Venice Beach is my favorite beach in Los Angeles. Californian Venice - Venice canals in Los Angeles Los Angeles Venice

In Los Angeles. There is nothing Venetian about this beach, it was just named that way because of the Venice area in which it is located.

So, after strolling through the quiet and beautiful streets of Venice Canals, come back, gentlemen, to the reality of Los Angeles and visit the Rastafarian beach, where the “I don’t care” atmosphere reigns.

The beach itself is quite large and very wide, but people are arranged in some strange way that almost everyone gathers in the Venice blv area, while other parts of the beach remain empty. Probably, the herd feeling still lives in us.

There are many posts with lifeguards, as well as on all other beaches.

There is an asphalt road along the entire beach where you can ride on all devices with wheels.

Near the beach there is a Muscle Beach playground, where some comrades show quite virtuosic things, for example, push-ups on hands with their feet up, various tricks with rings, etc. In general, the atmosphere of a healthy street work out lifestyle reigns here, if you believe that marijuana is smoked here in order to improve the health of the body.

There are basketball courts nearby.

Just on the day we arrived at Venice Beach, a street basketball competition was taking place here.

The distinctive feature of this beach is that if you come here sick, you can be completely cured and get a lot of pleasure for only 40 dollars!!! And medical marijuana will help with this! Which is sold at every turn. And if they sell it everywhere, then imagine what the “aroma” is here. At first it was strange for me to hear this smell, because even when I was in Ukraine, this smell could be heard very rarely when in the appropriate company. And here. California, everywhere is full of police who are fighting the spread of drugs, and... the smell of marijuana slowly spreads across the beach, filling the place where brains are supposed to be.

Of course, how can you live in such a place without the appropriate company? Whenever you come here, you can always join a group of “happy and free” people who do nothing but dance and smoke marijuana. Anyone can come up to a group and dance. Dancing takes place to drum music.

This cheerful company on the beach is complemented by a huge number of homeless people who have settled well here: it’s warm on the beach, there are toilets and showers; there are a lot of onlookers who can sometimes throw in a couple of dollars; the varied “spiritual” life that hippies enjoy; There is always food in trash cans that vacationers leave behind. Some even have their own beds on the beach, many carts with “goods,” blankets and other attributes of a comfortable life. At the same time, they do not emit the best odors.

Venice Beach is, in my opinion, not the most beautiful place in Los Angeles, but it is an integral part of it, its dark side. Basically, marijuana, homeless people, hippies are concentrated in one area of ​​the beach - in the Venice blv area, in other places it is the most ordinary beach. I don't really like Venice Beach, but to see the city from all sides, it's worth coming here at least once. Surprisingly, many locals love this beach.

There is a very beautiful area in LA near LAX airport called Venice canals, which, as everyone says, is very similar to Italian Venice. But only those who have not been to Venice say this. But still, this place is quite nice, and it’s worth coming here to see. In addition, after a walk along the Venice canals, you can walk along the famous Venice Beach, which we among ourselves call Rastafarian, but let’s talk about everything in turn.

The most difficult thing when visiting the Venice canals is finding parking. You can, of course, park in a paid parking lot for 10-20 dollars, but we are not looking for easy ways. Therefore, we circled for about half an hour along Grayson, Dell, Ocean Avenue and other streets in search of free space along the curb, and soon our efforts were crowned with success.

And finally, we found ourselves in this Californian Venice, which consists of 4 canals perpendicular to the ocean and one Grand Canal. The place is quite nice, it's nice to take a walk here.

These canals were artificially dug back in 1905, for a long time the residents of this area experienced constant difficulties with landslides, water odors and other problems, but in 1993 this area was completely redone: small pedestrian paths were equipped, bridges were strengthened, normal roads were made for the passage of cars of local residents. And now it is a very cozy and clean place, I would say even romantic.

Local residents try in every possible way to decorate their homes, make them unique and special. They calmly open their windows and doors, many do not have the usual blinds and curtains, however, this trait of “openness” of their home is inherent in many Americans. But I wouldn’t be particularly pleased if onlookers were constantly walking around my house and looking into my windows, as if it wasn’t my house, but just part of the decor of the canals.

In a very Venetian way, every house here has its own boat, gondola or kayak tied to it, which is used less as a means of transportation and more as an exterior feature, although many residents simply stroll along the canals in their flotation devices.

A large number of ducks swim in the canals; I was very amused by one fenced place with water, palm trees, where it was written that people were not allowed to enter, a place only for ducks. These are probably the richest ducks in the world, who have their own real estate in a rather non-poor area of ​​Los Angeles.

Here you can find very beautiful and unusual houses in different styles, I took photographs of some of them.

