Santa Monica walking tour & town guide

Santa Monica Pier

The pier, first built in 1909, reaches out over the beach at the foot of Colorado Avenue. Its small amusement park, Pacific Park, has a solar-powered Ferris wheel and a roller coaster above the waves, and nearby stands an old carousel building. A sign marks the symbolic end of Route 66, the highway that once ran all the way from Chicago.

Below the pier, the beach stretches for miles in both directions. A paved path for walking and cycling runs along the sand south to Venice and north toward the Pacific Palisades, and the pier looks its best at sunset, when the lights come on.

Palisades Park and Ocean Avenue

Palisades Park runs along the top of the bluffs above the Pacific Coast Highway, a narrow strip of lawns, benches and tall palm trees with views across the bay to Malibu. It is the classic Santa Monica stroll, popular with joggers in the morning and sunset watchers in the evening. Ocean Avenue, beside it, is lined with hotels and apartment buildings facing the sea.

Third Street Promenade and Main Street

A few blocks inland, the Third Street Promenade is a pedestrian street of shops, cinemas and street performers that stays busy well into the evening, ending at the Santa Monica Place shopping center. South of the pier, Main Street is more relaxed, with independent boutiques, cafés and old beach houses toward Venice.

A classic walk: Palisades Park to the pier

Start at the northern end of Palisades Park and walk south along the bluffs, then cut inland to the Third Street Promenade. Follow it to its end and continue down Colorado Avenue to the pier. Walk out to the end over the water, then come back down to the beach path and stroll south toward Venice. The route is about four kilometers, and the Metro E Line runs from Downtown Santa Monica to central Los Angeles.