Venice Beach is way more than just a beach. Sure you can go there and sit in the sun or frolic in the ocean. The water was reasonably warm when we went there in March—not too warm, but comfortable enough that you could stick toes in without it being freezing and you have to run away. The beach itself and the sand is nice and not rocky or anything and you can sit and watch the waves and the people and enjoy the surf.

But Venice Beach is so much more than just a beach. You can walk the length of the beach and see great shopping and art galleries and entertainment and restaurants. The restaurants all seemed fairly reasonably priced, and we ate at a cute little place with delicious french fries that wasn't expensive at all and was right off the boardwalk. There are a lot of unique shops with stuff to buy that doesn't look like it came from a department store—more artsy and cool and not that expensive. You can buy boutique type shirts—I bought a green shirt with ties and sequins and it only cost me about $25 which was a very good price I thought. It's nice because it is stuff you won't find everywhere. There are also little art galleries and things that you can go into and browse local art—a great experience and great way to kill an afternoon.

It's fun to people watch there as well—there are lots of artsy young kids on the boardwalk and you can watch the surfers in the water doing their fancy tricks and be impressed.

Overall, I'd highly recommend that you visit—even if you are not a beach person there is so much more to it with the shopping and the art and the people watching and the surfers. It's a true Los Angeles experience and no trip to LA is complete without a visit. Best of all, if you just walk around and don't buy anything, it doesn't cost you any money (although if you want to park close and you get there a little later in the day you might have a hard time finding a parking spot, or you might have to pay to park.)

Venice Beach

Right after lunch at Gaby's (see separate entry), we walked towards Venice Beach to enjoy the sun and watch the surfers get on the water. It was pretty windy and the beach was crowded. We did not feel like setting up our blankets and spending any more time there. We walked on the boardwalk instead and spent some time smelling the ocean breeze.

If there's one thing you can't easily do in New York City, it's the beach thing. I inhaled every scent.

Love Venice Beach! When I stayed at the Marina Marriott, I was able to walk here, but when I stayed at the Hilton LAX, I had to drive. Parking is about $12, and the line just to get into the parking lot was ridiculous.

Venice Beach has a flea-market feel to it. I bought a 30-inch suitcase for only $50. The bad thing was that I had to roll it around on the boardwalk, but it was a great buy! My coworker got a very ornate henna tattoo. I bought crystal bracelets. These are where the funky sales are. She bought a beautiful mirror. Of course she didn't stop there, but I can't list everything in this small space. There are people giving massages, fortune tellers, and street entertainers. The last time I was there, a skateboard and bike tournament was going on. People were doing mad things on the skateboards! You have Muscle Beach and the basketball courts, and you can see locations that were used in movies. I always stop at Venice Beach when I am in the Los Angeles area.

Venice Beach is a great place to get a suntan, not mention a henna tattoo, get a workout, go shopping and generally watch the freaks go by. The boardwalk stretches all the way along to Santa Monica and is for the most part edged by alternative shops, tattoo parlours, artists and street performers. It's fun to just wander along and check out the sights - mostly human. And you can hire rollerblades, bikes or surfboards at either end if you fancy being a bit more active.

The beach itself is great, miles of golden sand and crashing waves. Don't necessarily expect to be left in peace though. When I was there, we were entertained by this big black guy balancing little rocks on big rocks. He took exception to people watching him though and demanded money. He was even more insulting to a random tv crew that happened to be there - this is LA after all. People watching is the best sport at Venice Beach - it's a genuinely alternative area, with its share of old hippies and free thinkers rejecting the usual LA ideology. Look out for the poster man who's clearly aching for an argument, a few examples of his posters read 'Jesus was Gay' and 'Hitler was right.' Most of the shops are of the alternative kind - candles, ethnic knick knacks. There are a few cheap clothes shops and it's a good place to get cheap sunglasses.

Another great spot for people or rather body watching is Muscle Beach. Here you can watch guys pumping iron in the midday sun, mad but impressive. There's also a basketball court if you fancy a game.

Venice Beach is a definite experience and you don't need to take a book along to be entertained. One thing though, it is a safe area - during the day, but if you're a lone female, be prepared for all the comments especially down Muscle Beach end.

You will see a bit of everything here. Known as Muscle Beach you will see street performers, body builders, tattoos, body piercing, vendors selling about everything you can imagine. This is the home of the odd and unusual and is worth going to see. Venice CA was named for the miles of canals that originally were interconnected. Today there are only 6 canals left. The town of Venice is very intersting and worth a visit. The visitors center is at 8 Horizon Ave, phone 310.581.1690