Reading Venice beach descriptions in tour and guide books was quite misleading. Venice was....sketchy. We didn't do any shopping or dining while we were there. Were kinda scared the entire time, actually. The only good thing about our visit is that 1) we got to say we saw Venice Beach, and 2) we saw some of the canals running through... more

Went on a cloudy sunday afternoon, not having heard much about venice beach beforehand other than muscle beach we were pretty surprised by the tackiness and the amount of people drunk and drugged up to the eyeballs openly doing drugs. There were a few laughs like the guitar playing sikh on roller skates and the dishevelled filthy looking bloke pointing... more

I'm quite surprised that so many people don't seem to realize that Venice Beach is extremely bohemian, seedy, has lots of homeless people, and is not for the faint of heart. Frankly, I don't see how it's unique culture could have arisen if it were forced to clean itself and abide by all the typical rules of society. Yes, you... more

I have always heard about the unique people along the walk at Venice beach, now I can say I have witnessed it with my own eyes. I really wasn't expecting much, I guess that is why i took it with a grain of salt. It is alway interesting to see things that would shock most, all lined up along the... more

I am a single mom from Minneapolis. I took my 9 year old son to Venice in July. We stayed in Marina Del Rey which was close by. When we arrived in Venice I drove around and tried to find street parking for free. This was difficult but it can be done. I ended up parking blocks away. That was... more

The actual beach is very nice. It is interesting to take a stroll and take in this very unique place. I can't say I felt extremely comfortable, but it was enjoyable. I now feel like been there, done that. more

It was noisy, tawdry and tasteless. Populated by noisy, tawdry & tasteless people. From the primping narcissists on Muscle Beach to the hucksters trying to sell their cheap & tacky rubbish along the side. Even the restrooms were vomit inducingly dirty. I wouldn't even do it the justice of taking any pictures. Perhaps Sunday was a bad day to visit.... more

This was our 2nd visit to Venice Beach since 2005. We were on vacation to Disneyland, San Diego etc. and decided to do a day in Venice. We spent the 1st part of the afternoon wandering thru the shops and letting the kids buy little souveniers here and there and then spent the last couple of hours on the beach... more

As my older daughter put it....it is like Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley at its worst! I insisted going there despite her comments and feedback from friends who went there two years ago. There is NOTHING to recommend it since it is full of tatoo parlours, freak showoffs and stores full of junk and tee-shirts that you can find anywhere. There... more