I definitely recommend coming to this part of Los Angeles. Here, it seems to me, there are 2 opposite cities with the same name - Venice. On one side there are beautiful and expensive houses, a cozy and clean atmosphere of the canals, and on the other side there is a Rastafarian beach with marijuana on every corner, homeless people and hippies.

Venice is a neighborhood in western Los Angeles, named after a residential area with a canal system built in the early 20th century. Venice is a popular tourist attraction and holiday destination, famous largely for its Venice Beach promenade.

Businessman and developer Abbot Kinney dreamed of recreating Venice in America. In 1905, canals with a total length of 26 kilometers were dug in the swamps of Santa Monica. Venice became known as the Coney Island of the Pacific Coast. Visitors were delighted with the large pier full of entertainment, the canal system, arched bridges, gondoliers and the gondolas themselves, which were imported from Italy.

Over time, water problems and lack of circulation made the canals smelly and murky. After Venice became part of the city of Los Angeles in 1925, the canal system came under strict control by the health department. And after three years of legal proceedings, most of the canals were filled in in 1929. The remaining canals remained in vegetation until they were restored in 1992.

Since then, the residential area near the canals has been considered expensive and very prestigious. The houses next to the canals range from modest cottages to small palaces. The quiet residential area with an old European feel contrasts nicely with the hectic bustle of Venice Beach, which is just a few blocks away.

The 4 km long Venice Beach pedestrian promenade is filled with entertainers, athletes, fortune tellers, comedians, artists and merchants. In the fresh air, Venice Beach offers all kinds of fast food and a lot of free entertainment. The sidewalks are filled with cyclists, roller skaters and joggers. There are many surfers and beach volleyball players on the beach. At any time of the year there is liveliness here.

Muscle Beach, north of Venice Beach, is filled with aspiring Arnold Schwarzeneggers pumping iron. A large number of young and experienced athletes gather at private and open venues for everyone. In addition, there are many fitness centers nearby and a thriving sports nutrition and supplement business. Muscle Beach is the real birthplace of bodybuilding and fitness, an open-air gym.

Venice of Los Angeles is an important tourist attraction in Southern California.

Venais... for some reason this place is very little known among us. But it is not inferior to Hollywood Boulevard in popularity in California!

Venice Beach is one of the calling cards of Los Angeles and California in general - along with the Walk of Fame on Hollywood Boulevard, Disneyland, and the Santa Monica Pier. But this is where the spirit of California is felt most of all!

Freedom is the fundamental factor here. Freedom, sun, beach, surfing, fun and lots of music - this is what Venice is all about.

Venice Beach is a must-see attraction in Los Angeles.

In the summer of 2017, I was lucky enough to take a long trip across the United States - from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean and back. My journey began and ended in Los Angeles. In total, I spent a week here and during this time I managed to see the main attractions.

Venice Beach is one of the most famous attractions in LA. Everyone will like it here, everyone will find something to do here. The sunset in Venice is especially beautiful.

LA consists of many cities connected into one huge metropolis.

So Venays was once at the beginning of the 20th century a separate city - Venice (that’s why Venice). It was a prosperous, respectable town with many cottages on the shores of the Pacific Ocean. The city was planned in such a way that its streets were served by dozens of artificial canals with running water - to imitate Venice. I thought it was very beautiful!

But over time, the canals fell into complete disrepair, the water in them stagnated, deteriorated and turned into a fetid swamp. Venays was in complete decline. Therefore, in the 20s of the twentieth century, it was decided to fill them up and raze them to the ground.

In our time, closer to the 90s, the canals were restored again, the area was rebuilt. Now this is one of the most respectable, beautiful and expensive areas in LA. Homes here cost an average of $2 million.

In the very west of the Venice district, on the Pacific coastline, Venice Beach is located - a recognized center of youth culture, recreation and art.

The reckless Venice Beach is very different from the respectable, quiet and cozy Venice area.

I arrived at Venays late in the evening. That day I was already walking along Hollywood Boulevard and Griffith Park. In Venice, the atmosphere is a little similar to Hollywood Boulevard, but here it is more spacious, somehow you can breathe more freely and the recreation is more varied.

Venice Beach can be divided into 3 sectors - the beach itself and the Pacific Ocean, a green park area lined with palm trees with many bicycle paths and sports equipment, and a promenade with many souvenir and music shops and cafes for every taste.

First of all, I decided to cross the sandy beach and go at least knee-deep into the Pacific Ocean.

The beach here is very wide. Asphalt pedestrian and bicycle paths are laid everywhere along it, but you still have to wade through the sand to the very edge of the water.

