Destination Guides > North America > USA > West Coast > California > Los Angeles > Coming & Going
Los Angeles
Coming & Going
AIR
Five airports serve the Los Angeles area: Los Angeles International (LAX), Burbank, Ontario, Long Beach and John Wayne Airport in Orange County.
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
Most travellers flying into LA will arrive at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX; tel (310) 646 5252; website www.lawa.org). It is 27km from the downtown area, but closer to Venice Beach and Santa Monica.
There are several free buses that shuttle travellers around the airport area, the most useful shuttle buses are shuttle bus A, which runs between various airport terminals at LAX; shuttle bus C goes to the LAX Transit Center, where you can transfer to local bus services and shuttle bus G goes to Aviation metro station.
The FlyAway bus (website www.lawa.org/flyaway/) runs between LAX and Union Station in downtown LA every 30 minutes. The FlyAway bus costs $4 each way.
Burbank (Bob Hope) Airport (BUR)
Burbank’s Bob Hope Airport (BUR; website www.bobhopeairport.com) is a less crowded alternative to LAX and it is served by domestic flights to major US cities.
There is good public transport from Burbank Airport to various parts of LA. Bus 394 goes to downtown LA and bus 163 goes to Hollywood. It also has its own train station with both Amtrak and suburban Metrolink trains to downtown Los Angeles.
Long Beach Airport (LGB)
Long Beach Municipal Airport (LGB; website www.longbeach.gov/airport/) is located in Long Beach, 29km southeast of LAX. It is a relatively minor airport because of restrictions on the number of flights that are allowed to operate from here, but several airlines including JetBlue (website www.jetblue.com) operate flights making Long Beach a less congested alternative to LAX.
Long Beach Transit (website www.lbtransit.com) bus 111 (90c) runs between the airport and downtown Long Beach where you can connect with the Metro (Blue Line).
Ontario Airport (ONT)
Ontario International Airport (ONT; website www.lawa.org/ont/welcomeONT.cfm) is 61km east of downtown Los Angeles and is regarded by many as a good alternative to LAX, although its inconvenient location and poor transport links mean that not many backpackers use it. It has flights to Mexico and most major US cities.
Orange Country (John Wayne) Airport (SNA)
John Wayne-Orange County Airport (SNA; website www.ocair.com) is 62km south of downtown LA between Irvine, Newport Beach and Santa Ana. It has flights to Hawaii and most major US cities.
OCTA (website www.octa.net) bus 76 goes to Newport Beach and bus 470 goes to Tustin Metrolink station where you can catch a train to downtown Los Angeles.
BUS
Los Angeles has two Greyhound bus stations. The main Greyhound station at 1716 E 7th Street is open 24 hours. There is also other Greyhound station at 1715 N Cahuenga Boulevard in Hollywood.
Megabus (website www.megabus.com) buses to Las Vegas, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose and Tempe depart from behind the Union Station Amtrak terminal, between Union Station and the Metropolitan Water District Building.
TRAIN
Union Station in downtown LA has Amtrak trains (tel 800 872 7245; website www.amtrak.com) to Seattle, San Francisco, San Diego and Chicago.
