Visa: Some visitors to the USA may require a visa, which may require an invitation letter. If you require an invitation letter, please email dna17@caltech.edu with subject "Visa Invitation Letter" to request one, and please include your complete contact information (name, address, phone number, email), since the invitation letter should include this information.

Location: Caltech is in the LA metropolitan area, in the city of Pasadena, California. The main conference site is at the Beckman Institute. The map on the Accomodation page shows the location of the Beckman Institute relative to the hotels. There is also a Caltech campus map.

Airports: The nearest airports are LAX (Los Angeles International Airport, about 40 minutes by car with no traffic) and BUR (Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, about 25 minutes by car with no traffic). There are other airports in the LA area (LGB, SNA, and ONT), but LAX and BUR are closest to Pasadena and are likely to have flights no more expensive than the other airports.

Getting between the airports and Caltech without a car: If you are not renting a car, the most convenient option to get from the airport to Caltech is to use a shuttle service, such as SuperShuttle or Prime Time Shuttle. These are vans that will take you directly from the airport to your hotel. They are about $35 (including tip) each way to/from LAX, and about $25 each way to/from BUR, and about $10 more per extra person. There is also a third-party company, Shuttle2LAX, that is a bit cheaper and will pair you with a shuttle company that services LAX.

The Burbank airport is small, so when leaving Pasadena after the conference, you should arrive at the airport about 1-1.5 hours before your flight time. LAX is very large and sometimes has long security lines, so plan on arriving at least 2 hours before your flight time if the first leg of your return trip is domestic (to another US city). Arrive at least 3 hours before your flight time at LAX if the first flight is international. Traffic in LA can be very slow during rush hour, so it may take up to 1.5 hours to reach LAX from Pasadena. Sigalert is a useful website for checking current traffic conditions.

Getting between the airports and Caltech by car: If you are renting a car, here are the directions to one of the Caltech parking garages from LAX and from BUR. Visitor parking passes are available to purchase from Caltech if you wish to drive from your hotel to the conference site. See the accomodation page for a list of nearby hotels. Below is a map showing the locations of both airports relative to Caltech.

Public transportation: There is a public transportation system in LA, called the Metro. It is cheaper than a shuttle, but it is relatively inefficient and will be much slower from either airport. The main website is here. The fastest option from either airport in this case is probably to take the Union Station Flyaway to Union Station in downtown LA, and then to take the Gold Line rail from Union Station to Pasadena. The Del Mar station is closest to the Sheraton and Hilton, the Lake station is closest to Vagabond Inn, and the Allen station station is closest to Saga Motor Hotel and Athenaeum. Once in Pasadena, there are LA Metro buses that run within Pasadena, or you could walk. There is also a separate bus system just for Pasadena called ARTS that you can use once in Pasadena, but it only stops every 25 minutes, and it closes before 8:00 pm.