Venice Beach Boardwalk

Love spending an afternoon at Venice boardwalk. Cool quirky shops (minus the pot shops & pot heads roaming around). Very laid back relaxed atmosphere… cute, diverse shops, clothes, snacks, leather, hats, sunglasses, street vendor art. Oh yeah… lots of people watching. ;-)

Who doesn’t love a leisurely stroll down this ahhhhmazingly eclectic beachfront strip. Nothing like Ocean Dr. or Vegas Strip… Venice is a melting pot of all things cool, hip, fit, artistic & creative. There’s so much to see and do not just once stroll will do; you can literally hangout at Venice all day. Seriously, make it a day trip if you’re visiting.
Beware the parking can be a real itch (like how I left off the capital B) Yep, clever :)
I digress, the parking is mostly metered so bring your wallet unless you can luck up on a residential space. Prepare for walking and wear some comfortable shoes. There are tons of eateries to choose from no matter what you desire, bars, love music, and a plethora of local ventures (again bring your wallet). You’ll find cool t-​shirts, tie dye pants, fresh fruit stands, incense, purses, shoes, weed, socks, funnel cakes all among psychic readers, little people, glass walkers, can smashers, Muscle Beach bodies, Pugs, beautiful palm trees, sunshine, sand and most importantly the gorgeous Pacific Ocean.

Venice Beach Boardwalk!
You have never been there you say, or been there but forgot how amazingly interesting VBB is!!!
It’s Marylyn Manson meets Disneyland! From the guitar playing guy that wears a sheet over his head, to the street performers, to the green stores, to the circle drum players, to all the new bars and restaurants, to the all the interesting artwork, to the body piercing and tattoo shops, to the shops that sell sliced pizza, to the drunks, bums, stoners and the LAPD. that tries to keep control… and to all the locals and tourists that come out to see the skeptical they call Venice Beach!
VBB is a must see, it’s ocean, sun, and most interesting people along with all the freaks that come to enjoy the incredible weather SoCal offers almost all year long!
VBB, a great way to spend a day!!!
Just keepin’ it real
The Real Closet Freak

Great place to people watch but definitely a tourist attraction with tourist attraction prices for everything… Food, souvenirs and if I smoked weed I’m sure the «medical» MJ was priced at tourist prices as well.
Still a great place to walk around whether you’re a LA native or visiting from out of town. Kids had a blast too!

Amazing live entertainment from artists to musician. It’s nice to see the City of Los Angles added a skateboard area. As I have to say it’s nice to see people from all over the world enjoying Venice Beach. If you are coming here from paddle tennis to rollerblading you will enjoy every minute here.
The plus about Venice Boardwalk has plenty of places to eat from great café’s to deserts. If you looking to purchase some great artwork to clothing you will appreciate the work that goes into it. The plus about coming here that is family friendly. You can come to simple game of basketball to hand ball.
Parking can be a hit or a miss. As some lots charge up to 25 dollars for parking. The city has a public lot near the paddle tennis courts. The parking fee is only 9 dollars. Overall it’s great place to play tourist to bring people from out of town.

My wife and I throughly enjoy walking this historic boardwalk, viewing the souvenir and specialty shops and strolling on the beach! It’s a great opportunity to unwind and dodge the hawkers!

Awesome atmosphere! Great Vibes! Very safe feeling place! You can talk some of the vendors down on price! Play basketball, lay on the beach, & eat some awesome food! Not to mention all the cool street musicians & talent!

Place with History and magic, so they say, so one day I came to see for myself, and found that they weren’t lying. On weekends, it is full of tourists, and on some days you can find that you are more looking to avoid hitting people than enjoying the place. But when it is a sunny weekday, you will see the magic. Colors, paintings on the walls, happy people smiling at each other, and people from different places and different vibes. Probably the coolest beach in LA.
5 Stars for any day during the week.
3 – 4 Stars on weekends and holidays (Depend how crowded).

Come-​on. You can’t tell me that the boardwalk is not amazing. OK, you may need to search and most likely to pay for parking. But then when you hit the beach, what can be better? Come here early, I mean really early, and you will have the boardwalk to yourself till all the crowed will get here.
Feel the sand, go for a run, or roller blades, this is a place for the free ;)

Venice Beach is mos def unique and one-​of-​a-​kind. PERFECT for people watching. Art, music, dance, weed, a freak show… what more could you want?

