Table of Content
“The best of” is always kind of illusory way to describe things in life and therefore people tend to exercise it all too often for my understanding. However, my personal intention was to share with you my thoughts about the part of this oversized metropolis I liked most and the things I think everybody should see when visiting Venice in Los Angeles for a couple of day or even hours.
There is no doubt – Venice is one of the most beloved neighbourhoods in LA! And the reasons are more than obvious! More than 8 km of fine sand paradise, marvellous palm trees, probably the best streets in Los Angeles, lovely restaurants, bars and boutiques, stunning street art and relaxed People. And all this ensure the very-well-known “Californian Feeling”!
Do you remember Forrest Gump?!
“Anyway, like I was sayin', shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. Dey's uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There's pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That- that's about it.”
Santa Monica Pier
Santa Monica Pier
We (probably the best beach junkies ever lived) decided to spend our last two days in California nowhere else, but here! Unfortunately, the tricky side and the keyword for Venice is Expensive … And not only expensive but also difficult to find a place to stay. You should probably search for a room at least three months prior to your visit if you want to check a nice and (half-decent) affordable room here.
Muscle Beach ~ Venice
Muscle Beach ~ Venice
Santa Monica Pier
Santa Monica Pier has more than 100 years of history as it opened in September 1909. Nowadays the Pier is famous for its theme park and most photographed Ferris wheel in California. The place is very busy – locals and guests from all over the world visit this place the whole year long. The Pier Pacific Park offers numerous restaurants, small shops and bars with local live music, and of course a huge entertaining playground for children (and not only).
Muscle Beach ~ Venice
Muscle Beach ~ Venice
Did you know that the end of Santa Monica Pier is the official stopping point of the famous East-to-West historic Route 66? Me neither! Here you can take a picture with the sign “66” – “End of the Trail” (where to find it – just past the Bubba Gump shop and just before the Playland area).
Venice Beach
Venice Beach is located on the south side of Santa Monica and shares its iconic beachfront boardwalk with locals and visitors. There is nothing you cannot find and see in this hip cultural mecca! The local scene of people and happenings – numerous musicians and street entertainers; a showroom for surfers, bodybuilder and random athletes; a good combination of edgy bars, restaurants, galleries and boutiques – the many reasons why Venice Beach is a must see place for visitors from all over the world (28,000 to 30,000 people per day and 10 million visitors per year!!!).
The Venice Ocean Front Walk stretches over 2.5 km of coastline to meet Santa Monica’s pier and is one of the best in the world! Venice is not only about its never-ending “paradise-like beach”! Nevertheless, this city area is a vibrant mix for various activities like surfing, skating, biking, jogging, basketball, tennis, handball etc. … and not to forget the world famous Muscle Beach!
Explore the Venice Canals
Not far away from the Venice Boardwalk, you can discover the reason why this place is sharing the same name with the most famous canal city in the world located in north Italy …. Unfortunately not many people know about their existence – the Venice Canals of Los Angeles! This place was part of the project “Venice of America”, inspired by the real Venice in Italy. The canals were finished in the year of 1905 and rapidly became a favourite choice for (rich) investors and house owners. There is no doubt, the canals of Venice are one of the seaside community's hidden charms. In combination with its street art, alluring houses and scenic gardens is a perfect place to go for a stroll on a summer afternoon.
The canals, which we are able to visit nowadays, were reopened in the year of 1993 as a result of a multimillion-dollar restoration project. Many of the historic houses have been completely renovated and other – just “face-lifted”. And of course, many new modern houses and cottages have been built …
We spent more than one hour here. The place is absolutely stunning! I played with my thoughts of becoming wealthy one day and buying a house here … The Venice Canals got even more beautiful by the fact that we were solo walkers on that summer afternoon, able to share the dream of belonging a small piece of this paradise.
I'm going to complete today’s post with my last Facebook statement from California:
“@Venice Beach, Mother's Beach… Our last day in beautiful California, and the best place from Los Angeles… My 10 Californian points go to San Diego followed by San Francisco If you're planning to move to LA, make sure you can afford a place to live in Beverly Hills or near Sunset Blvd… Otherwise “Viel Spaß!” Anyway, some of the best days in my life! Thanks for the Californian sun and all the beautiful places we have visited…”
Enjoy the day!
