Venice & Santa Monica

Things to know

• The Boardwalk is a curiosity, not a highlight. It is a mile of souvenir stalls, buskers and street performers, plus the outdoor weights of Muscle Beach and the skate park; walk it once, in daylight, and do not plan around it.
• The beach path — the Marvin Braude bike trail — runs 22 miles of unbroken tarmac along the sand and is the single best way to move between these two neighbourhoods. Rent a bike rather than drive.
• The Metro E Line runs all the way from Downtown to Downtown Santa Monica, which makes this the one beach neighbourhood you can reach by rail from the centre of the city in about 50 minutes.
• Marine layer: on many mornings from May through early July the coast is grey and flat until it burns off around midday. A 9am beach plan in June is often a mistake.
• Parking in both is metered, expensive and enforced hard. Santa Monica's public structures give the first 90 minutes free, which is the local trick.