Art, human freaks, and marijuana — oh my!
This place is awesome. The people watching itself is worth a visit. There is art, music, skateboarding, basketball courts, eclectic retail, etc. etc. etc. What’s there not to love? Even parking is cheap at $ 9.
I skimmed some negative reviews and they are mostly by prudes who were uncomfortable around a few homeless people and «weird» people. These people should stay home.

Venice Broadway is one of a kind. There are so many adjectives to describe it but not enough. It’s overwhelming and underwhelming at the same time. Think you are the oddest, weirdest, or nonconformist guy/​girl on the block? Then you need to come here and realize you probably aren’t.
On one side, you have the majestic Pacific Ocean with breathtaking views. Then turn your head to the other side and you’re wondering if you are in bizzaro world.
It’s worth one visit to observe for yourself. It’s grimy, it’s dirty, it’s one of a kind.

Recently, I traveled to California for a wedding. The wedding was in the Santa Ana area, but tickets were much cheaper to fly into LA and rent a car. This meant, I had one day to check out all of the LA tourist spots. I scheduled it west to east so that I could hit up as many spots on my one day in LA and the surrounding areas.
This was my first stop along the way. It’s a beautiful area with lots to look at. People watching is the reason you come here. They have a lot of bike rental places so you can take advantage of the boardwalk.

I was here twice last month: once for the Freakshow and the second time to explore the boardwalk fully. I gave it 3 Stars because it is unique, yet can be sketchy at times. You can find awesome handcrafted art on street vendors, but there are a lot of sketchy homeless people trying to get you. I saw a foreign girl being verbally attacked by a homeless man. I think she took his picture because he was yelling at her to delete the picture or something. No one did anything about this action going on. I was too afraid to get involved. He finally let her go.
You will see some strange activity going on the boardwalk for sure. I would recommend coming here for the Freakshow and see a few vendors on the right side of the Freakshow towards the Santa Monica pier. There were two awesome vendors with cool art I purchased here. Overall people were nice. Just be very cautious when walking around here. I would avoid eye contact for the most part to be safe.
There is free street parking in the area too. It was safe in my opinion. Parking near the boardwalk is like $ 5-​$ 8.

Venice is a must if visiting Southern California.
It’s filled with street artist. It’s a very unique location.
It’s extremely colorful full of beautiful street art.
It’s fun to go however for me once or twice is enough.
There’s ALOT of homeless people. I’ve gone to go donate water and snacks to them and many are young homeless adults in their early 20s all drugged up and it’s a rather sad sight to see.
The boardwalk is really dirty with trash on the floor and dozens of police patrolling the area.
Parking is the worst thing ever. Nearly impossible to find street parking. And parking near the boardwalk will run you about 25 dollars.
Metered parking is available but are constantly monitored and you can easily get a ticket if you don’t monitor the time.
I recommend this place because it’s rich in history. You have an iron gym, cute t shirt shops, interesting people, skate park, etc

Why should you visit Venice beach and Boardwalk? Women: if you love men walking around in boxer briefs and next to nothing, Venice is just for you!
Men: You’ll love the beach babes everywhere!
The bad: The bathrooms are disgusting. They need to do a better job with maintenance.
The good: Parking is only $ 6. Park there between 9 and 4. Otherwise you’ll be ticketed off street if you lose track. (Not worth a $ 36 fine)
The beach is relatively clean– have fun!

We had the feeling that Venice Beach is a must-​visit on our stay in LA and so we went there. Street parking near the Boardwalk is nearly impossible, private parking is easy up to 20 $ and more, we left our car at a valet parking for 8 $ (flat).
The Boardwalk itself is broad, sunny and offers many shops on one side, the beach with the pacific ocean on the other side.
The Shops offer everything from sunglasses over T-​Shirts, Hoodies, Smoke-​Equipment, Surfboards to Bikinis and so on. Food and drinks are also for purchase every 2 meters (felt like that).
Many skateboarders and street artists are there and you can almost everywhere smell gras/​pot!
In my opinion not really a must-​see but if you’re in the hood then go, grab a corndog, watch the street artists and their dance moves, get your feet sandy at the beach and have a nice afternoon.

