Driving Route - From Harbor Blvd to Santa Monica

[todd222222]

Hi,
We will be in the Disneyland area from 6/15 to 6/22 and are planning to go to the parks for 4 days and do other stuff the other days.

The plan for Sunday 6/17 is to take a Hollywood tour which departs from Santa Monica. The tour will leave at 9:45am from 1400 Ocean Ave, Santa Monica, 90401. After reading Al Lutz's new post today where he talked about the crowds which are expected on this Sunday I'm fearful about traffic on Harbor Blvd. We are staying at the Anaheim Desert Inn & Suites at 1600 S. Harbor Blvd.

What's the fastest and easiest way to get out of the area and headed towards Santa Monica?

Maybe the outbound traffic won't be a problem and I'm worrying for nothing, but I don't want to take a chance.

Thanks!
Todd

 

[nannyz]

Sorry I can't help you. Once we park the car at HoJo, I refuse to get back in it until we leave for home. I'm just petrified of the traffic.
Hope you have a good time.

 

[SeattleRedBear]

I'm agreeing with you that most of the traffic at that time will be towards DLR so I don't think you should have too many problems once you clear the area around the parks. Google Maps provides three routes between those two addresses (5N/10W; 22W/405N; 5N/91W/105W/405N) with an indication of how long each would take in current traffic. Personally, I would check before I'm ready to leave which route looks fastest in current traffic (although in general, I prefer 405/Garden Grove only because the 5 can get backed up through downtown).

 

[Girimama33]

Agree that traffic will be towards DL.
I would take Harbor Blvd South to 22 Fwy West. The 22 will come together with the 405 fwy....take 405 North and then I 10 West. That will take you to Santa Monica.

 

[todd222222]

Thanks all for your help!

 

[CalvaryMike]

Don't take the 22, take the 5 north. At the time in the morning on Sunday, the 5 won't be busy. If you're worried about traffic, take Harbor South to Orangewood (turn left) to Anaheim Way (turn left) to the 5N freeway.

Edit: I was thinking about this at lunch and I now agree with Girimama33. If you're not familiar with the freeways out here, the 22 (west) to the 405(north) will be an easier drive.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Best way to get there, especially if you have more than one person in the car:

Take the 5 north - 91 west - 605 north -105 west - 405 north - 10 west.

You will save yourself a lot of time (unless there is a car accident).

I live in the area, and this is the route I take.

 

[TEK224]

Hi!
I'm gonna piggyback on this thread. I'm going to DL for Labor Day weekend (crazy I know, but I'm there for the DL 1/2 marathon.) I'm arriving on Wed. morning. By the time my flight lands, get my bag and get to rental car, it should be about noon.

I'll have my nephew with me, who has never been to CA before. I was thinking of going to Santa Monica Pier right from airport. He wants to see the beaches and other sights. I thought by going from airport, we could see some things before checking in at DL. Looking at the map, it appears Santa Monica is not far from airport.

Does this make sense? Are there things to see during the day at Santa Monica Pier and Venice Beach or is it more active at night? My plan is to sightsee Wednesday & Thursday. Once the holiday weekend arrives I'm not driving out of the resort.

Also, what other beaches would be close to DL, that we could go to on Thursday? Are there other attractions near DL, so I wouldn't have to drive back to LA? Or would it make more sense to go sightseeing in LA (Griffith Park, Graumann's etc) right from the airport and got to Santa Monica and Venice on Thursday?

Sorry for so many questions. Just trying to figure out a plan. I've driven from DL to SF once before over Labor Day weekend and it was nuts. So if I get the sightseeing done early, we can just hit the parks and go to the pool on Fri.-Mon.

Thanks!
Terri

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Good question...

I think that it would be a fun idea to go to Santa Monica and have lunch on the pier there when your flight gets in. They have a Bubba Gumps right there. You could park there and hang out at the beach if you'd like. Then go over to the DL Resort and check in later on.

