Santa Monica - Recommended Attractions

From the Santa Monica Pier and its Pacific Park midway attractions, to Third Street Promenade's destination shopping, to Bergamot Station's contemporary Santa Monica Museum of Art, to blufftop Palisades Park, Santa Monica offers a range of activities for everyone. Whether by foot, car, or bus, navigating Santa Monica is easy. Most of the city is, in fact, accessible by foot, but you can also take advantage of the area's excellent transportation systems - the Big Blue Bus or Tide Shuttle.

Santa Monica Pier (including Pacific Park and the Looff Hippodrome Building)
The Santa Monica Pier is a local icon and a focal point for beachfront entertainment. If you haven't yet visited, you may recognize its Loof Hippodrome carousel, featured in the movie "The Sting," starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford.

Built in 1908, the Santa Monica Pier is the oldest pleasure pier on the West Coast. The newly-added two-acre Pacific Park, with its rides and midway games, is also the West Coast's only amusement park on a pier. Its roller coaster rises five stories above the water and its Ferris wheel rises nine stories. During the summer months, you can come enjoy free concerts and dancing here on the Pier. You'll also find shops, restaurants, pubs, and a fishing balcony besides the midway games and nine other family rides. At this non-gated park, you only pay for the rides you choose. For more information, call (310) 260-8744.

The historic Looff Hippodrome building and carousel have been around since 1916. Its present carousel, a 1922 Philadelphia Toboggan carousel which was brought to the Pier in 1946, features 44 hand-carved, hand-painted wooden horses (no two are alike) that were restored in the early 1980's. Rides are 50 cents for adults, 25 cents for children. Summer hours are 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Tues.- Fri.; and Sat. & Sun. 10 a.m.-9 p.m. The carousel is closed on Mondays. For more information, call (310) 348-8867.

The UCLA Discovery Center is located under the Pier at 1600 Ocean Front Walk. This high-tech, interactive aquarium with tide pool exhibits will give you a glimpse into Pacific Ocean life. Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for seniors, and $1 for students. The Center is open to the public Saturdays and Sundays only, from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Call (310) 393-6149 for more information.

Downtown Santa Monica
Downtown Santa Monica/Third Street Promenade is an extensive shopping center located between Broadway and Wilshire Boulevard, only three blocks from the Pacific Ocean in the heart of Santa Monica's commercial district. Designed with the pedestrian in mind, it is perfect for browsing. The district's many sidewalk cafes and coffee shops are great places to grab a bite to eat. And don't forget to come back in the evening to visit its movie theaters, music and dance clubs.

Montana Avenue
Ultra chic Montana Avenue is just minutes from the ocean, and offers a touch of class with specialty boutiques, restaurants, sidewalk cafes, coffee shops and two upscale neighborhood markets. It lies between 9th and 17th Streets, and forms the southern boundary of one of Los Angeles' most prestigious neighborhoods.

Main Street
Located just one block from the beach and just south of downtown Santa Monica, between Pico Boulevard and Navy Street, this shopping and dining district combines the best world class and ethnic cuisine's with one-of-a-kind shops that cannot be found in any malls. Art galleries, bookstores, coffee shops, cafes, collectibles, gifts and clothing of all styles - in the midst of an eclectic mix of historic and modern architecture - round out the Main Street experience.

Santa Monica Place
Originally designed by renowned architect, Frank Gehry, Santa Monica Place was built in 1980 and renovated in 1990. Rich in the allure of its Southern California address, this tri-level skylit galleria is 570,000 square feet with 140 shops, services and restaurants plus Robinsons-May and a newly renovated Macy's. Santa Monica Place is located at the corner of Fourth and Broadway in downtown Santa Monica at the south end of Third Street promenade, and just two blocks from the Santa Monica Pier and beach.

Farmers Markets
Fresh produce, flowers and much more are offered at three farmers markets.

• Third Street Promenade and Arizona Avenue - every Wednesday 9am-2pm, and every Saturday 8:30am-1pm
• Main Street and Ocean Park (The Victorian at Heritage Square) - every Sunday 9:30am-1pm
• Pico Boulevard and Cloverfield - Every Saturday 8am-1pm

The Pacific Ocean Beach, and the Beach Bike Path
How could we talk about Santa Monica without mentioning the beach itself? Just across Ocean Avenue the Santa Monica beach, with its beautiful sunsets over the Pacific Ocean, stretches for miles. The site is an incredibly popular one for filming movies or television shows along the water. And during hot summer days, this is one of the most crowded beaches in Southern California. Along the beach runs the extremely popular 22-mile beach path, used by people for roller-blading, biking, jogging, and walking. On most days you'll see people out enjoying the sun as they cruise along. To the south of the Pier, renowned Muscle Beach still offers passersby the opportunity to watch people pump iron. For a more cerebral challenge, the International Chess Park at Ocean Front Walk is the place to go for pickup games of chess at all levels.

Palisades Park
For one of the best places to watch the sunset over the Pacific Ocean, visit Palisades Park, one of the most-famous Santa Monica parks. It was given to the city in 1892 for use as a park "forever" by Santa Monica's founders, Col. Robert Baker and his partner, Senator John P. Jones. From this slender, 26-acre park set on a cliff and running from Colorado Avenue to just north of San Vicente Boulevard you'll be treated to breathtaking views of the Bay, which stretches before you from Palos Verdes Peninsula to Malibu. Whether you're coming to rest and enjoy its lawn and palms, or to jog along its paths, Palisades Park is a great place above it all. There is also a Visitors Center located here for information on the area. Palisades Park is currently being refurbished, and completion of Phase II is anticipated during the summer of 1999.

Bergamot Station (housing the Santa Monica Museum of Art)
With its scores of art galleries, theaters, and facilities for the performing arts, Santa Monica is undoubtedly an L.A. arts hub. The five-and-a-half acre Bergamot Station facility, a collection of old railroad cars, is a focal point for the local arts scene, and houses the Santa Monica Museum of Art. Contemporary art (including both paintings and sculpture) is displayed throughout the Museum's 10,000 square feet. There are over 30 galleries located here at the Bergamot Station. Come enjoy Friday evening discussions with featured artists, as well as performance art, music, film, and video. Call (310) 586-6488 for Museum hours and admission fees.

The Museum of Flying
The Museum of Flying is located at the Santa Monica Airport, on the exact spot where the Douglas Aircraft Company manufactured, tested, and produced both military and commercial aircraft for 46 years. In 1974, a citizen's group formed the Donald Douglas Museum and Library which was officially opened in 1979. This served as the Museum of Flying's predecessor, which opened its doors in 1989. The Museum of Flying houses a rare collection of World War II fighter aircraft. The majority of the aircraft within the collection are in flight ready condition and frequently take part in air races across the US.