There are few people on the shore itself - no one swims because of the very cold water and waves. It turns out that LA beaches are not suitable for swimming at all. There are cold currents everywhere and the water is simply icy. The only people you can see in the water are knee-deep people and surfers in wetsuits. The beaches are equipped with booths for legendary Californian lifeguards.

To swim in the Pacific Ocean, LA residents travel 80 miles south to San Diego. There is a bay with warm water.

Water splashed over me above my knees - everything happened unexpectedly quickly, I didn’t even have time to take off my shoes. Well, it's not scary.

After the “swim” I decided to take a walk along the embankment. There is a 4 km long promenade, and then Muscle Beach begins - another legendary beach in LA. Bodybuilders gather here and train right on the beach. Once upon a time, Arnie Schwarzenegger was also a regular at Muscle Beach.

There are no visible people on Venice Beach! Crowds of tourists wander along the embankment.

Holidays on Venice are quite varied. You can sunbathe on the beach, walk in the park of palm trees growing on the shore, ride a bike, skateboard, rollerblade - all the conditions are created for this! Active recreation and sports are very welcome here!

And then I watched the promenade. This is a mixture of Hollywood Boulevard and Kazantip in its heyday. Here music sounds from everywhere, various souvenirs are sold - both ordinary T-shirts, baseball caps, and crafted individual work. Here people get tattoos, paint pictures, play street musicians, sell food, etc. right on the sidewalk. Life is in full swing here!

There is an opinion that very often Hollywood directors come to Venice Beach in search of new faces. They say castings are common here. They are carried out spontaneously - right among the crowd. Therefore, young people come to Venice in search of their happiness. Here almost everyone is ready to “sell” themselves at any moment. Sometimes it's literal.

Here everyone does whatever they want - some sculpt from clay, some make figures from sand. And everyone wants to make money from it! For example, I was just photographing the street, but the young girl thought that I owed her money since I was photographing her sand figures. I turned around and moved on. And some of the Americans might have paid her.

Everyone on Venice is looking for their chance. Therefore, a tourist needs to be careful with people - there are a lot of different people here - different nationalities, skin color, orientation, etc. And, of course, you need to carefully monitor your things. There are scammers and pickpockets here too.

The same Zoltar from the movie "Big" with Tom Hanks

It's no secret that marijuana is almost legal in California. Here it is sold with a doctor's prescription. Enterprising Americans sell these “recipes” right on the street. And they earn double money - both on prescriptions and on marijuana. This availability of recipes makes marijuana generally accessible and absolutely legal. That’s why there are a lot of specialized stores in LA that sell such things. There are especially many of them on Venice.

There are also a lot of homeless people here - just like everywhere else in public places in LA. They are drawn to California because it is warm, there is no winter, laws are loyal and you can beg in tourist places. Just like rats. There are a lot of them here too.

Homeless people and rats running around the streets certainly don’t add to the beauty of LA. In addition, everywhere on the Venice Beach boardwalk you can find people sleeping right on the sidewalk (after drugs, of course).

The first time I saw Venice Beach was at sunset. A huge red disk majestically disappeared behind the line of the infinitely mighty Pacific Ocean, and somewhere nearby dull drums were beating. Everything seemed unreal, somehow cosmic or something, and at the same time there was a feeling of absolute calm and bliss. We are on Venice, it cannot be otherwise.

Early in the morning, my beloved and I arrived at Union Station, the central station in Los Angeles. The city of angels greeted us with tall, slender palm trees and a warm, truly Californian sun. If the thesis “The weather is always good in California” raised certain doubts, we were already quite tired of the dank December rains, then here everything is in order. Having hidden unnecessary warm clothes in our bags, we headed to downtown Los Angeles.

We took a night flight on one of the budget “Chinese” buses, which successfully compete with other modes of transport connecting Northern California and Southern California. There are a great variety of bus companies (for example, MegaBus and GotoBus), you just need to type the desired route in the search. As a rule, they are all controlled by people from Southeast Asia - the Chinese or Vietnamese. The cost of a trip from Los Angeles is from 35 to 60 dollars per person; as a bonus, they can give you a large sandwich and a bottle of drinking water upon boarding. The seats are comfortable, the interiors are clean, and many buses have free Wi-Fi.

Having slightly recovered from the road, we had a snack of “police” donuts with aromatic coffee in a cafe-patisserie in the heart of the multi-story center of Los Angeles. The first thing on our plan was a pre-arranged meeting with old acquaintances who settled on the periphery, in a troubled area somewhere on the road to Long Beach. After hanging out in this creepy ghetto since midday, we finally went to Venice Beach.

How to get to Venice Beach

Despite the common myth that there is nothing to do in Los Angeles without your own car, I quickly became familiar with public transport and began to derive some pleasure from using it. Especially when I realized that it is friendly to cyclists - there is a place for a bike everywhere.