I think Thursday would be good to hang out in LA. There are a lot of places to visit, including the Griffith Park Observatory, quick stop in Hollywood (to say you were there), and the La Brea Tarpits.

Near the Disneyland Resort the more popular beaches to visit are Huntington and Newport Beaches. I also like Crystal Cove. It's a little bit more out of the way, and so less "traffic" on the beach.

 

[cyclenut]

Agree that traffic will be towards DL.
I would take Harbor Blvd South to 22 Fwy West. The 22 will come together with the 405 fwy....take 405 North and then I 10 West. That will take you to Santa Monica.

I agree with this option. It should be well clear of the crowds. Be aware though, once you leave the DLR area as you travel south on Harbor, it can look at little run down.

Also be aware that there is quite a bit of construction on the 22/405/605 interchange. All lanes are open and traffic flows well, but you will have to pay attention to signs and lane striping. There are a couple of places where lanes shift left or right that don't make a lot of sense, except to make room for construction. NOT A PROBLEM ... just a "heads up".

 

[TEK224]

What exactly is there to do/see at the LaBrea Tarpits?

 

[TEK224]

bump

 

[dougsmom98]

What exactly is there to do/see at the LaBrea Tarpits?

The La Brea tar pit grounds are free to walk on and you can see ponds/puddles of bubbling tar. You can go to the museum for a fee. We didn't do the museum because tripadvisor did not give it great reviews and we were trying to save money and time. While the grounds are free, we thought parking was expensive. The garage we went to was $2.75 for 1/4 hour. Since it cost so much, our plan was to see it and get the heck out of there. If this is also your plan, go to the left of the museum building to see the Tar Pit Lake (they called it a lake, it is a pond). watch they surface of the water and you will see bubbles and every so often a small spring of water. La Brea Tar pits were not our favorite thing to do. I am a science teacher and thought it would be cooler than it is. Here is a link to my trip report. It isn't finished yet, but there are pictures of the tar pits (post #29), Griffith Park, and Santa Monica Pier in it.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2915848

 

[SomeDude78]

Don't take the 22, take the 5 north. At the time in the morning on Sunday, the 5 won't be busy. If you're worried about traffic, take Harbor South to Orangewood (turn left) to Anaheim Way (turn left) to the 5N freeway.

Edit: I was thinking about this at lunch and I now agree with Girimama33. If you're not familiar with the freeways out here, the 22 (west) to the 405(north) will be an easier drive.

Agreed with the suggestion to take 5 North to 10 West. The 405 is the worst freeway in the area as far as traffic and the random times it can occur, and I'd take the field against the 405 any day, any time If you do take the 5 North to 10 West, just pay careful attention when passing through downtown LA (basically where all freeways meet) because you'll likely need a couple of quick merges to stay on course.

Long story short is there's a chance you'll hit traffic no matter which way you go. Shouldn't be bad on Sunday though, but you can never say for sure.

The La Brea tar pits are fun if you've never been and especially if you have little ones who are into dinosaurs. As another poster said, Griffith Observatory is nice too and only ~30 miles to the north of Anaheim, you get a nice view of the LA basin from the top. Also, Santa Monica isn't far from the Getty Museum which has some nice architecture and also a good view from the top. There's also other theme parks like Universal in the general area but I'm sure you already know about those. Santa Monica beach has a bike route on the beach that goes to Venice Beach too, you can rent a bike and it's a short ride, the two beaches have pretty different flavors (Santa Monica is more upscale and Venice is more "funky") and worth checking out IMO if you have the time.

 

[SomeDude78]

Hey OP, just saw that you're from Dallas. I'm out there regularly and honestly traffic in LA isn't that much worse. It just affects a much wider area and is a lot less predictable. Just think of the Richardson <--> downtown Dallas commute during rush hour, but with the possibility of popping up any time, anywhere, and you'll have the right idea Cheers!