Santa Monica Travel Forum

Hi

We are planing to travel from Las Vegas to Santa Monica by a Greenhound bus. When searching their website I found that we have the option of going through Mojave, Palmdale and Hollywood to LA. Or we could go through Victorville to LA. So our question is divided.

The northern option has the stop in Hollywood, is that stop closer to Santa Monica than the LA stop? In regards to taking a taxi to the hotel. Or is it better to go to the LA stop and get some sort of public transportation to Santa Monica?

And then to the second part: We are traveling by day, and we hope to see a few interesting things along the way. Which of the routes will have the most interesting view? We are from Norway, so seeing dessert and dry sandy landscape is what we are hoping for :)

Is it Green or GreyHound?

Hi, it is as you point out GreyHound, I have no idea how I managed to type it wrong not just one time but actually throughout the whole question. I'll see if I ca edit it... Thank you for pointing that out :)

I've been searching on the greyhound website too. have you seen the map? It's downloadable, you don't get much of details but it can help.

And I think (though I might be the last person to give suggestions abouta a plece I've never been) that Mojave must have quite a lot of desertic landscape. isn't it near the Death Valley?

I took a look at the map like you recommended, when I compared that with the satellite images on google maps, it was pretty clear that the route through Mojave was the one with the most dessert. Just like you suggested, so that part of the question seems to be solved :) Thank you very much! Now I just have to figure out if it is better to get of at Hollywood or LA.

You can fly from Las Vegas to Los Angeles for about $60.........the Greyhound bus trip does not have enough to see to make it worth the eight hours of hell in a smelly old bus with bald tires. If you want to see desert beauty, just take a day trip from Las Vegas, out to Red Rock Canyon or to Valley of Fire.

www.southwest.com for the air tickets, just book 14 days ahead and stay away from the busy fly days of Friday and Sunday

LA is a very big place. I personally prefer not to drive on vacation ... but anywhere around LA driving is the best alternative. But the "LA stop" could cover several stops spread across many miles - these are large places.

On the other hand, getting stuck in the dessert can be very dangerous. Don't want to scare you or spoil your trip, but sometimes the heat can be severe and people have died from exhaustion if their vehicle breaks and they can't get to water ... now notice THIS IS VERY RARE ... but it has happened.

My recollection of the many times we drove, is that once you spend an hour or so in the desert it starts looking the same. Now being on the road in the dessert at 5 AM and seeing the sun come out is a different story - the colors are beautiful. Well, I've said much of nothing - but if you want to save some time to see LA, perhaps the flying idea is good. You'll get to see plenty of dessert around Vegas.

Nomad

I made the trek from SF to LV on the Greyhound via North Hollywood on the fourth of july a few years ago. It was one of the most ... interesting ... experiences of my life.

The trip down to LA was an uneventful, fast overnight. Bus was full but everyone was nice, polite and quiet.

In LA all hell broke loose. Greyhound does not garauntee you a place on your connecting bus the way airlines do. Seats are first come first serve, so eveyone connecting from LA to LV had to get to the end of the line even though we already had tickets. The line was huge, everyone was loud, rowdy, itching to get to Vegas. People were pushing each other in line. People tried to cut in line or start new lines. There were mothers with babies that I wouldn't be surprised they would have ditched the kid to get a seat on the bus. It was lawless.

We waited over 3 hours to get on a bus. Even though we were ticketed for the next bus out, we had to wait 2 more buses because they were full. When our bus got to Barstow, it broke down. In the middle of the desert, in full on 100+ degree heat. They got it working, but the rest of the ride to Vegas had to be done going really slow WITH NO AIRCONDITIONING through Death Valley. Everyone smelled.

By the time we got into Vegas, the entire trip had taken almost 24 hours.

A few days later we tried to go back. The Vegas bus station is the worst I've ever seen, and I am including Peru and that one in Prague with squat toilets. Maybe it was the fact that we went in 2AM, but it was something. There were several roaches running around. Everyone was rude. Someone tried starting a fight with me because I walked too close to them. I vaguely remember someone trying to sell us drugs outside. The bus schedules were all messed up.

At 4AM, we called Southwest and booked the next flight home.

end up on hollywood. the station is near hollywood blvd. and the walk of fame (star on sidewalk). And there are lots of places to eat. I don't think there are easy ways to get to the ocean from either hollywood or downtown. I'm sure you can find a bus. have fun.

oh ya, try to get into hollywood while it's still light out so you can see stuff. and look into the cost of a cab from hollywood to santa monica. it's a long haul. the cab could be expensive. check your map or an online map and see how many miles you are talking about. just fyi. i don't know the routes but i imagine you could catch a bus right there on Cahuanga or go down to Highland ave. and get off at Santa Monica Blvd. and get a bus out to the beach from there. count on it taking an hour or more. if you can afford it i would take a cab.

Hollywood is nice, but I would book a hotel in Santa Monica (you can walk to the beach and rent bikes go down the trail ... not to miss Venice). Hollywood will not be as nice as showing up in Oslo and having everyone help you with the bus and to get around - and interesting characters come out at night. If you fly into LAX, it should be easy to get to Santa Monica. Unless you find reliable bus schedules, this is not really a place that lends itself to traveling by bus. Try www.mapquest.com and map your route. Only drawback is that the rental car would charge extra for dropping off in a different place. For example, look at this site to get an idea of LA ... these are the traffic issues, but shows how spread out LA is. http://traffic.tann.net/maps/lartraffic.jsp ... this link shows some cameras, so you can get an idea. Hope this helps!

Nomad