Deodapper
Los Angeles: LAX to Santa Monica Pier
Los Angeles, California, US · 14 stops · 52.1 mi (84 km) · about 2 h 7 min driving · 36 spoken stories · driven 2×
For first-time visitors who want to hit LA's most recognizable sights, this drive from the airport to the coast covers Randy's iconic rooftop donut, the Venice Boardwalk, and ends at the Ferris wheel on Santa Monica Pier. About two hours with stops.
Photo: Jelson25, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
From Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to Santa Monica Pier
The stops
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1
Randy's Donuts
Randy's Donuts is a donut shop chain originated in the United States, and it is known for a colossal donut sign atop its original building located in Inglewood, California near Los Angeles International Airport, which is considered as "one of Los Angeles’ most iconic landmarks".
“Coming up is the big one, literally.”
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2
Manhattan Beach Pier
The Manhattan Beach Pier is a pier located in Manhattan Beach, California, on the coast of the Pacific Ocean. The pier is 928 feet (283 m) long and located at the end of Manhattan Beach Boulevard. An octagonal Mediterranean-style building sits at the end of the pier and houses the Roundhouse Aquarium.
“Here is the prettiest pier in the South Bay.”
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3
Dockweiler State Beach
Dockweiler State Beach, known locally as Dockweiler, is a beach in Los Angeles, California, with 3.75 miles (6.04 km) of shoreline, and a hang gliding practice and training area. Although a unit of the California state park system, it is managed by the Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors.
“Dockweiler is the raw, wide open one.”
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4
Marina del Rey
Marina del Rey is an unincorporated seaside community in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The marina, which includes residential, light commercial, and office facilities, is a major boating and water recreation destination of the Greater Los Angeles area.
“Welcome to Marina del Rey, an unincorporated seaside community and North America's largest man-made small-craft harbor, with slips for about five thousand boats.”
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5
Venice Canal Historic District
The Venice Canal Historic District is embedded in the residential Venice suburb of Los Angeles, California. The historic district is noteworthy for possessing man-made wetland canals, built in 1905 by developer Abbot Kinney as part of his Venice of America.
“This is the quiet Venice.”
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6
Abbot Kinney Boulevard
Abbot Kinney Boulevard is a mile-long road containing many shops and galleries located in the southern part of Venice, Los Angeles, California. It stretches from Washington Boulevard to Main Street, and its namesake is Abbot Kinney, a 19th century real estate developer and conservationist.
“Abbot Kinney Boulevard is about a mile long, running from Washington Boulevard up to Main Street through the southern part of Venice, and it is packed with shops and galleries.”
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7
Venice Beach Boardwalk
lunchVenice is a neighborhood of Los Angeles within the Westside region of Los Angeles County, California, United States.
“And here is the boardwalk, the heart of Venice, a neighborhood of Los Angeles out on the Westside.”
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8
Culver City
Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. It is mostly surrounded by Los Angeles, but also shares a border with the unincorporated area of Ladera Heights to the east. The city was named after Harry Culver who incorporated it in 1917.
“Culver City is a small city almost entirely surrounded by Los Angeles, with a population of about forty thousand at the twenty twenty census.”
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9
Original Farmers Market
Original Farmers Market is an area of food stalls, sit-down eateries, prepared food vendors, and produce markets in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles, California, on the corner of Fairfax Avenue and 3rd Street. It first opened in 1934 and was designated Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 543 in 1991.
“The Original Farmers Market sits at Fairfax Avenue and Third Street in the Fairfax District, and it has been feeding this city since nineteen thirty-four.”
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10
Rodeo Drive
Rodeo Drive is a two-mile-long (3.2 km) street in Beverly Hills, California, with its southern segment in the City of Los Angeles, known as one of the most expensive streets in the world. Its southern terminus is at Beverwil Drive, and its northern terminus is at its intersection with Sunset Boulevard in Beverly Hills.
“Rodeo Drive is actually two miles long, running from Beverwil Drive up to Sunset Boulevard, but when anyone says Rodeo Drive they mean the three blocks between Wilshire Boulevard and Little Santa Monica Boulevard.”
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11
Getty Center
The Getty Center, in Los Angeles, California, US, is a campus of the Getty Museum and other programs of the Getty Trust. The $1.3 billion center opened to the public on December 16, 1997, and is well known for its architecture, gardens, and views overlooking Los Angeles.
“The Getty Center is the white campus riding the hilltop up ahead.”
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12
Palisades Park
Palisades Park is a 26.4-acre (10.7 ha) park in Santa Monica, California. The park is located along a 1.6-mile (2.6 km) section of Ocean Avenue on top of an uplifted unconsolidated sedimentary coastal Quaternary terrace with exposed bluffs, offering views of both the Pacific Ocean and the coastal mountains.
“Palisades Park is twenty-six and a half acres of clifftop green running a mile and a half along Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica.”
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13
Third Street Promenade
The Third Street Promenade is a pedestrian mall esplanade, shopping, dining and entertainment complex in the downtown area of Santa Monica, California which originally opened as the Santa Monica Mall on November 8, 1965.
“The Third Street Promenade is a pedestrian mall in downtown Santa Monica, and it first opened as the Santa Monica Mall on the eighth of November, nineteen sixty-five.”
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14
Santa Monica Pier
The Santa Monica Pier is a large pier at the foot of Colorado Avenue in Santa Monica, California, United States. It contains a small amusement park, concession stands, and areas for views and fishing. The pier is part of the greater Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.
“Here it is, the Santa Monica Pier, jutting into the Pacific at the foot of Colorado Avenue where it meets Ocean.”
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