Transportation to and from Los Angeles Airport

What is the distance from Los Angeles Airport to the centre of Los Angeles, Hollywood, Venice and Santa Monica?

Los Angeles is a large and busy city with multiple centres. The distance from the airport to both Downtown Los Angeles (Grand Park) and Hollywood (Hollywood Blvd / Vine St) is 30 kilometres / 18.6 miles. Take into account a travel time of at least 40 minutes. Venice Beach and Santa Monica can be reached in 15 to 20 minutes by car. Hollywood and Venice are located in Los Angeles, Santa Monica is a city in itself.

GENERAL INFO: Travelling to and from Los Angeles Airport by public transport is relatively cheap, but in general it takes a lot of time because you have to change bus/metro at least once. If you want to get to your destination faster, it is better to choose the LAX FlyAway bus service or an airport taxi.

Bus and metro to Los Angeles and Hollywood

There are many ways to get to the city by public transport, but you’ll always have to transfer. You can choose for the bus from LAX City Bus Transit Center or the Metro Rail from Aviation / LAX Station. Both locations are accessible by free shuttle buses that leave very regularly from all terminals (Lower/Arrivals Level). Lot South / LAX City Bus Center Shuttle runs from the airport to LAX City Bus Transit Center at 96th Street, Metro C Line Shuttle to Aviation / LAX Station. At LAX City Bus Transit Center, you can take a bus in the direction of Downtown Los Angeles, however you’ll always have to change to another bus to actually get to the city centre. At Aviation / LAX Station you can continue your journey on Metro C Line (Green) to 7th Street / Metro Center Station in the Financial District of Los Angeles, however you still need to change to Metro A Line (Blue) in Willowbrook. The total journey time by public transport, i.e. bus or metro/light rail, is approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes.

The price for a one-way ticket is $ 1.75, a day ticket costs $ 7.00. Tickets are available from the bus driver and ticket machines at the stations. If you are staying in Los Angeles for a few days or longer, it is more convenient to use a TAP card or the TAP LA app. Please consult Public Transportation Los Angeles Airport and website LA Metro for more information. The Los Angeles Metro Rail network consists of six subway lines: A Line (Blue), B Line (Red), C Line (Green), D Line (Purple), E Line (Expo), L Line (Gold). K Line (Crenshaw/LAX) and two new subway stations near Los Angeles Airport will open in 2022, although Aviation/Century (2023) and Aviation/96th Street (2024) are scheduled to open at a later stage. Both stations can be accessed with C Line and K Line. In 2024, Aviation/96th Street will be connected to the airport terminals by the new LAX people mover.

Bus to Venice and Santa Monica

If you want to go to Venice or Santa Monica, you can take Big Blue Bus Route 3 in the direction of Downtown Santa Monica. The bus departs on average every 15 minutes from LAX City Bus Transit Center (Lot South / LAX City Bus Center Shuttle). The first bus leaves around 05:00 hours, the last departs around 23:00 hours. A bus ride costs only $ 1.25, tickets can be purchased from the bus driver. However, it is easier to use a TAP card or the TAP LA app. Travel time to Downtown Santa Monica (Arizona Ave & 5th St) is 30 minutes from LAX City Bus Transit Center. Travel time to Lincoln NB & Venice NS is approximately 20 minutes. From here it is a 25-minute walk to Venice Beach. You can also take LA Metro bus line 33 or LA Metro bus line 733 in the direction of Venice. In both cases, you can get off at the bus stop Main/Grand near Venice Beach. For this bus you pay $ 1.75 on top of the previously paid $ 1.25. Please consult website and timetable Big Blue Bus Route 3 for more information.

FlyAway to Los Angeles, Hollywood, Long Beach and San Fernando Valley

If you want to go to Downtown Los Angeles, FlyAway offers a quicker and easier alternative. A direct shuttle bus runs from the airport to Union Station (Patsaouras Transit Plaza). Union Station is Los Angeles’ largest railway station close to the city centre, Little Tokyo and Chinatown. The FlyAway shuttle bus takes you to Union Station in 30 to 45 minutes. The bus runs every 30 minutes between 05:00 hours and 01:00 hours and every 60 minutes between 01:00 hours and 05:00 hours. FlyAway shuttle buses depart from Lower/Arrivals Level outside each terminal, you can follow the LAX FlyAway signs. The price for a single ticket is $ 9.75, you can buy tickets with your debit or credit card, or you use a TAP card or the TAP LA app. LAX FlyAway takes travellers direct to and from Hollywood every hour, the bus fare is $ 8.00 one way. The first bus from Hollywood FlyAway Bus Stop departs at 05:15 hours, the last bus from Los Angeles Airport is scheduled at 22:15 hours. Two other destinations are also accessible with FlyAway, namely Long Beach and Van Nuys (San Fernando Valley). Please consult website and timetable LAX FlyAway for more information.

There are also direct buses from Los Angeles Airport to destinations such as Disneyland Anaheim, Oxnard, Ventura and Santa Barbara, check out the options: Scheduled Buses LAX.

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