Venice wasn't founded until 1905, a weird thought for Brits used to living in ancient villages, towns and cities. Venice's beachfront is a hive of sea, sun and sand-focused activity, in the heart of the Westside region of LA County, and it's a typical seaside resort town. Venice is famed for its network of canals, beaches and the quirky Ocean Front Walk, packed with street performers, fortune-tellers and artists.
Many of the city's miles of canals, dug to drain the marshes Venice was built on, still exist. Just a few blocks from the bustling, eccentric Boardwalk you'll find a maze of canals lined with beautiful homes and stunning gardens.
So what are the highlights of a holiday in Venice Beach? Here are three of the best.
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Take in some local colour at the eclectic shopper’s paradise, Abbot Kinney Boulevard
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Fresh seasonal food awaits you at the quirky, vividly coloured Hotel Erwin
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Spend time people-watching on the Boardwalk, a place of some truly extraordinary sights!
Add a leisurely wander along Venice Beach itself, home to the acclaimed Venice Breakwater surfing spot, to get a real slice of Venice life under your belt.
“The boardwalk is like the beating heart of America. You can be normal; you can be strange. It's so rad.” - Sean O'Keefe
How about a drum circle with a difference? Head for the free Venice Beach Drum Circle event, a mass-jam on the sand between Brooks Avenue and Ocean Front. Walk where literally hundreds of people from all over the planet gather to make beautiful noise together. Grab a drum, a shaker or anything that makes a rhythm and join in... or just dance and chant. It's hippy-heartwarming stuff, inclusive and fun. Just one of a host of great skateboard facilities, the two million dollar Venice Beach Skatepark sits right on the sand near Windward and Ocean Front Walk. It delivers a full 16,000 square feet of boarding thrills including plenty of opportunity for cool skateboarding street-style.
Venice, originally called 'Venice of America', was founded by the tobacco millionaire Abbot Kinney in 1905. A place of powerful contrasts, cycling or walking is the best way to experience Venice up close, a town where incredibly beautiful people co-exist with quirky, ragged homeless artists. Venice Beach itself is long and wide, a stunning stretch of lovely sand. The breakers crash, the slim and tanned folk sail past on their rollerskates and 'interesting' characters populate every street corner. It's a crazy place, in the nicest possible way, so dive right in and get a taste of the USA at its most endearingly eccentric.