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Northwest Airlines Flights from San Luis Obispo (SBP) to Los Angeles (LAX)
Orbitz is pleased to offer airline tickets on Northwest Airlines, which operates 3 regularly scheduled daily non-stop flights from San Luis Obispo (SBP) to Los Angeles (LAX), departing between 8:27am and 2:23pm. Usually a Saab SF340A/B is flown for this route. The average travel time from San Luis Obispo, CA to Los Angeles, CA is 1 hour and 5 minutes.*
* Some flights must connect with additional service on this airline.
During your Los Angeles vacation, don't miss these great establishments and attractions:
Griffith Park
Mining tycoon Col. Griffith J. Griffith donated these 4,107 acres to the city in 1896 as a Christmas gift. Today Griffith Park is the largest urban park in America. There's a lot to do here, including 53 miles of hiking trails (the prettiest is the Fern Dell trail near the Western Ave. entrance, a shady hideaway cooled by waterfalls and ferns), horseback riding, golfing, swimming, biking, and picnicking (see "Golf, Hiking & Other Fun in the Warm California Sun," later in this chapter). For a general overview of the park, drive the mountainous loop road that winds from the top of Western Avenue, past Griffith Observatory, and down to Vermont Avenue. For a more extensive foray, turn north at the loop road's midsection, onto Mt. Hollywood Drive. To reach the golf courses, the Museum of the American West, or Los Angeles Zoo, take Los Feliz Boulevard to Riverside Drive, which runs along the park's western edge.Near the zoo, in a particularly dusty corner of the park, you can find the Travel Town Transportation Museum, 5200 Zoo Dr. (tel. 323/662-5874), a little-known outdoor museum with a small collection of vintage locomotives and old airplanes. Kids love the miniature train ride that circles the perimeter of the museum. The museum is open Monday through Friday from 10am to 4pm, and Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 5pm; admission is free. Griffith Park entrances are along Los Feliz Boulevard, at Riverside Drive, Vermont Avenue, and Western Avenue (Hollywood; tel. 323/913-4688; www.laparks.org/grifmet/griffith.htm). Park admission is free.
Walt Disney Concert Hall
The strikingly beautiful Walt Disney Concert Hall isn't just the new home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic; it's a key element in an urban revitalization effort now underway Downtown. The Walt Disney family insisted on the best and, with an initial gift of $50 million to build a world-class performance venue, that's what they got: A masterpiece of design by world-renown architect Frank Gehry, and an acoustical quality that equals or surpasses the best concert halls in the world. Similar to Gehry's most famous architectural masterpiece, the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, the concert hall's dramatic stainless-steel exterior consists of a series of undulating curved surfaces that partially envelop the entire building, presenting multiple glimmering facades to the surrounding neighborhood. Within is a dazzling 2,273-seat auditorium replete with curved woods and a dazzling array of organ pipes (also designed by Gehry), as well as a Joachim Splichal's Patina restaurant, the hip Concert Hall Cafe, a bookstore, and a gift shop.The 3 1/2-acre Concert Hall is open to the public for viewing, but to witness it in its full glory, do whatever it takes to attend a concert by the world-class Los Angeles Philharmonic. Also highly recommended are the $10 audio tours, which lead visitors through the Concert Hall's history from conception to creation. The 45-minute self-guided tour is narrated by actor John Lithgow and includes interviews with Frank Gehry, Los Angeles Philharmonic music director Esa-Pekka Salonen, and acoustician Yasuhisa Toyota, among others. One big caveat is that you see just about everything except the auditorium: There's almost always a rehearsal in progress and the acoustics are so good that there's no discreet way to sneak a peak. The audio tours are available on nonmatinee days from 9am to 3pm and matinee days from 9am to 10:30am.
Church of the Good Shepherd
Built in 1924, this is Beverly Hills's oldest house of worship. In 1950, Elizabeth Taylor and her first husband, Nicky Hilton, were married here. The funerals of Alfred Hitchcock, Gary Cooper, Eva Gabor, and Frank Sinatra were all held here as well.
Make your reservations for discount hotel rooms in the
Los Angeles area, including:
Travelodge Hotel at LAX
The lobby is nondescript and the rooms are standard, but there's a beautiful tropical garden surrounding the pool area, and amenities extend beyond the budget-motel standard, such as courtesy airport/car-rental shuttle service and a free morning paper. Some units have terraces; about two-thirds of the rooms have showers only, so request a tub if you require one. A 24-hour Denny's adjoins the hotel. If you've brought the kids along, request the Sleepy Bear Den, a separate sleeping room designed for children.
Century Wilshire Hotel
This amiable and pretty hotel, located just south of UCLA, is a good choice for discerning travelers without a lot of money to spend. The older building boasts a European flair and an English country-style lobby that leads to a pleasant courtyard, around which 99 guest rooms sit garden style. The individually decorated rooms are simple yet attractively furnished. Units are large, with good closet space; the double/doubles are spacious enough to house four who don't mind sharing to save a few dollars. Junior-, one-, and two-bedroom suites offer fully equipped kitchens. Rooms open either onto the courtyard, with pretty wrought-iron cafe tables, or onto a very nice pool. A complimentary continental breakfast (served alfresco on nice days) and parking add to the wallet-friendliness, and discounts on longer stays make a good value even better.
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.
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