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United Airlines Flights from Tokyo, Japan (NRT) to Los Angeles (LAX)
As part of booking roundtrip flights which depart from US airports,
Orbitz is pleased to offer airline tickets on United Airlines, which operates 2 regularly scheduled daily non-stop flights from Tokyo, Japan (NRT) to Los Angeles (LAX), departing between 5:05pm and 5:50pm. Usually a Boeing 747-400 or Boeing 777 is flown for this route. The average travel time from Tokyo, Japan to Los Angeles, CA is 9 hours and 35 minutes.
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.
The Southwest Museum
This is the city's oldest museum, considered by some a "best-kept secret" that suffers from lack of recognition and space for its superlative collection. Originally opened in 1907 by amateur historian and Native American expert Charles F. Lummis (who also designed Downtown's landmark "castle," El Alisal), this privately funded anthropological museum contains the finest examples of Native American art and artifacts found anywhere, including rare paintings, weapons, and a Cheyenne summer tepee. The largest exhibition chronicles 10,000 years of history of the people of the American Southwest. The California Hall focuses on the lifestyles of the first Californians; a separate two-level hall is dedicated to the culture of cold-climate tribes. The museum has a particularly active events calendar that includes a Native American Film Festival, regular lectures, and special children's programs (log onto the website for more info). In the shop, you'll find authentic Native American drums, kachina dolls, pottery, and sterling-silver jewelry by Native American artist Vernon Begaye. Tours are available by request. Tip: You can purchase a $12 two-site ticket that also includes entry into the excellent Museum of the American West; it's valid for 3 months.
Paramount Pictures
Paramount is the only major studio still located in Hollywood, which makes the 2-hour cart tour around its Hollywood headquarters far more historically enriching than the modern studios in Burbank (even the wrought-iron gates Gloria Swanson motored through in Sunset Boulevard are still there) The tour is both a historical ode to filmmaking and a real-life, behind-the-scenes look at a working movie and television facilities in day-to-day operation; ergo, no two tours are alike, and chances of spotting a celebrity are pretty good. Visits typically include a walk-through of the soundstages of TV shows or feature films, though you can't enter while taping is taking place. The $35 tours (by advance reservations only) depart Monday through Friday on a first-come, first-served basis at10am, 11am, 1pm, and 2pm. You need to be at 12 or older to take the tour, and cameras and recording equipment are verboten. Tip: After the tour, have lunch at the Paramount Studio?s world-famous Commissary; you never know who might drop in for a bite, and the food?s pretty darn good.
Make your reservations for discount hotel rooms in the
Los Angeles area, including:
Best Western Ocean View Hotel
This ocean-facing chain hotel, located just across the street from Santa Monica Beach and amusement pier, offers welcome price relief in high-rent Santa Monica. The clean and modern property offers terrific bargains to those willing to forego an ocean view from their room. But even the deluxe-view rooms, which all have private balconies looking out across Ocean Avenue to beach and pier, are a steal for this area. Rooms are comfortably outfitted in chain-hotel style; all have coffeemakers, while oceanview rooms have fridges, too (microwaves are available upon request). Don't pay extra for a balcony, though, unless you know it has an ocean view, or you may end up overlooking the subterranean parking lot. The staff is courteous and professional, and many fine restaurants are within walking distance. Heck, they even offer complimentary continental breakfast.
The Ritz-Carlton, Huntington Hotel & Spa
Originally built in 1906, the opulent Huntington Hotel was one of America's grandest hotels, but not the most earthquake-proof. No matter -- the hotel was rebuilt and opened on the same spot in 1991, and the astonishing authenticity (including reinstallation of many decorative features) even fools patrons from the resort's early days. This Spanish-Mediterranean beauty sits on 23 spectacularly landscaped acres that seem a world apart from L.A., though Downtown is only 20 minutes away. Each oversize guest room is dressed in conservatively elegant Ritz-Carlton style, softened by English garden textiles and a beautiful palette of celadon, cream, and butter yellow. Luxuries include beds dressed in Frette linens, marble bathrooms, thick carpets, and terry robes. You might consider spending a few extra dollars on a club-level room, which also features featherbeds, down comforters, CD players, morning coffee delivered with your wake-up call, and access to the club lounge with dedicated concierge and complimentary gourmet spreads all day (including breakfast).The 12,000-square-foot full-service Ritz-Carlton Spa makes the Huntington an ideal place for a pampering getaway. Both guests and locals enjoy dining in the casual elegance of The Dining Room, but I prefer the more casual California-style Terrace Restaurant, which also serves at umbrella-covered tables by the Olympic-size pool (Southern California's first). High tea is served in the Lobby Lounge.Facilities: 2 restaurants; 2 lounges (bar, Lobby Lounge for high tea); Olympic-size heated outdoor pool and Jacuzzi; 3 lighted tennis courts; full-service spa w/whirlpool, sauna, and steam room; fitness center; concierge; business center; salon; 24-hr. room service; in-room massage; babysitting; laundry service; dry-cleaning service.
Carlyle Inn
Tucked away on an uneventful stretch of Robertson Boulevard just south of Beverly Hills, this four-story inn is one of L.A.'s best midpriced finds. Making the most of a small lot, architects have created an attractive interior courtyard, which almost every room faces, that gives the property a feeling of openness and serenity that most others in this price range lack -- not to mention good outdoor space for enjoying the free breakfast or afternoon munchies at umbrella-covered cafe tables on nice days. The well-planned, contemporary guest rooms are fitted with recessed lighting, Art Deco-inspired furnishings, firm bedding, well-framed architectural monoprints, plus nice extras like VCRs and bathrobes. Suites have pullout sofas but are only slightly larger than standard rooms, so families may be better off in a double/double or connecting rooms. The conscientious manager keeps everything in racing form. The hotel's primary drawback is that it lacks views; curtains must remain drawn at all times to maintain any sense of privacy. Still, it doesn't seem to bother the 90% repeat visitors, who know good value when they find it.
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