Orbitz is pleased to offer airline tickets on Air New Zealand, which operates 4 regularly scheduled daily non-stop flights from Portland (PDX) to Los Angeles (LAX), departing between 6:30am and 5:30pm. The average travel time from Portland, OR to Los Angeles, CA is 2 hours and 12 minutes.*
* Some flights must be used with additional international service on this airline.
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During your Los Angeles vacation, don't miss these great establishments and attractions:
Warner Brothers Studios
Warner Brothers offers the most comprehensive -- and the least theme park-like -- of the studio tours. The tour takes visitors on a 2 1/4-hour informational drive-and-walk jaunt around the studio's faux streets. After a brief introductory film, you'll pile into glorified golf carts and cruise past parking spaces marked "Clint Eastwood," "Michael Douglas," and "Sharon Stone," and then walk through active film and television sets such as ER, The Drew Cary Show, and West Wing. Whether it's an orchestra scoring a film or a TV show being taped or edited, you'll get a glimpse of how it's done (nothing is staged for the tour). Stops include the wardrobe department or the mills where sets are made. Whenever possible, you can also visit working sets to watch actors filming actual productions. Reservations are required; children under 8 are not admitted. Bring valid photo ID.
Mission San Fernando
In the late 18th century, Franciscan missionaries established 21 missions up the California coast, from San Diego to Sonoma. Each uniquely beautiful mission was built 1 day's trek from the next, along a path known as El Camino Real ("the Royal Road"), remnants of which still exist. The missions' construction marked the beginning of European settlement of California and the displacement of the Native American population. The two L.A.-area missions are located in the valleys that took their names: the San Fernando Valley and the San Gabriel Valley. A third mission, San Juan Capistrano, is located in Orange County (see chapter 11).Established in 1797, Mission San Fernando once controlled more than 1 1/2 million acres, employed 1,500 Native Americans, and boasted more than 22,000 head of cattle and extensive orchards. The fragile adobe mission complex was destroyed several times but was always faithfully rebuilt with low buildings surrounding grassy courtyards. The aging church was replaced in the 1940s and again in the 1970s after an earthquake. The Convento, a 250-foot-long colonnaded structure dating from 1810, is the compound's oldest remaining building. Some of the mission's rooms, including the old library and the private salon of the first bishop of California, have been restored to their late-18th-century appearance. A half-dozen padres and many hundreds of Shoshone Indians are buried in the adjacent cemetery.
Grauman's Chinese Theatre
This is one of the world's great movie palaces and one of Hollywood's finest landmarks. The theater was opened in 1927 by impresario Sid Grauman, a brilliant promoter who's credited with originating the idea of the paparazzi-packed movie "premiere." Outrageously conceived, with both authentic and simulated Chinese embellishments, Grauman's theater was designed to impress. Original Chinese heavenly doves top the facade, and two of the theater's columns once propped up a Ming dynasty temple.Visitors by the millions flock to the theater for its famous entry court, where stars like Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Ginger Rogers, Humphrey Bogart, Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe, and about 160 others set their signatures and hand-/footprints in concrete (a tradition started when actress Norma Talmadge accidentally stepped in wet cement during the premiere of Cecil B. DeMille's King of Kings). It's not always hands and feet: Betty Grable's shapely leg; the hoofprints of Gene Autry's horse, Champion; Jimmy Durante's and Bob Hope's trademark noses; Whoopi Goldberg's dreadlocks, George Burns's cigar, and even R2D2's wheels.
The Hotel California
Situated on enviable real estate along Ocean Avenue -- right next door to the behemoth Loews -- this welcoming hacienda-style beachfront motel embodies the surfer/sun-worshiper ambience you'd expect from a Santa Monica lodging. The well-tended complex sits above and across an alley from the beach but offers excellent views and direct access to the sand via a stepped path. The inn offers small, comfortable rooms with modern furnishings -- including beds with down comforters and surfboard headboards -- hardwood floors, and tiled bathrooms. Five one-bedroom suites also have kitchenettes and pullout sofas that make them great for families or longer stays; all rooms have minifridges and ceiling fans. A handful of rooms have showers only in the bathrooms, so be sure to request a room with a tub from the friendly front-desk staff if it matters to you. Tip: Pay a few bucks extra for a courtyard view, as the cheapest rooms face the parking lot and noisy Ocean Avenue.
Le Merigot
If you're accustomed to hotels that are roomier and more contemporary than the historic Georgian, yet not as pricey and prestigious as the Shutters or Casa del Mar properties, the porridge that's just right is Le Merigot, a low-key luxury hotel and spa that doesn't try to be anything other than a comfortable place to spend your seaside vacation. Ideally situated on the sandy side of Ocean Avenue in the heart of Santa Monica's beach scene, the 175-room property is essentially a business hotel that doubles as a resort, complete with a well-regarded French-California restaurant, Cézanne, and the 5,500-square-foot SPA Merigot, which offers a full range of services along with an outdoor pool and a state-of-the-art fitness center. Most of the contemporary-style guest rooms offer ocean views, and all are plushly furnished with thick carpeting, marble-tiled baths, oversize lounge chairs, and "Cloud Nine" beds topped with Frette linens, down comforters, and feather pillows. What I really like about this hotel, however, are the clever package deals, such as the "California Dreamin'," which includes your choice of a convertible Porsche Boxster or a BMW Z4 Roadster rental car, and the "California Surfin' Safari," a deluxe package that includes a full breakfast for two, a 2-hour surf lesson, a rejuvenating full-session Swedish massage, and celebratory Blue Crush graduation martinis (how very L.A.).
Sheraton Universal Hotel
Despite the addition of the sleekly modern Hilton just uphill, the 21-story Sheraton is still considered "the" Universal City hotel of choice for tourists, businesspeople, and industry folks visiting the studios' production offices. Located on the back lot of Universal Studios, it has a spacious 1960s feel, with updated styling and amenities. Although the Sheraton does its share of convention/event business, the hotel feels more leisure-oriented than the Hilton next door (an outdoor elevator connects the two properties). Choose a Lanai room for balconies that overlook the lushly planted pool area, or a Tower room for stunning views and solitude. The hotel is very close to the Hollywood Bowl, and you can practically roll out of bed and into the theme park (via a continuous complimentary shuttle). An extra $35 per night buys a Club Level room -- worth the money for the extra in-room amenities, plus free continental breakfast and afternoon hors d'oeuvres; business rooms also feature a movable workstation and a fax/copier/printer.Facilities: Casual indoor/outdoor restaurant; lobby lounge w/pianist; Starbucks coffee cart in lobby; outdoor pool and whirlpool; health club; game room; concierge; free shuttle to Universal Studios every 15 minutes; business center; room service (6am-midnight); babysitting; laundry service; dry-cleaning service; executive-level rooms.
