A question re Santa Monica & Venice Beach

I will be in LA in early August (from Australia). I am planning to visit the Santa Monica and Venice Beach area one day. I%26#39;m interested in shopping (chain and independent), arty stuff, photography, people watching etc. I was thinking of going to places like 3rd Street Promenade, Main St, Abbot Kinney Blvd, Bergamot Station and Pacific Park.

My friend has visited LA twice, the last being at least 10 years ago. She has been on bus tours and was ';stuck'; at Venice Beach for several hours as part of one tour. As a result she is not a fan of the area. She has suggested it is rather a dump, including the shops there, implying that spending a day in the area might be wasting my time.

Are her thoughts of SM and VB true or a misconception? Will I have enough to see and do in the area for a day? My friend and I do have different ideas about what to do on our holiday.

A question re Santa Monica %26amp; Venice Beach

Venice Beach is not for everyone ... it is artsy, edgy, gritty, and yes, a bit dumpy. It is perfect for people/performer-watching, shopping, and soaking up the LA vibe. In short, I think it%26#39;s a great place ... but then again, I grew up there.

A question re Santa Monica %26amp; Venice Beach

I prefer Santa Monica over Venice Beach. VB is full of tacky t-shirt and tattoo shops. The third street promenade is much nicer.

Venice and SM are next to one another. Venice is ';artsy'; and a little run down in place. On the other hand, SM is a major metropolitan center with high-rise office buldings, major shopping, etc.

There%26#39;s is no reason to be ';stuck'; in Venice when you can:

1. Take a 5-minute bus ride from Venice to SM.

2. Walk up the boardwalk (20 minutes) from Venice to SM.

You can also walk from the boardwalk to Abbot Kinney Ave with all kinds of artsy shops and restaurants(10 minute walk) In addition, do not miss out on the remaining Venice Canals, just walk the boardwalk to Venice Blvd, go north on Venice and make a right(south) when you see the canals.

It%26#39;s a beautiful, almost surreal and quiet area you can walk around and have some fun with the ducks in the area. Deffinatly worth the walk(10 min from Venice Blvd)

Last but not least, you can walk the boardwalk all the way to Washington Ave, the boardwalk turns into a beautiful residential area. On Washington between the boardwalk and Ocean are plenty of nice restaurants, you can stop for lunch and do a little people watching

There is a lot more to Venice Beach than just the Boardwalk, unfortunatly it is mostly overlooked by tourists

There is a big difference between the Venice Beach boardwalk which your friend is talking about (although it%26#39;s improved a lot with in the last 10 yrs) and hte areas you described that you want to see. Abbot Kinney, Main St, Promenade, and Montave Ave (shopping area in SM you should add to the list) would definitely be exactly what you%26#39;re looking for and they%26#39;re all upscale (unlike the boardwalk). Venice Beach boardwalk is grungy and artsy with a bunch of piercing places, tattoo shops, smoking shops, t-shirt shops, street vendors and performers etc. If you like the independent artsy scene, you%26#39;ll find it interesting regardless.

Montana Ave is not even close to Venice. Why you keep on confusing people?

Question was if you stuck on a tour in Venice Beach/Boardwalk and a previous visitor had a misconception of the area if there is enough to to do and make sure the op knows it is not a ';dump'; area.

So i gave them some excellent(in my opinion at least) alternatives they can walk to from the boardwalk and enjoy the area

No reason to take a taxi to go to Montana Ave when you get the same experience at Abbot Kinney.

Unlike the previous poster, i would like to see you why us locals actually like Venice Beach. You dont have to run to a different area to enjoy he where you actually are.

Let it be

(NOT Let it go! Actually a famous quote from ';The Wire';)

Thanks all. Based on your descriptions, I am interested in briefly visiting Venice Beach for people watching / photography. My only concern would be personal safety. Is it generally safe for a single woman (mid 30s) to walk around the Venice Beach area on her own DURING THE DAY? I don%26#39;t go wandering around at night.

It was my friend who described herself as being ';stuck'; at Venice Beach while she was on a bus tour. I will be making my own way there and will have most of the day to see both areas (if needed).

Perfectly Save, Venice Beach is visited by over 14 million people every year. It is one of the biggest tourist attractions in California. You dont need to worry at all