Venice Beach is a Los Angeles Beach town famous for it’s quirky boardwalk area, incredible beach, outdoor gym and muscle beach, skateboarding park, and the residential area designed to play homage to Venice city in Italy with canals, and pedestrian bridges. It’s located just south of Santa Monica Beach and you can easily walk between the two if you want to experience them both in the same day. At Venice beach, you will find it all – restaurants and fast food, shopping, street performers, and so much more. It’s certainly an atmosphere we’ve never experienced anywhere else. So let’s jump into some of the things you need to check out if you visit.
1. Venice Sign
The first thing you need to see is the Venice sign. This sign is a popular spot for photos and is illuminated at night making for cool nighttime shots. Fun fact, this intersection has an “all way” cross so you can use that time to snap the perfect photo.
2. Dine Out
The second thing to do is dine out. And Venice Beach has a ton of options right along the boardwalk. Many of which are carnival or fair style food, and ice cream. But there are plenty of real sit-down restaurants and bars in the area as well – including a brewery that sadly we didn’t make it to. But if you just want to grab something quick you will have a lot of options here while you enjoy the boardwalk and beach area.
3. Go Shopping
The third thing on my list is to go shopping. This is a perfect spot to pick up some souvenirs, gifts, or just some unique handicrafts. Along the Venice boardwalk there are stores with different merchandise, but there are also some little booths that offer hand made items, customizable items and little knick knacks.
4. Muscle Beach
Next up is Muscle Beach. This isn’t the original Muscle beach, if you want to see that you can check out my Santa Monica Pier video. This is the new and improved muscle beach combining some of the elements of the original with different equipment built into the beach, but there is also an outdoor gym with actual gym equipment and bleachers overlooking it. It was closed when we visited, but I can imagine this would be a busy spot!
5. Murals & Street Art
Number 5 on my list is to check out are the murals and street art that can be found around the boardwalk area. There are lots of different ones to see and get photos of – if that’s your thing. Or you can just appreciate the cool designs and talent some of these artists have!
6. Venice Beach Boardwalk & Bike Trail
Number 6 is the Boardwalk and Bike Trail. You can enjoy a nice stroll along the boardwalk, people watch, or just sit and enjoy the weather. If you’re more active you can get on a bike and take advantage of the amazing bike trail running through the area. We enjoyed walking along the boardwalk – it was nice to look at all the shops and scenery.
7. Watch the Skaters
Next up is to watch the roller skaters and skateboarders. This is a famous area for skateboarding specifically and we were able to catch a few skateboarders doing various tricks while we were here. They draw a huge crowd too – so it’s kind of like a free show! We enjoyed watching them and were there for about half an hour while skateboarders zipped by us – I think they must have a code or signal because somehow they all took turns and didn’t get in each others way.
8. Enjoy a Sunset at Venice Beach
Next up is to enjoy sunset at the beach. While we were there we saw some sailboats that were sailing through the sun as it was setting and it made for some beautiful photos. We also saw many people setting up to sit at the beach and watch the sunset. If you arrive at the right time you could even bring a picnic and make an evening of it.
9. Go Fishing
Number 9 on my list is fishing. Whether you want to come here and actually go fishing, or just watch the people fishing off the rocks – it’s pretty interesting to see what they are catching. We stood by and watched for a few minutes while we were here, but unfortunately we didn’t see anyone catch anything at this beach, but we did earlier at the Santa Monica Pier.
10. Spend the Day at Venice Beach
Number 10 is to enjoy a day at the beach. We were here in November and there were still plenty of people in the water and having picnics on the beach. So if you like to relax by the ocean, you can spend the day. Or just enjoy a nice walk by the waters edge – it’s much easier down here where the sand is packed and you can dip your toes in while you go.
11. Rainbow Lifeguard Stand
And if you’re going for a walk along the beach, number 11 is to check out the rainbow lifeguard stand. This usually draws attention because it stands out from the other lifeguard stands. So naturally I had to go and get my picture there. But because it’s popular we did have to wait a few minutes for some kids to finish playing and getting their own pics. But in the end we got it!
12. Venice Canals
And the final thing on my list of things to do is to visit the Venice Canals – a neighbourhood built around beautiful canals, inspired from the Venice Canals of Italy. We really enjoyed walking around the Venice Canals and seeing the unique houses, pedestrian bridges, and calm area. This is also a popular filming location and there have been a lot of movies and TV shows over the years that film here. We timed our visit perfectly and got some awesome sunset shots.
Venice Beach Summary
Overall, we had a great visit to Venice Beach but I would have liked to have spent more time there. We were there for a few hours at sunset, but I could have easily been there longer to enjoy more of the beach area. If you’re planning your own visit, make sure you leave yourself enough time to explore and go at a leisurely pace. I hope this list can be helpful for you if you’re visiting Venice Beach in the future! What else would you add to this list? Let me know in the comments below.
