My husband and I will be in Los Angeles March 25-28. We arrive from Denver at LAX at 10am on Thursday. We were planning on checking into our hotel and then spending the afternoon doing to Hollywood sights (Walk of Fame, Rodeo Drive shopping, Grauman Theatre).

On Friday the 26th, we were hoping to take a scenic drive and see some nice neighborhoods and beaches. I was thinking of seeing Santa Monica, Venice Beach and possibly Malibu. I don't know too much about the area. Is this too much for one day? What is the best route to take? I read a suggestion online to take Sunset Blvd west until it connects to PCH, then go south towards Santa Monica and Venice beach. Is this a good route?

We are both 30 years old and in realtively good shape. I was hoping for the day to be more relaxed and not spent in traffic. Any suggestions?

There are only 6 miles of coastline from intersection of PCH and Sunset to Venice Beach. It should take you all of 10 minutes, depending on traffic/stoplights. Try planning out a route on google maps or mapquest for mileage and traffic estimates.

I'm not sure where you are staying, but you can drive north from PCH/Sunset to the north end of Malibu. It is a very pretty coastal drive, about 30 miles. There are plenty of places to stop along the way to walk, hike, shop or eat.

If it interests you, you can also make an appointment to see the Getty Villa: www.getty.edu/visit/ .

You could then retrace and head south back to Santa Monica/Venice.

Friday evening traffic can be brutal, so plan your trip accordingly. If you plan to have dinner somewhere west of the 405 and don't venture onto the freeways/streets until after 8pm, you should be able to avoid the worst of it.

I also recommend taking a drive along Mulholland Drive at night to see the city lights. A small portion between the 405 and Coldwater Canyon was damaged and closed after the recent rains, but the portion between Laurel Canyon and the 101 freeway should be fine.

If you are interested in doing some hiking and if the weather is nice, the hills in the Malibu area (the Santa Monica Mountains) are green and beautiful right now, with some wildflowers coming out.

There are two state parks, Topanga and Malibu Creek, you can hike for miles at either of them.

Depending on your timing, you could have lunch or dinner at a funny seafood place on PCH almost right at Topanga, the Reel Inn. Or, if you want a Topanga experience, you can have overpriced but pretty good organic food at the Inn of the Seventh Ray.

You could eaily drive to Topanga Canyon for lunch at Inn of the Seventh Ray. It's an historic spot, with nice outdoor dining and a uniquely delicious menu. Check your map and you will see how easy it is to drive north on Hwy 1 (PCH) up to Malibu area. Plenty of beaches along PCH to stop, walk, and enjoy. Getty Villa, as recommended above, is also a fascinating stop in this area. You need to make online reservations for the parking, though. You can do all this in a half day or more, so don't worry about overdoing it.

I'll reiterate lvk's advice about Friday late afternoon/evening traffic and timing. What is your plan for Saturday?

And where is your hotel? It might make more sense to do Venice/SM/Malibu as you're leaving LAX.

I was in LA recently. Weather was nice, but the water cold. Santa Monica: surprisingly not as exciting as I imagined it to be. Not too much to see there. The pier was nice, but small. Yes, that's the home of the most famous ferris wheel on the west coast. On the east coast it would be the one on Coney Island, which is much bigger BTW. That sea food place at the entrance could be skipped. Food too expensive, slow service, for celeb-wanna-bes or has-beens.
Venice Beach: wow! watch out for the characters out there. I ran into a pack of homeless hippies with their pitbulls by the grafitti wall. Saw that black guy who playes the guitar on skates, and that big fat muscle man on muscle beach.

POMAH, I'm an L.A. native, and I always cringe when I hear/read that Santa Monica and Venice are on nearly every visitor's list of places they want to see in L.A.

Where are you staying? Consider a bike ride south through the beach cities--lots of places for eats and beverages.

Thanks for the advice so far! We will be staying in Manhattan Beach.

Ivk- Thanks for all of the info. I wasn't even thinking about Friday traffic, so I will definitely plan accordingly now.

Jean- Why do you cringe when people want to visit Santa Monica and Venice? I am not interested in seeing museums/theater. SI live in Denver and never see the ocean. I wanted to spend some time around just soaking that in.

TrvlMaven-A bike ride sounds nice. Any route advice?

I appreciate any suggestions on how to make the most of my day and avoid stress.

