee for the rest of the way. But that seems a bit like overkill, unless you’re actually playing in the festival, in which case you probably shouldn’t need to drive yourself anywhere in the first place.

photo by sputnik mi amor

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Las Vegas Los Angeles Things to Do

Valentine’s Day Getaway to Vegas

For anyone who’s already in LA in mid-February, the idea of needing to plan a warm-weather getaway over Valentine’s Day is probably a bit silly. There’s plenty of sunshine blanketing Los Angeles and much of southern California during February, so you could easily enjoy a romantic walk on the beach with your sweetheart with just a short drive – but if you want to plan Valentine’s Day travel anyway, why not go play in Vegas?

There are all kinds of reasons to love Vegas for a getaway destination from Los Angeles, especially around Valentine’s Day. It’s not overly hot in Sin City in February, and yet it’s generally warm enough to enjoy the outdoor pools. That may not sound so different from February weather in LA, but Vegas certainly offers plenty of activities and attractions that LA doesn’t.

Getting from LA to Las Vegas is easy – there are lots of flights every day from LA’s many airports, and if you fancy a road trip it’s not even that far to drive. Hotel rooms in Vegas may go up in price over Valentine’s Day, but for a romantic splurge it can be worth it to get a room that’s a little more deluxe than you might otherwise. There are a few things you can do to get an upgrade on a Vegas hotel room – the best options usually involve being a frequent visitor to one particular hotel or getting that hotel casino’s “player’s card,” but it’s worth considering if you go to Las Vegas often.

Valentine’s Day is on a Monday this year, so if you’re taking a long weekend trip to Sin City you might have to get a little work done on the holiday itself. If you do, you may be pleased to know that there are a few places where you can get free WiFi in Las Vegas – including McCarran Airport. Of course, unless you’re planning on relocating and finding a job in Las Vegas after your significant other dumps you for spending too much time online during your weekend trip, you might want to make sure you’ve booked a table at one of the most romantic restaurants in Vegas as a just-in-case peace offering.

photo by SimonDoggett

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Articles Los Angeles

Travel to LA for NBA All-Star Weekend

Basketball fans have one more reason to visit Los Angeles this winter. This year, the city is hosting the NBA All-Star Weekend, a festival of basketball-related events, celebrity games and slam-dunk contests. Even if you aren’t a fan, it’s a weekend of sports, fun, and celebrities, and it’s a great excuse to plan a visit to sunny Los Angeles.

As always, airlines tend to raise prices to any destination hosting a special event, so you may find flights to Los Angeles cost more than they normally do during this time. But there are still some NBA All-Star Weekend travel deals out there that can help you bring down the cost of indulging in your favorite sports obsession.

Hotels close to the venues may still be available and those that are will be eager to offer incentives to fill rooms. Cheap hotels in LA that are farther away from the festivities may also be a good budget option, just be aware that the city is notorious for its traffic, so the savings may not be worth it once you factor in the extra time spent in the car.

If basketball just isn’t your passion, there’s still plenty of reason to visit LA. While the sports nut in your life is off watching the games, get out to sightsee in the city. Check out the Hollywood sign and Walk of Fame, shop on Rodeo Drive, visit Santa Monica, or just stake out all your favorite celebrities.

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Los Angeles Things to Do

Read. Enjoy. Travel

I read a lot. I’m sort of addicted to reading. I love reading so much that I’ve been involved in a project which offers free books to strangers on streets. It was my favorite thing to do during the summer weekends. I’ve always loved reading. And day dreaming about visiting the places featured in the books.

Reading is our way to escape reality and dream about places we may never be able to visit. But, how about when you read a book and the possibility to fly to the exact same place described in the book is right at your finger tips?

If you happen to buy (or receive as a gift) one of the adventurous coffee table books I’m more than sure that you’ll start making travel plans immediately.

Let’s say you read Surf Photography Of The 1960s & 1970s by LeRoy Grannis. It won’t be long until you’ll start looking for travel deals to Los Angeles and plan your next surfing vacation. Just don’t forget to book one of the cheap LA hotels as well.

I’m currently reading “The DaVinci Code” and all I can think about is visiting Paris. Likewise, when I read some books set in New York, all I could think about was planning my next vacation there. And that’s just by reading novel. If I get my hands on photography and travel books, my backpack is half done by the time I read half of the book!

Photo credit: Cristina Dima

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Articles Los Angeles

Plan Your Escape from LA for the Holidays

Los Angeles is one of those polarizing places; people who live there tend to love it, while those who visit either fall madly in lover, or can’t wait to escape the city. Even if Los Angeles is your heaven on earth, there comes a time when you want to leave. And if you’re family is elsewhere, that time is probably around the holidays.

If you you’re still looking for your holiday flights, you can still find some deals from Los Angeles, you just need to be patient and flexible. You may not get your first choice of flights, so consider altering your travel plans slightly and you could save.  Be sure to check flights on Christmas and Christmas Eve, as well’ often people don’t want to travel on these days, so you might find an unexpected discount, especially on red eye flights.