Venice Beach is one of my favorite places in Los Angeles. I don’t know what it is necessarily but I just love walking down the boardwalk and soaking in what Venice has to offer. You can literally just people watch for hours because eccentric is what you’re going to see on this boardwalk. Some of the most interesting people I’ve ever seen were from here. My boyfriend and I really enjoy grabbing some fresh fruit from one of the vendors here as we take our stroll. Occasionally we grab a slice of pizza and watch the skateboarders go wild. There are always street performers here too. After awhile they get a little old but it’s still fun to watch as the crowd rallies.
I feel like the Venice Beach Boardwalk is a collection or rejects and rebels from all over the world. I mean there’s even a Freakshow at the end of the boardwalk that prides themselves for being «freaks». You’re not going to find another place like this anywhere else. It’s fun and exciting and it never fails to put a smile on my face. Even when I’m having a very bad day. ⁵⁄₅

As someone who previously only saw California in movies, I felt that Venice Beach/​Boardwalk was quintessential Cali. When I picture California, I picture this. I absolutely enjoyed everything about Venice Beach Boardwalk. The actual beach is beautiful with lots of people having a good time, the waves were not too intimidating, and the ocean is beautiful compared to our dirty NY ocean! I love people watching on the beach.
I found it incredible that there is SO much going on here. My boyfriend and I were here for hours and were never bored, in fact, we didn’t even get to see everything! I love the street vendors selling chopped up watermelon and mango! To the gentleman selling bacon wrapped hotdogs… you the real MVP. There are tons of food vendors here selling things like fish tacos, Greek food, ice cream, sandwiches, poke, etc. There are people selling their artwork, as well as a person who’s gig is selling you «shitty advice» for a dollar, was hysterical! Plenty of t-​shirt and souvenir shops are here too. We saw so much entertainment here as well. There was a street performer who had a huge crowd following pulling people in and doing a funny skit, There was another street performer walking on glass. We watched basketball games, roller dancing, and skateboarders practicing and doing awesome tricks. Walking on the boardwalk is so nice as well.
Happiness for me on our trip was being here! Laid back and all different types of people to watch!

People will call this place ghetto. But not every part of LA county can be upscale. Plus, this place adds a variety in the LA experience. I grew up in a beach city (Redondo Beach), and it’s intriguing to see that every LA beach city has a different kick to it. I do not mind taking a stroll along Venice boardwalk and checking out the hippy vibe here.
Years ago I would come to the Sunday night drum circles. It was an interesting change to the Hollywood/​Sunset Blvd scene, but it was nice to catch the fresh evening air and chill on the sand. In recent times, I haven’t had the opportunity to come back here. The other night was my first time here in almost five years. Hippies, skaters, international tourists, and locals made up the crowd. It seemed somewhat seedy at first, but no one really bugged us.
Daytime, you get a lot of stores selling anything from glass pipes to independently made clothing. Come check it out for a different shopping experience. Night time is pretty cool to, but come with at least one other person.

I love the Venice beach boardwalk. It is like an outside shopping center with the beach right in the front. They sell so many cool things you won’t find anywhere else.
There are people selling on the boardwalk and there are indoor stores as well. There is so much entertainment too. You will always find someone interesting when you come here.
Every time I come I see a man with this giant snake. He offers pictures for $ 5 and he gets a lot of clients. There is this other guy that walks up and down the boardwalk with devil horns and a thong.
Girls love to take a picture with him and he agrees all the time. I see him take the pictures and I usually don’t see him charge. I think he is a little creepy, but hey if you are into that go right ahead and take a picture with him.
There is also this very nice lady that makes your name with some material that looks like a rock. She does such a good job. She loves to have a conversation with her client while she makes them. She charges $ 10 the name or 2 names for $ 15.
I did my name with my husband and my son’s name inside a heart for $ 20. I thought it was too much to ask for, but she did it very nice! She was trying to look for the biggest rock she had. It wasn’t that big, but she did an excellent job.
She asked us what colors we wanted and unfortunately she was out of two colors we chose. She really put an effort to look for someone that can lend her those colors, but I told her just to make it look nice. She picked out the colors and it turned out beautiful.
She is very friendly and she mentioned she loves to work there. We talked to a few artist working at Venice and no one had any complains.
They all mentioned they always meet someone interesting and a lot of people all over the world. What I love about shopping here is that it is inexpensive.
I use to come to look around, but never got a chance to buy anything. When I was asking for prices I imagined everything so much more pricey. This couple was selling cool shades for $ 10 for 3 of them.
I was going to buy some at pay less for $ 10 because I knew we where going to the beach on a sunny day. When I found them for 3 for 10 I was shocked.
I recommend coming here with some good amount of cash so you can spoil yourself and buy a lot of souvenirs.

