American Airlines Flights from Taipei, Taiwan (TPE) to Los Angeles (LAX)
As part of booking roundtrip flights which depart from US airports,
Orbitz is pleased to offer airline tickets on American Airlines, which operates 2 regularly scheduled daily non-stop flights from Taipei, Taiwan (TPE) to Los Angeles (LAX), departing between 6:20pm and 11:55pm, and one additional non-stop flight regularly scheduled to depart at 5:00pm and arrive at 12:25pm, everyday except Tuesday. Usually a Boeing 777 is flown for this route. The average travel time from Taipei, Taiwan to Los Angeles, CA is 11 hours and 25 minutes.
During your Los Angeles vacation, don't miss these great establishments and attractions:
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
The "Fighting Dinosaurs" are not a high school football team, but the trademark symbol of this massive museum: Tyrannosaurus rex and triceratops skeletons poised in a stance so realistic that every kid feels inspired to imitate their Jurassic Park bellows (think Calvin & Hobbes). Opened in 1913 in a beautiful domed Spanish Renaissance building, this massive museum -- it's the largest natural and historical museum in the western United States -- is a 35-hall warehouse of Earth's history, chronicling the planet and its inhabitants from 600 million years ago to the present day, and housing more than 33 million specimens and artifacts. There's a mind-numbing array of exhibits of prehistoric fossils, bird and marine life, gems and minerals, and North American mammals. The kid-friendly Discovery Center entertains children via hands-on, interactive exhibits: Kids can make fossil rubbings, dig for fossils, and view live animals such as snakes and lizards. The best permanent displays include the world's rarest shark, a walk-through vault of priceless gems (including the largest collection of gold in the United States), and an Insect Zoo.The Dinosaur Shop sells ant farms and exploding volcano and model kits, the Ethnic Arts Shop has one-of-a-kind folk art and jewelry from around the world, and the bookstore has an extensive selection of scientific titles and hobbyists' field guides.
Santa Monica Pier
Piers have been a tradition in Southern California since the area's 19th-century seaside resort days. Many have long since disappeared (like Pacific Ocean Park, an entire amusement park perched on offshore pilings), and others have been shortened by battering storms and are now mere shadows (or stumps) of their former selves, but you can still get a chance to experience those halcyon days of yesteryear at world-famous Santa Monica Pier.Built in 1908 for passenger and cargo ships, the Santa Monica Pier does a pretty good job of recapturing the glory days of Southern California. The wooden wharf is now home to seafood restaurants and snack shacks, a touristy Mexican cantina, and a gaily colored turn-of-the-20th-century indoor wooden carousel (which Paul Newman operated in The Sting). Summer evening concerts, which are free and range from big band to Miami-style Latin, draw crowds, as does the small amusement area perched halfway down. Its name, Pacific Park (tel. 310/260-8744; www.pacpark.com), hearkens back to the granddaddy pier amusement park in California, Pacific Ocean Park; this updated version has a Ferris wheel, a mild-mannered roller coaster, and other rides, plus a high-tech arcade shoot-out. But anglers still head to the end to fish, and nostalgia buffs to view the photographic display of the pier's history. This is the last of the great pleasure piers, offering rides, romance, and perfect panoramic views of the bay and mountains.The pier is about a mile up Ocean Front Walk from Venice; it's a great round-trip stroll. Parking is available for $6 to $8 on both the pier deck and the beachfront nearby. Limited short-term parking is also available. For information on twilight concerts (generally held Thurs between mid-June and the end of Aug), call tel. 310/458-8900 or visit www.santamonicapier.org.
