Santa Monica

The beach is the reason most people stay here. A very wide band of pale sand runs the length of the town, with the pier at its centre, lifeguard towers at regular intervals and the beach path running behind it. Head north and the shore narrows towards Will Rogers State Beach and then Malibu, where Zuma, El Matador and the coves around Point Dume are more scenic and less crowded.

The catch is the water. The Pacific here is cool, reaching about 20°C in late summer and sitting well below that for most of the year, so many visitors wade more than swim. Early summer often brings a grey morning marine layer that burns off by afternoon. The water right beside the pier is often the least clean stretch, so swimmers usually walk a little way from it.

Eating here is shaped by California produce. The Wednesday farmers market downtown supplies many of the region's serious kitchens, and the restaurants follow suit: seasonal Californian cooking, good seafood, polished brunch and a solid Italian and Japanese tier. Main Street and Montana Avenue have the neighbourhood places, and the area around the pier is the most touristy. Over the line in Venice there are more casual and more creative options.

What Santa Monica lacks is a cuisine of its own and the cheap, deep immigrant food that Los Angeles is known for. The best taco trucks, Korean barbecue and Thai food are in neighbourhoods a long drive east, and few visitors manage more than an occasional trip for them.

Santa Monica is not a sightseeing town. Its main landmark is the pier, built in the early twentieth century, with its carousel building and the sign marking the end of Route 66. Bergamot Station, a former trolley depot full of commercial galleries, is the main art stop, and there are a few small museums and some handsome Spanish Colonial Revival and Art Deco buildings near the ocean.

The real cultural draw is just beyond the city limits. The Getty Center sits on a hilltop in Brentwood with its gardens and European collections, and the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades holds Greek and Roman antiquities in a reconstructed Roman country house. Both are close by car. Anything more needs a longer trip into Los Angeles.

Evenings here are about drinks rather than dancing. Downtown around the Third Street Promenade has sports bars, wine bars and hotel rooftops with ocean views. Main Street has a run of British-style pubs and casual bars, and Venice next door adds a looser, more local crowd. The town empties out well before the bars stop serving at 2am.

There is very little club scene. Visitors who want a big night out head to Hollywood or West Hollywood, which is a long taxi ride each way. Santa Monica suits a sunset cocktail and an earlyish night.

The Santa Monica Mountains rise straight behind the town, and they make it a good outdoor base. Temescal Canyon, Will Rogers State Historic Park and Topanga State Park have trails through dry chaparral and oak canyons to ridgelines with views over the whole bay. Further along the Malibu coast there are bluff walks at Point Dume and wilder canyons such as Solstice and Malibu Creek.

At sea level, the paved beach path runs for about 35km along the sand, good for cycling and skating, and the beach breaks are good for surfing lessons. Whale-watching boats run in winter and spring, and dolphins are often seen from the shore. The climate means it is possible to get outside almost every day of the year.

Most day trips here are by car, and traffic decides how far you get. Along the coast, Malibu is close and Santa Barbara is about two hours north, with its Spanish mission, red-tiled centre and wine country in the hills behind it. Ojai is a quiet valley town on the way. To the south, Laguna Beach's art-colony streets and coves are a similar drive, and Catalina Island's little town of Avalon is reached by ferry from Long Beach or San Pedro.

Within Los Angeles itself, Pasadena's Huntington Library and gardens, Hollywood and the downtown architecture each make a full day out. There is no historic old town of any age within reach, but the variety is real.

Santa Monica is an easy place with children. The beach is wide and lifeguarded, and the sand is good for digging. The pier has a small amusement park with a Ferris wheel and roller coaster over the water, a vintage carousel and a small aquarium under the pier focused on local sea life. Playgrounds line the beachfront, and the flat beach path is good for family bike rides.

The weather is mild all year, and the town is compact enough to manage without much fuss. The big attractions take more effort: Universal Studios is about an hour's drive in traffic and Disneyland further still, so a theme-park day takes up most of the day. Visible homelessness around downtown unsettles some families.

Inside Santa Monica, getting around is pleasant. Downtown, the pier, the Promenade and Main Street are all walkable, the beach path is fine for cycling, and the city's blue buses cover the rest of town. The E Line light rail runs from near the pier to downtown Los Angeles in about an hour, with stops near Culver City and the museums of Exposition Park.

Beyond that, it gets harder. Hollywood, the Getty Center, the Malibu canyons and the theme parks are poorly served by transit, freeways jam for much of the day, and most visitors rely on ride-hailing or a rental car for anything more than local days.

The Third Street Promenade is a pedestrian street of mainstream chains and flagships, ending at the open-air Santa Monica Place mall. The more distinctive shopping is elsewhere: Montana Avenue has upmarket boutiques, homeware and children's shops, Main Street has surf shops and independents, and Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice is known for design-led fashion and concept stores.

Surfwear, laid-back California clothing and things from the farmers market are the local specialities. For luxury labels, visitors go to Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, which is a short but often slow drive away.

Santa Monica is expensive even by Californian standards. Hotels near the ocean cost a great deal, especially in summer, and restaurant bills are high once tax and tip are added. Parking and car hire add to the cost for most visitors. The beach, the pier, the hiking trails and the bike path are free, and the buses and light rail are cheap. Staying a little inland, or in other parts of the Westside, brings room prices down.

Santa Monica has a modest local stage of its own. The Broad Stage at Santa Monica College puts on chamber music, dance and theatre, a few small playhouses stage local productions, and there is a long-standing folk and acoustic music scene in intimate rooms around the town. In summer, free concerts on the pier and in the parks draw crowds.

For anything bigger, visitors look to Los Angeles: the Philharmonic at Walt Disney Concert Hall, summer nights at the Hollywood Bowl and the theatres downtown. All are worth the trip, but each is a long drive across the city at rush hour.

Wellness here means yoga, not bathing. The town has a strong yoga and fitness culture, with classes on the sand, juice bars and a slow morning routine built around a walk or run along the ocean. The beachfront hotels have polished spas, and there are plenty of day spas and massage studios. Sunset over the bay is a daily ritual for many.

What is missing is any bathing culture: no thermal springs, public baths or hammams. The pace suits unwinding, but the restorative side of a stay is mostly a matter of doing it yourself.