Start at Washington Blvd and the water where the Venice Pier begins…
Separate pedestrian and bike paths with the bikes closer to the beach (don’t know why foot traffic always has to be further from the surf)…
Goes south to Marina del Rey where it just becomes sand…
Goes north to fun Venice tourist shops, Muscle Beach, and a Green Doctor Clinic where you can get a medical evaluation for $ 40…
There’s usually someone who looks hipster or homeless strumming their guitar along the boardwalk…
The pier is for fishing and French kissing and there are tons of hooks for your fishing rods at the end of it, jutting into the Pacific Ocean…
It’s definitely a little dirty…
Right in the middle where the pier is: the off-​the-​hook casual gourmet Simmzy’s with an amazing tap selection, a chicken wings shop that claims to have the best in the hood, and C&O Trattoria one of the best Italian restaurants in all of L.A. and a personal fave for years that always has an incredibly long wait.

If you are an out of townie, you will at some point in your life have heard of Venice beach, or its infamous boardwalk. If you are however, a native Southern Californian, you probably have came here more times than you can imagine. I myself have been here far too many times to even remember. Figured I just might as well write a quick review on this place!
The Venice beach boardwalk is one that is full of creativity mixed in with strangeness at times. A mile long strip with shops and restaurants lining it, the boardwalk is one place to hit up whenever you are feeling hot and want to walk it off right next to the beach, which is where this boardwalk lines up right next to. Nothing but different culture and vibes all around here is what the boardwalk can be defined as. Pot dispensaries, small merchandise stores, odd performances, basketball courts and a stunning view of the Pacific Ocean is just some of the things you will find here.
Beware of pickpocketers here, especially when this place is full bloom packed. Mostly on hot summer weekends is when this place hits its full peak. They do have restrooms in a few areas. Please keep your bare feet protected. Wear plenty of sunscreen and a hat too, to protect yourself from those daring UV rays! They do have parking pretty much all over the place. Good luck finding free street parking. You can opt to pay for it. Prices will vary. I remember coming so much during my high school days here. I will most likely continue to do so… just not do any of the things I did before!!!

Came here to walk on the boardwalk on a hot summer day, but I think my embarrassing tan lines were worth the walk. It’s a good experience seeing art at it’s finest on the boardwalk. I enjoyed the muscle gym a lot and also the street performers and artwork variety being sold by different vendors. There was also a freak show on the boardwalk which was something new for me. It was a good touring area and it was fun checking out the different venues.
I was, for the most part, amazed by the different cultures in the atmosphere and definitely intrigued by how artsy a beach could be. It’s very diverse and you can tell people love this beach, otherwise you wouldn’t be bumping into tourists and locals every step of the way.
There’s a lot of rental bike areas so that it would be an easier and breezier way to get through the boardwalk, but I don’t mind strolling as well. I feel like this beach is always packed because of the gym and vendors, so be prepared to park in their private parking lot (about $ 17), it’s cheaper than the garage parking near the beach (which was at about $ 23).
Bring your own beverages, and wear sunscreen plus a hat! It’s a cool experience, and something worth touring for a bit when your in town!

