San Francisco or Los Angeles airport

[kinkacruiser]

Flying Miami - SF or LAX next year before our flight to Sydney and would like your opinions which is the better airport to spend up to 8hrs-12hrs in.
Is it worthwhile to take a look around the city (organised tour) in that short time or would it be better to spend a day? If you had to spend a day in either city, which one would you prefer to look at.
Thanks,
Kinka

 

[notzac]

Neither - definitely get out of the airport.

San Francisco is an easy 15-20 mins on the BART from SFO, easy enough to spend a few hours around the city. For LAX, I'd be getting a cab to Venice or Santa Monica for a wander around.

 

[dajop]

Flying Miami - SF or LAX next year before our flight to Sydney and would like your opinions which is the better airport to spend up to 8hrs-12hrs in.
Is it worthwhile to take a look around the city (organised tour) in that short time or would it be better to spend a day? If you had to spend a day in either city, which one would you prefer to look at.
Thanks,
Kinka

Some discussion of this in another thread: http://www.frequentflyer.com.au/community/your-questions/avoid-lax-but-sacrificing-v-22370.html

Both can be done using transport and/or rental car quite cheaply, and indeed I have done both (SFO in 8 hrs LAX in about 12). Depends on what your interests are, what is best. Of course visiting a world famous icon like the Golden Gate bridge is impressive, but then again so is getting close to the famous Hollwood sign!

SFO - train to Union Square, trolley car, Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman's wharf this should fill the day.
LAX - Hollywood, West Hollywood, Santa Monica, Venice Beach, Beverly Hills &/or downtown.

 

[david870mdg]

SFO any day.
Better airport to arrive at - hop on the bart into town.
LAX is a dump IMHo.
But you can do a day trip at both destinations as already indicated.

 

[NYCguy]

LAX is a dump IMHo.

LA is a festering rat's nest. Yes, it's all wonderful if you're into clubbing and bars and staying out all night getting wasted, but it's a cultural wasteland.

It's ugly, too.

 

[Blackadder]

Maybe I am just weird but I don't mind LAX, of course for a main gateway you are going to be busy etc.
As for what to do, Cab to Santa Monica or Venice Beach, alternativly transfer to downtown LA and pick up a ticket on the hop on/hop off double decker bus that will cover all the major attractions of LA and pick and choose what you want to see.

 

[kinkacruiser]

Thanks all for the elaborate answers and to dajop for the link to a similar thread.
I really appreciate your candid opinions.
Kinka

 

[jamesatfish]

Agree with the comments re LA - SF is a much nicer city to visit and I just don't get the appeal of LA at all.

My wife and I did an 8 hour visit to SF on our first overseas trip together (on a flight SYD-SFO-LHR) - just caught a taxi in from the airport, walked around the city / fisherman's wharf for a few hours then taxi back with plenty of time to spare.

The only thing LAX has over SFO is the lounge facilities (specific to OneWorld) - LAX has a Flagship Lounge (including free food & booze and free WiFi) whilst SFO has a quite small, quite dated Admiral's Club (free drinks with QF membership card but no free food options and paid WiFi). That said I wouldn't choose to transit in LA just because of the lounge.

 

[kinkacruiser]

Thanks jamesatfish. I'm pretty well sold on SF.
I had a gut instinct that it would be nicer .
Cheers,
Kinka

 

[Keith009]

In terms of the airport itself - SFO definitely. Much easier to navigate, LAX is manic especially if you get TBIT.

The city? LA no question, especially if you're into the best shopping, the best parties, beautiful people and just all-round awesomeness. Book a nice open top limo and cruise around West Hollywood and get wasted on a bottle of nice bubbles. People watch and sip a coughtail or 10 at the Mondrian. Go shopping on Rodeo Dr for that new It Bag, or Abbot Kinney over at Venice for something 'different' (thougn not in the self righteous, so-alternative-it-hurts SF way) Get a new hair do or polish those cuticles at Vie L'Orange - you might even be sitting next to Kirsten Dunst. The list goes on... You could even go to the wrong side of Venice if you want to have a little taste of what you're definitely NOT missing in SF... best of both worlds.

 

[odysseus]

San Francisco's a nice city to be a tourist in - very scenic, and easy to get around with its public transport options and that it has a central CBD. LA's just a polluted, lengthy sprawl and attractions are mostly all over the place.

As for airports, I don't mind LAX to traverse; it's easy switching terminals, though it's lacking in services and amenities if you actually have to hang around for any significant length of time. San Francisco's not much better, but at least it's in slightly better condition.

 

[ShaneN]

My choice would be San Francisco. Lovely city and easy to get around. As others have indicated, there is no need for an organised tour. You can do a very cheap easy do it yourself tour. Depending on the time of day you can piece together the following options:

BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) train from SFO to Powell St - about $6 and 30 minutes
Union Square shopping - Macys, Nordstrom, Bloomingdales, Neiman Marcus, Saks 5th Avenue plus boutiques etc
Historic cable car to Fisherman's Wharf - $5 - perhaps stop at world's crookedest street, Lombard St.
Lunch or dinner at Fisherman's Wharf - try crab chowder served in a sourdough bowl at Boudins.
Check the views to the Golden Gate Bridge. Have a look at the seals at Pier 39, and the tourist shops on the pier.
Catch a historic streetcar back to Market and Powell Sts - cost $2. These are old restored trams from around the world, including one from Melbourne.

