Venice Beach

Abutting Santa Monica’s south side on the Pacific Coast Highway, Venice Beach or simply Venice . It was developed as a Los Angeles beach resort that paid homage to its Italian namesake with canals, piazzas, pedestrian bridges, a lagoon, and a colonnaded business district. Designed by eccentric millionaire Abbot Kinney in 1905, Venice’s original waterways and charming beach cottages can still be seen on Dell Avenue in the Venice Canal Historic District. Venice’s original waterways and charming beach cottages can still be seen on Dell Avenue in the Venice Canal Historic District. Today’s Venice, though, is more famous for quirky happenings on its iconic beachfront boardwalk, where mimes, jugglers, musicians, and street performers of all kinds inhabit an ever-changing and unforgettable bohemian subculture. You may also see some of the country’s best pickup basketball games on local outdoor courts. Watch it all from the loud and lively waterfront skate park, or sit near the daily drum circle on the beach. Feel free to grab a can and a stick—or anything that makes noise—and join in. Stop by the outdoor weight room at Muscle Beach Gym, once the home turf of bodybuilder and actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who later went on to become California’s governor. For a dive into Venice’s film history, sign up for a stroll with Venice Beach Walking Tours. You’ll learn about the city’s role in Orson Welles’ film Touch of Evil (1958) and other locally shot movies. To really go mobile, rent beach cruiser bikes to follow Venice’s stretch of the 22-mile Marvin Braude Coastal Bike Trail, linking Santa Monica to Torrance.