The 4^th of July is either the worst day to come to Venice Beach or the best. Days later and I still haven’t made up my mind. However, if anything screams LA to me, it’s this congregation place with all the bronzed, sculpted bodies (photo:
); all the fearless skateboarders with no safety gear (photo:
); and all the cholesterol you could possibly eat on a stick. It’s people-​watching extremus if you can figure out where to park. Jamie W. and I decided to come here after a more highbrow morning at the LA County Museum of Art. Unlike Santa Monica where there are garages galore because of the Third Street Promenade, there aren’t such structures here, so we ended up parking way east on Venice Blvd.
The sidewalk hike gave us a good excuse to stroll the man-​made canals lined with party-​hearty bungalows on the 4^th. It’s just a quick walk to the beach where the boardwalk beckons. Street vendors line one side while tattoo and T-​shirt shops line the other with the occasional fish taco stand thrown in for good measure (photo:
). You can count on getting stuck in a crowd of gawkers whether they’re looking at street performers you can’t see (photo:
) or the weightlifting pit at Muscle Beach where intimidating-​looking female bodybuilders await their turn on stage (photo:
). Don’t worry though for every body beautiful on the beach, there are at least a dozen tourists who have let their gym memberships lapse. Oh wait, that would be me.

The typical west coast boardwalk with a lovely view and tones of extravagant people to watch. I even saw the Bikini Dollar Dog posing for me to put some cash on his bikini.

This place is trashy. Pot shops everywhere. I won’t be back.
I do like how it’s a boardwalk with local artists and souvenir shops. However, most of the stuff is pot head themed. The local artists seem to try to sell everything here. There was one person selling beat up cardboard boxes that they wrote on. I guess if I ever became a hobo, I know where to buy my hobo sign at.
There is close parking around the alleys for $ 10. On the main street is around $ 20. Metered parking is for only 1 hour.
This place is definitely not family friendly. However, they are very dog friendly. A lot of people strolling around with their dogs here.

Mon dieu.
On doit encore présenter Venice?
Son côté roots et décalé
Ses canaux si connus
Sa promenade si célébre
Son côté Hank-​Moody-​is-​my-​homeboy
Bref, c’est simple, moi j’adore Venice. Aller à L.A. et manquer Venice Beach c’est NE PAS ALLER A L.A.
Alors ouais c’est à part, quand je pense à mes copines qui n’ont pas aimé parce que elles ont trouvé que c’était mal fréquenté. Ouais, ici, c’est pas Beverly Hills… et tant mieux. Ici c’est plutôt roots, pas de prise de tête, ca vend des djumbé, ça vend des souvenirs, c’est assez touristique, mais c’est moins cliché que le reste de L.A.
D’ailleurs pour l’anecdote: ALERTE A MALIBU (paie ta référence, je sais, mais ma guide me l’avait dit) n’a pas été tourné à Malibu, mais à Venice (normal, Malibu, c’est moche!).
Je kiffe quoi!

Samedi 10 août
Après-​midi vers l’un des lieux les plus classiques de LA: Venice Beach ! A une prononciation près, on comprend mieux que la belle endormie n’a rien de très palpitant, limite elle né sombre pas dans le vulgaire. Depuis Downtown prévoir en bus plus d’une heure de transport.
Le lieu est un peu décrépi/​défraichi, il faudrait penser à toilettage et à une meilleure réorganisation de la circulation. Le lieu est ce qu’on appelle un inconditionnel et donc forcément typique du tourisme de masse. Mais quitte à paraître un peu élitiste et méprisant, dans sa version beauf. Les restaurants ou échoppes n’ont, du côté de la promenade, aucun charme. On a l’impression d’une station balnéaire qui s’est arrêtée dans les années 80. Ce n’est pas tant ce qu’on propose (tableaux, souvenirs, chite, t-​shirt, etc.) qui rebute, cela correspond à ce qu’on s’attend, mais plus assemblage de bric et de broc, un peu cheaply.
A force de se réunir pour voir ce qu’il se passé, il né se passé pas grand chose. Quelques danseurs en roller 4 roues, le skate park vaut le détour, des compétitions de BMX sous fond de BPM, la promenade n’a donc pas grand intérêt si ce n’est de marcher (mais sans les aspects du tourisme de masse ça serait pas si mal) et au loin, la plage, superbe, avec ses sauveteurs et leurs petites cabanes surélevées et une eau à… On va dire que c’est plus proche des températures de la Mer du Nord avec le soleil de la Méditerranée. Frustrant.
Au final, j’y suis allé, j’ai vu, et ça né va pas me marqué contrairement à d’autres endroits de LA.