You are now back at the BART station. If you did not check out the Union Square shops on the way in, do it now. If you have time, Chinatown is nearby and fascinating. Otherwise a short trip back to SFO by BART. Total cost about $20 per person for fares, plus food, drink and shopping.

A notable feature of SFO International Terminal is the food (at least as of 2007). There are two food courts, which feature branches of selected quality Bay Area restaurants.

While I recommend San Francisco, I agree with others that in LA you should take a short taxi ride to Santa Monica. Check out the beach the pier, and the shops on 3rd St Promenade. Particularly good on a Sunday when markets are operating on 3rd St.

Have fun

 

[kinkacruiser]

Thanks very much for the details here. You guys really enjoy helping us novices...too good to be true.
Kinka

 

[notzac]

In terms of the airport itself - SFO definitely. Much easier to navigate, LAX is manic especially if you get TBIT.

The city? LA no question, especially if you're into the best shopping, the best parties, beautiful people and just all-round awesomeness..

Top notch rant there, Keith

 

[UP4014]

LA does have its attractions, but the freeway times can be long to get around.

SF - $8.10 each way on the BART, get off at the Powell St station (the station itself is on Market St with the cross st being Powell) which is at the foot of the Powell and Hyde cable car line and also in the middle of the shopping district, Wesfield (yes I know) on one side and Union Square on the other. All the big players are there.

The MUNI (municipal transport not part of the BART) have a $13 all day ticket which covers the cable cars and trams and buses, there is a booth at the cable car stop Powell St which sells them at the exit to the BART station. So for $21.10 each you cover the transport all day.

You won't get to the Golden Gate Bridge unless realistically you hire a car, there just won't be enough time. But you can see the bridge from the Fishermans Wharf side of the city. Everyone talks of the Golden Gate, but the Bay Bridge is also a monster.

My suggestion - ride the BART into Powell St, jump the histoic F line trolley (they use historic trams from all over the world, including Melbourne) around the Embarcadero to Fishermans Wharf, then catch the cable car to the top of the hill, jump off and enjoy the views from Lombard St, jump back on and back over the hill to Union Square and the shopping last thing before you jump the BART back to the airport.

Matt

 

[mosanator]

As the others have said, SF !

Get over to Fishermans Wharf and hire a bike (plenty of places). Don't know how fit etc you are, but we (Wife, teenage Son and I) did and rode out to the Golden Gate Bridge and across it in a couple of hours. They even tell you how long you will need, so you can choose.

Only hard part is up to the bridge from Fort Point but the rest is fantastic and easy and flat. Wife and I are not fit by any stretch of the imagination, and it was great. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to spend a few hours seeing the sites of SF Bay.

I would do the same at Venice beach if you have to do the LAX option.

 

[Keith009]

Top notch rant there, Keith

You know it's funny - of all the companies I end up working for, I'm with one that has a big office in SF, possibly one of my least favourite cities that even makes living amongst various marijuan_ smoking, tofu eating, hydroponics growing societal rejects in the People's Republic of Brunswick seem like heaven (it was either me moving up North or the other half moving down to St Kilda, and unfortunately my lease ended way before his did). I'm spending a month there in April/May. Looking forward to the work of course, but a month in SF - ugh. They don't even have a Dolce & Gabbana (re-sellers don't count)! Though at least the Saks there is decent. Oh well, weekends in LA to tide me over...

 

[docjames]

Oh well, weekends in LA to tide me over...

SC runs on YUPs, or see how many SFO-LAX-SFO you can fit in a day.....

 

[Keith009]

SC runs on YUPs, or see how many SFO-LAX-SFO you can fit in a day.....

Only got weekends in LA so don't think I've got much time for SCruns... I will book one of those YUP fares though, seeing as they're so cheap on the SFO-LAX sector. Need the 170 SCs to get PG and unfortunately might be going over on V Australia...

 

[harvyk]

+1 for SF... The only thing LAX has for it as an airport is a nicer OW lounge (provided you have lounge access and are flying OW)

For spending time in a city I recommend SF...

Fishermans wharf (go to pier 39 for some great fish n chips, I personally like then wondering over to the sea lions and sit on the bench, it would be quite pleasent for lunch)

Ride the cable cars at least once, hanging off the side of one is quite a bit of fun and I have a great photo of me doing just that. It surprises me that in such a litigious place like the states that some lawyer hasn't put a stop to it.

See Lombard Street (a very twisty street, used in quite a few movies),

See the golden gate bridge (Seeing that bridge was my "I'm no longer at home" moment given I had seen photos of it in countless TA stores back here in OZ)

Also don't get too worried, you actually have to go searching to find the "marijuan_ smoking, tofu eating, hydroponics growing societal rejects" as QF009 calls them, it's not like they are sitting on every street corner, and even then they don't usually bother people.