Santa Monica and Venice Guide

This is the LA of postcards: palm trees, a pier with a Ferris wheel and a wide sandy beach. Santa Monica is a small, clean city on the Metro and one of our favourite bases (see the where to stay guide); Venice, just south, is louder, stranger and more interesting. You can walk or cycle between them along the beach in half an hour. Here's a route for a full day.

1. Palisades Park. Start on the cliff-top park along Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica, lined with palms, with the whole bay in view. Arrive on the E Line at Downtown Santa Monica station, a few minutes' walk away.
2. Santa Monica Pier. Built in 1909, with an old carousel, a small amusement park and a solar-powered Ferris wheel. A sign marks the symbolic end of Route 66. It's touristy, and best in the late afternoon.
3. The beach path. Rent a bike or walk south on the Marvin Braude Bike Trail, a paved path along the sand. Watch for cyclists.
4. Muscle Beach and the Boardwalk. In Venice, the outdoor weight pen where bodybuilders train in public, the skatepark by the sand, and Ocean Front Walk, a line of street performers, murals, cheap shops and cannabis dispensaries. Colourful by day; we'd leave after dark.
5. The Venice Canals. A few blocks inland, a quiet grid of footbridges and small houses along canals built by Abbot Kinney in 1905 to copy Venice, Italy. The calmest part of the day.
6. Abbot Kinney Boulevard. Independent shops, cafés and restaurants on a long, low street. The place for lunch or an early dinner.
7. Sunset. Back on the sand, or at a rooftop bar in Santa Monica, as the sun drops into the bay, or behind the Malibu hills in early summer.

Parking in both areas is paid and tight on summer weekends, which is why the E Line from Downtown is often easier. The Pacific is cold here for much of the year; the what to wear guide explains when swimming is pleasant.