Can you think of anything that is more Southern California than visiting the Santa Monica Pier? I don’t think we could name a single thing. Well, maybe a day in San Diego on the Beach surfing… But no, the Pier. Even though a day at the Santa Monica Pier seems like the most touristy and convoluted Los Angeles travel plan you can ever think of it’s actually well worth your time and a visit to LA isn’t complete without some beach time.
Yes, there are so many wonderful free things to do in the Los Angeles area and if you’re going to venture to the beach for the purpose of swimming and pretending to be from SoCal you might pick a different beach, like Manhattan Beach, but the Santa Monica Pier end beach are an ideal, easy to access destination and are just downright iconic.
Finding the Santa Monica Pier
When you ponder life in the West and the history of North America there are few things that pop out: the California Gold Rush, old west towns and cowboys, and then Route 66 and all of the struggles and stories in vintage history that are a part of it. The Santa Monica Pier is the very end of Route 66 (check out the Planet D for their Route 66 trip). As you walk out onto the pier you see the sign that calls it out.
The Santa Monica Pier is also directly next to the Pacific Coast Highway, also known as the PCH. The Pacific Coast Highway is a fantastic California road trip route.