Los Angeles One Day Tour - Venice Beach Back to Hollywood

Leaving the parking structure at Santa Monica Place, make your way around the block to where Main Street starts on the other side of the Mall. Main Street will take you through an area of shops, galleries and restaurants as you cross over into Venice Beach. Proceed to the traffic circle at Windward and look for a reasonable place to park. There are a variety of parking lots in the neighborhood with prices ranging from $3 to $15 depending on the day and season.

From Windward head to the right, down the boardwalk between the vendor stalls and the street performers past the outdoor gym at “Muscle Beach.” Walk about 7 short blocks to watch the sunset over a casual dinner at the Sidewalk Café. If you’re all walked out already, there’s a parking lot off the alley behind the Sidewalk Café just off of Clubhouse Ct. For those on an even tighter budget, grab a slice of pizza or a sausage sandwich at one of the Venice Beach snack bars and find a spot on a bench or a nice stretch of sand to enjoy the view. Bring a sweater or jacket. The beach is cool in the evening, even in summer.

After dinner, you’re close to the airport if you’ve got a red-eye flight to catch, or you can deadhead back to your Hollywood hotel taking Main Street back up to Santa Monica to catch the 10 Freeway (It only goes east from here). Exit La Brea north, (left off the ramp) about three miles back up to Hollywood Blvd. Notice the “Gateway to Hollywood” sculpture as you turn right on Hollywood Blvd. back to the hotel.

If you’re still standing, grab a drink at Teddy's or the Tropicana Patio Bar, both in the Roosevelt Hotel, or head down the street to Mood at Hollywood and Cherokee for some celebrity spotting.

Return to beginning of tour