I thought of another question. Is it better to visit any of these beaches at certain times of the day? For example, which beach town would be the best for dinner and waiting out the traffic? Do any of them tend to get too quiet in the evening?

knwolf, I live in Manhattan Beach, so I'll admit to some bias when it comes to Santa Monica and Venice. When you get here and compare MB to SM, you'll see huge differences in the beach front and general atmosphere. Obviously, many people like the SM vibe, the traffic and crowds, the bigger-city feel, but not me. (MB is less than half the size and 1/3 the population of SM.) The "show" in Venice is also not my scene, but there are some interesting shops in Venice (more interesting than SM, IMO). Both SM and Venice have significant numbers of homeless people, partly because of the weather and largely because of longtime attitudes and available city services.

Some hotels in MB have bicycles you can use. I'd ride south along the bike path to Riviera Village in Redondo Beach. If your hotel doesn't have bikes, you can rent them in Hermosa Beach which is the town immediately south of MB.

knwolf,
I agree with all that Jean said. I'm not a big fan of Santa Monica, either. However, most people just have to see Venice Beach for themselves. If you want to see all of the characters in their fully glory, you should really go there on the weekend. It will be more crowded, but also more lively.

I also have a feeling that after your day of flying, exploring Hollywood/Rodeo, etc., and getting back to your hotel in MB, that you won't be eager to get up the next day and get back into the LA traffic. If this is the case, you might want to consider driving south from your MB hotel, rather than north.

Along the way you can explore the Downtown Manhattan Beach area: www.downtownmanhattanbeach.com
You can then continue south to the downtown Hermosa Beach area, and the Riviera Village area of Redondo Beach. These would give you more of the charming beach-town atmosphere than Santa Monica would. You can stop, park, shop, eat or walk the beach in any of these areas.

For scenery, you can continue south on a drive along the Palos Verdes Peninsula, where you will see a lighthouse ( www.palosverdes.com/pvlight/ ) and whale watching center http://www.palosverdes.com/rpv/recre...pretivecenter/

There are walking trails open to the public at the new Terranea Resort: http://www.terranea.com/palos-verdes...-vacations.php
Also near Trump National Golf Club, and at Abalone Cove Park:
http://www.palosverdes.com/rpv/recre...line/index.cfm

Other attractions include the Lloyd Wright-designed Wayfarer's Chapel glass church: www.wayfarerschapel.org/
and the Starbucks with arguably the best view in the USA:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/starbucks-co...o-palos-verdes

All of this comes with minimal to zero traffic and would make for much more of a relaxing day than Venice/Santa Monica/Malibu.

The pier areas of Hermosa and Manhattan Beach would definitely be lively spots for your Friday night dinner destination. Riviera Village and the PV Peninsula are much more sedate.

If you're driving as far south as lvk recommends, then certainly drive/park, etc. But if you decide to just do Manhattan Beach and Hermosa Beach the first day, walk! The path along the beach is great. (You can still shop and eat, but there's really no need for a car between those two)

I like all of lvk's suggestions. This is the L.A. I wish most tourists would see. Well, I take that back. If most tourists followed these suggestions, the area would get way too crowded. Just like Santa Monica and Venice.

OK. Say I want to drive from Thousand Oaks as a tourist to Manhattan Beach and/or Hermosa Beach to see the sights . For starters, where do I park?

In Manhattan Beach, we parked on the street at a meter. A little farther south in Redondo Beach, there's a parking garage at the pier (not that I would go to Redondo Beach - not a fan - but if you can't find parking elsewhere....)

Parking in downtown MB:
http://www.downtownmanhattanbeach.com/map.cfm

In Hermosa, there is a structure right behind the Beach House hotel on Hermosa Ave. at 13th Street, a lot on Hermosa Ave. and 10th street, as well as metered street parking.

In the Riviera Village section of Redondo, there is a huge public parking lot on Avenida del Norte, as well as metered street parking on Catalina Ave. and the Esplanade.

There are also huge lots in King Harbor and at the RB Pier, but Riviera Village is a much nicer area, IMO.

In MB, if you don't mind walking a few blocks, you can park free in residential neighborhoods immediately east of the downtown/pier area. At the Manhattan Village Mall (on Sepulveda), parking is free.

Parking lots in HB:

http://www.hermosabch.org/residents/...g_Map_List.pdf

There is free street parking in HB, but it's scarce.

Parking on summer weekends in both towns is difficult but not impossible.

Jean and lvk, I also have the same feeling about Santa Monica/Venice. Thought maybe I was the only Californian who felt this way. Glad to hear I am not.