And don’t count out other forms of transportation, especially if your destination isn’t that far away. Once you add in the time it’ll take you to battle LA traffic, find airport parking at LAX, and then wait in the security line, you might have been able to reach your destination driving there. And you wouldn’t have had to endure any x-ray screenings or invasive pat-downs!

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Los Angeles Things to Do

Weekend getaway in Palm Springs

Known for the year-round nice weather and beautiful scenery, Palm Springs is an excellent destination for a weekend getaway. Remember when you day dreamed of relaxing in one of those travel hammocks , listening to chill out music and enjoying the scenery?

Then why don’t you look for travel deals to Palm Springs and make your dream come true? If you are already in Los Angeles, then all you need to do is rent a car and head out of the city. Oh yeah, and book a hotel room before you leave. Just in case. Otherwise, look for flights into either Palm Springs or LA. Chances are you’ll find better deals if you fly into LA.

Now that you’ve got a way to get here and a hotel to stay at, it’s time to plan your weekend in the city. Palm Springs can be easily tackled on foot so enjoy the town at your own pace. Other things to do in Palm Springs include visiting the museums or exploring the outdoors. The area is known for some excellent hiking trails, regardless of your fitness level.

If your idea of relaxing is playing a game of golf, then choose one of two resorts. Of course, make sure to make a reservation ahead of time. Or you can book a room in a posh resort and surprised your loved one with a spa treatment.

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Articles Los Angeles

Plan a Winter Ski Weekend in Lake Tahoe

Californians have long been flocking to the Lake Tahoe area for summer fun along the lake, but the area shouldn’t be forgotten about during winter ski season. And if living in the relatively flat city of sunny Los Angeles has made you a little wary of steep mountains covered with snow, well then Tahoe’s an even more attractive choice for your ski vacation destination.

Northstar-at-Tahoe, California, is an excellent choice for skiers of all levels, but especially for those just starting out or who haven’t been on skies for a while.  There’s a good ski school for beginners, (but still plenty of trails for more experienced skiers) and most of the runs aren’t as steeep as what you’d find at nearby area resorts. Northstar is also known for its tree skiing and fall lines which make for better sheltered runs during storms at at times when the powder is particularly deep.

The mountain offers 92 runs on 3,000 acres and features the largest snowmaking system of any resort in North Lake Tahoe.  Plus, at only about 40 miles from the Reno-Tahoe airport (with cheap flights to Reno departing from LA daily), it’s very easy to get to from Los Angeles.

And if skiing isn’t your winter sport of choice, you also snowboard, snowshow (just be sure you know how to choose the right snowshoes to make the sport more comfortable) or simply enjoy the apres-ski scene.

Photo by dannebrog

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Los Angeles

Spend the Halloween weekend at Disneyland

I love Halloween! It’s that time of the year when the adults can play dress-up without feeling like fools and the kids can have a lot of fun and use their imagination to carve pumpkins and ask their parents for costumes.

Wouldn’t it be fun to spend Halloween at Disneyland this year? The kids will surely be pleased and the fun is definitely in the air. There’s still time to look for cheap flights to LA and don’t forget to rent a car, as well. It’s the easiest way to get from LAX to Anaheim.

Now it’s time to look for accommodation. It’s a good idea to look for hotels at Disneyland before you consider anything off-site.

Or you can start your search with the package deals to LA , which comprise both flight and hotel deals, but also flight-only or hotel-only deals. Special offers are available online for the Halloween weekend, so make sure to keep your eyes on multiple sites.

The price tag for such a vacation? Assuming you fly from New York, depart on Friday and return on Monday, flights start at $313 RT per person (on Frontier Airlines). If you choose to stay off-site, then you can book rooms for just $60 per night. Aside from the travel and accommodation cost, you also need to consider the passes for the rides and the meals.

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Los Angeles Things to Do

Planning Your Vacation at Burning Man

What is the most interesting festival you’ve ever attended? Looking for something fun to do over the Labor Day weekend? Then we surely have an idea for you: the Burning Man Festival! In 2010, the festival takes place between August 30 and September 6.

The official website doesn’t help much with how to get to Burning Man stating that it’s your own responsibility to actually get there – and yes, it takes place right in the middle of the desert.

The closest airport to the site of the festival is Reno – 130 miles away – so start looking for cheap airfare to Reno . Chances are you’ll be able to find some good last minute deals. Otherwise, you’ll be racking up from $335 per person for a round trip from Los Angeles. And by the way, when you book the flight, also consider booking the airport parking at LAX to save time and money.

Once you get to Reno, make sure to rent a car to get to the festival site but remember that you cannot use any vehicle to get around the festival site. Consider booking accommodation in Reno before you leave. It might be a bit late but you can find rooms starting at $68 per night (even during a weekend night). Or you can book a bed in a hostel dorm for prices starting at $32 per night.

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