Santa Monica Pier

Walk the pier from the beach entrance, ride the solar-powered Ferris wheel for the views (if the line is not too long), watch the street performers near the carousel. The pier extends over the Pacific and the views north along the coast toward Malibu are excellent. If you have kids, Pacific Park (the small amusement park on the pier) will keep them entertained. For adults, it is a 20-minute experience unless you want to fish or sit at the end of the pier watching the waves.

Late afternoon into sunset for the best light. The pier is open year-round but summer weekends are packed. Winter is quieter and still pleasant — Southern California beach weather is mild. The restaurants on the pier are overpriced and mediocre — eat before or after, not during.

The pier opened in 1909 and is the oldest pleasure pier on the West Coast. The iconic neon sign marking the pier entrance dates to the 1940s. The carousel inside the building at the pier entrance is a 1922 original. Route 66 officially ends at the intersection of Ocean Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard, a block from the pier. Pacific Park has been operating since 1996 and claims the world's only solar-powered Ferris wheel. The pier survived multiple attempts at demolition in the 1970s-80s and was restored in the 1990s. It is exactly what a California beach pier should be: slightly faded, mildly nostalgic, and genuinely pleasant if you do not expect too much.