La Brea Tar Pits

We will be at the LAX Marriott hotel and intend to catch the local bus to Santa Monica for the day, we want to go to the tar pits,just want to know is it far from the Pier or would we be able to get off the bus on the way to the pier and then get on another bus to the beach

Hope I am on the right forum.

thanks

La Brea Tar Pits

La Brea Tar Pits are not on the way from LAX to Santa Monica, it%26#39;s about a 45 minute detour. After the Pier, you could take a bus down Wilshire, go to mta.net to see the bus line and schedules.

La Brea Tar Pits

From Santa Monica, take the 720 or the 20 bus on Wilshire Blvd all the way down to the Tar Pits, which are near the Fairfax stop. Both bus lines run along Wilshire Blvd, which will take you from Santa Monica, right to where you want to go. If possible, try to catch the 720, as this is a limited stop bus that will get you there faster. The 20 is a local line and makes more frequent stops. Both run the exact same route. However, be aware that the 720 stops running at around 7pm, so you%26#39;ll have to catch the 20 after that.

I have to be honest though. I wouldn%26#39;t recommend doing all this in one day, especially after spending the day in Santa Monica after riding the bus from LAX. It will take quite a while to get from Santa Monica to the tar pits (almost an hour), depending on traffic. They really need to build that subway under Wilshire.

Also, you might be interested to know that if you don%26#39;t want to ride all the way to the tar pits, the 720/20 buses also have a stop right in the middle of downtown Beverly Hills (Rodeo Drive and all that), if that%26#39;s something that interests you. Just get off at Beverly Drive.

Just make sure to take the #720 and NOT the # 20 to Fairfax ave from Santa Monica. The # 720 is a express bus with limited stops so will get you there a lot faster

Thanks guys,

will write this information into my diary for when we get there.

We were thinking of going to the tarpits in the morning for a couple of hours and then going to Santa Monica for the afternoon to have a look around and kids can play on the beach and to have dinner.

My kids love going on buses ect, as I drive them most places over here, will keep in mind about getting off in Beverley Hills.

As we will be doing this on a Sunday do the buses run less often, also what time does it get dark in the evening in Septermber.

Oh, another thing, is Muscle Beach at Santa Monica or Venice beach?

Thanks so much for all your help

Everyone has given you information on how to take the bus to the Tar Pits from Santa Monica. But how will you get from your LAX hotel to Santa Monica?

The buses run infrequently on Sundays. Schedules are at mta.net

This journey from your hotel to the Tar Pits will take over an hour. It will take about 45 minutes to get from the Tar Pits to Santa Monica.

As far as I know we can get a bus outside the LAX Marriott that goes to Santa Monica

Sitting on a bus for several hours (round trip) doesn%26#39;t sound like a good vacation, to me. 30 minutes to SM from your hotel plus 30-45 minutes to the Tar Pits, EACH WAY.

If you have your heart set on seeing the Tar Pits, consider taking a taxi from your hotel to La Brea, then take the bus from the Tar Pits to Santa Monica.

I%26#39;d ride a bus 45 minutes to see the tarpits. I%26#39;ve done it before and I%26#39;d do it again. They are like nothing else. The fact that they%26#39;re right in the middle of a city somehow makes them all the more wonderful - the county art museum is right next door. It%26#39;s like having millions of years of history of the place all collapsed into a moment.

I have just looked at the mta.net and the bus schedule looks very good.Buses seem to be quite freqent.

I have done a lot of travelling and like to do things which enables me to mingle with the people of the country I am visiting, not just get on tourist buses with a whole lot of other Australians.

I managed to catch public buses in Crete (Greece) and other parts of Europe ok, so I am sure L.A. won%26#39;t be too hard. At least we speak the same language.

Also we then have 10 days in Anaheim and will have some spare time to relax then before our road trip to Arizona.