By Carmody Real Estate
There's been a pier in Santa Monica since 1909 and a carousel spinning inside the Looff Hippodrome since 1922, so the postcard version of this city has earned its reputation. The version we'd show you on a Saturday starts at a farmers market before 8 a.m. and ends on the bluffs twelve hours later. Both are worth your time, and the second one is what living here actually feels like. As locals, here's how we'd spend a weekend.
Key Takeaways
- The Santa Monica Pier dates to 1909 and holds the only amusement park on a pier on the West Coast.
- Four city-run farmers markets run weekly across Downtown, Pico, and Main Street.
- Palisades Park gives you twenty-six acres of bluff-top green with the best sunset seats in the city.
- Tongva Park and the Annenberg Community Beach House are the two spots visitors most often miss.
What Is There to Do at the Santa Monica Pier?
The Pier holds an amusement park, an aquarium, a historic carousel, and the western end of Route 66 in about a quarter mile. Pacific Park opened there in 1996, the first amusement park on the Pier since 1930, and it remains the only one on a pier anywhere on the West Coast.
The building worth slowing down for is the Looff Hippodrome. Charles I.D. Looff built it in 1916; it's the oldest structure on the Pier, and the carousel inside dates to 1922.
What to Hit First
- Pacific Park — the Ferris wheel, the roller coaster, and an arcade, all on the deck above the water.
- The Looff Hippodrome carousel — a 1922 machine still running inside a 1916 landmark.
- The Santa Monica Pier Aquarium — hands-on tanks tucked beneath the Pier itself.
- The view back east — worth turning around for, since the Pier is the one spot that shows you the whole coastline and the bluffs at once.
Where Do Locals Go on a Saturday Morning?
To one of the four city farmers markets, which is the most reliable local ritual in Santa Monica. The Downtown market at Arizona Avenue and 2nd Street runs Wednesdays and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. and is the largest of them.
The other three each serve a different part of the city. Which one you adopt says a fair amount about which neighborhood you've landed in.
The Four Markets
- Downtown, Wednesday — Arizona Avenue and 2nd Street, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., the chef-heavy one.
- Downtown, Saturday — same location and hours, and the busiest morning of the week.
- Pico, Saturday — 2233 Pico Boulevard, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., serving the southeastern neighborhoods.
- Main Street, Sunday — 2640 Main Street, 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., the Ocean Park favorite.
What Are the Best Parks and Outdoor Spots in Santa Monica?
Palisades Park is the one to start with, and it's free, open from 5 a.m., and stretches twenty-six acres along the bluff on Ocean Avenue. It holds a rose garden, public art, and the Camera Obscura Art Lab, and the view over Santa Monica Bay is the reason people keep coming back.
Two others deserve equal billing. Tongva Park opened in 2013 on the former RAND Corporation site at 1615 Ocean Avenue, and the Annenberg Community Beach House sits about a mile and a half up the coast from the Pier.
Outdoor Spots Worth Your Time
- Palisades Park — bluff-top pedestrian path, benches, monuments, and the city's best sunset seating.
- Tongva Park — 6.2 acres of landscaped hills, overlooks, and fountains a block from the beach.
- Annenberg Community Beach House — a public beach club with a pool, splash pad, playground, and volleyball courts.
- The beach bike path — the continuous coastal route that carries riders, runners, and skaters the length of the city.
Where Should You Go Beyond Downtown?
Head south to Main Street or north to Montana Avenue, since both give you a completely different afternoon than the Promenade does. Main Street runs through Ocean Park with a lower-key, more residential mix, while Montana Avenue draws a quieter, boutique-heavy crowd.
The Third Street Promenade still earns its place. Three car-free blocks in the middle of Downtown make it the easiest place in the city to spend an unplanned couple of hours.
Three Very Different Strips
- Third Street Promenade — car-free, central, and the most concentrated shopping and dining in Santa Monica.
- Main Street — Ocean Park's spine, with the Sunday market anchoring the weekend.
- Montana Avenue — the North of Montana shopping street, and the calmest of the three.
- Bergamot Station — the gallery complex out by the 26th Street E Line stop, and the city's arts anchor.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Santa Monica best known for?
The Pier and the beach, most of all. Between three miles of coastline, a 1909 pier, and Palisades Park along the bluffs, the waterfront is what draws more than eight million visitors a year.
Are there free things to do in Santa Monica?
A ton. Palisades Park, Tongva Park, the beach path, the Pier, and browsing the farmers markets all cost nothing, which is part of what makes weekends here easy.
What can you do in Santa Monica besides the Pier?
Quite a lot. We'd point you to the Sunday market on Main Street, an afternoon at Bergamot Station, and a stroll north along the bluffs to the Annenberg Beach House.
Reach Out to Carmody Real Estate Today
The best argument for Santa Monica is a Saturday spent in it, which is roughly how most of our clients decided to move here in the first place. Start at a market, end on the bluffs, and the city makes its own case.
Our office sits on Colorado Avenue, a few blocks from most of this. Reach out to us at Carmody Real Estate when you want to see it as a resident rather than a visitor, or browse our Westside neighborhoods and current listings first.