Six Flags California (Magic Mountain and Hurricane Harbor)
What started as a countrified little amusement park with a couple of relatively tame roller coasters in 1971 has been transformed by Six Flags into a thrill-a-minute daredevil's paradise called The Xtreme Park. Located about 20 to 30 minutes north of Universal Studios, Six Flags Magic Mountain is one of the only ones out of the 38 Six Flags parks that is open year-round. The 16 world-class roller coasters (more than any other place in the world) make it enormously popular with teenagers and young adults, and the children's playland -- Bugs Bunny World -- creates excitement for the pint-size set (kids under 48 in. tall.) Bring an iron constitution; rides with names like Goliath, Déjà Vu, Ninja, Viper, Colossus, and Psyclone will have your cheeks flapping with the G-force, and queasy expressions are common at the exit. Some rides are themed to action-film characters (like Superman The Escape and The Riddler's Revenge); others are loosely tied to their themed surroundings, like a Far East pagoda or gold rush mining town. The newest thrill rides are Scream!, where riders are strapped into a "flying chair" and raced upside down seven times at 65 mph, and X, the world's first and only roller coaster where riders rotate 360 degrees forward and backward. Arcade games and summer-only entertainment (stunt shows, animal shows, and parades) round out the park's attractions.Hurricane Harbor is Six Flags's tropical paradise, which is located right next door to Magic Mountain and is open May through September. You really can't see both in 1 day -- combo tickets allow you to return sometime before the end of the season. Bring your own swimsuit; the park has changing rooms with showers and lockers. Like Magic Mountain, areas have themes like a tropical lagoon or an African river (complete with ancient temple ruins). The primary activities are swimming, going down water slides, rafting, playing volleyball, and lounging; many areas are designed especially for the little "buccaneer."
Hilton Universal City & Towers
Although this shiny 24-story hotel sits right outside Universal Studios, there's more of a conservative business traveler feel here than the raucous family-with-young-children vibe you might expect. Still, free tram service to the theme park and adjacent Universal CityWalk for shopping and dining means that it's hard for families to be better situated. The polished brass and upscale attitude set the businesslike tone, and a light-filled glass lobby leads to a seemingly endless series of conference and banquet rooms, the hotel's bread and butter. The oversize guest rooms are tastefully decorated and constantly refurbished, and have exceptional views (even if the modern, mirror-surfaced windows don't actually open). I prefer the adjacent Sheraton for leisure stays, but go for the best rate.
Elan Hotel Modern
Frou-frou name aside, this is one of L.A.'s best boutique-style hotels -- and one of the city's best values. Rebuilt from the bones of a 1969 retirement home, the ultramodern structure uses design elements from the original 1969 facade to set the stage for 21st-century style. Inside, a mod, loungey lobby leads to mid-20th-century-inspired guest rooms done in serene celadon and natural hues. The design merges form and function beautifully, resulting in amenity-laden and surprisingly luxurious accommodations, considering the price. The standard rooms aren't huge, but extrahigh ceilings and thoughtfully designed custom blond-wood furnishings create the luxury of space, while plush textured fabrics (mohair, chenille), beautifully made beds -- with cushioned headboards, goose-down comforters, 250-thread-count Egyptian cotton linens, and turndown service -- VCRs, and bathrooms with cotton robes and the thickest, plushest bath sheets in town elevate comforts well beyond the moderate price point. On the downside, there's no view and no pool, and this stretch of Beverly Boulevard isn't exactly the hippest strip in town. But double-paned glass ensures that even Beverly-facing rooms are quiet, and the location is central to everything (shoppers will love the walking-distance proximity to the Beverly Center).
Hotel Shangri-La
Perched on Ocean Avenue overlooking the Pacific, the seven-story Shangri-La is in a great location -- a high-rent residential neighborhood just 2 blocks from Third Street Promenade shopping and dining. Built in 1939, the hotel has a timelessly sophisticated Art Deco facade with interior trimmings to match. Okay, so the furnishings are far from L.A.-chic and the hotel is decidedly low-tech, but considering the location, size, and comfort of these rooms -- not to mention the free parking -- the Shangri-La is a very good deal, and the management is constantly making improvements. Guest rooms, which are mostly studio suites (most with kitchenettes, all with fridges), are extremely spacious, and most offer unencumbered ocean views. Bathrooms are small and simple but clean. The two-bedroom/two-bathroom suites are a bargain for large families. Just across the street is a gorgeous stretch of Palisades Park, which overlooks the beach and offers the coast's finest sunset views.
