Arrival Information

All European and many domestic flights use Los Angeles International Airport - always known as LAX (tel 310/646-5252) - sixteen miles southwest of downtown. Free 24-hour shuttle buses (line "C") connect with the LAX Transit Center at Vicksburg Avenue and 96th Street, where you can pick up local buses . Minibuses such as LAX Chequer Shuttle (tel 1-800/545-7745, ), SuperShuttle (tel 310/782-6600 or 1-800/554-3146) and Coast Shuttle (tel 310/417-3988) run all over town, delivering you to your door. Fares are generally around $20-30 (plus tip), with a journey time of between 30 and 45 minutes. Taxis from the airport are always expensive: around $25 to downtown and West LA, $30 to Hollywood and as much as $90 to Disneyland.

If you're arriving from elsewhere in the US, or from Mexico, you might just land at one of the other airports in the LA area - at Burbank, Long Beach, Ontario, or Orange County's John Wayne Airport. MTA buses (tel 213/626-4455 or 1-800/COMMUTE, outside LA tel 1-800/2-LARIDE) serve them all - phone on arrival and tell them where you are and where you're going.

The main Greyhound bus terminal, at 1716 E Seventh St (tel 213/629-8401), is in a seedy section of downtown, but access is restricted to ticket holders so it's safe enough inside. LA's other Greyhound stations handle fewer services: 1409 Vine St, in Hollywood; 11239 Magnolia Blvd, North Hollywood; 645 E Walnut St, Pasadena; 464 W 3rd St, Long Beach; and 100 W Winston Rd, Anaheim.

Arriving in LA by train you'll be greeted with the Mission Revival architecture of Union Station, 800 N Alameda St (tel 213/624-0171), on the north side of downtown, from which you can also access the city's MTA bus lines.