Local Information
Location: Santa Monica, California, USA
Santa Monica is an unforgettable, seaside city in Southern California. Conveniently located a few miles from Los Angeles and a short drive to the neighboring attractions of the region, Santa Monica is a beach city with all of the culture, events and comforts of an active metropolis. A range of reasons keeps visitors coming to Santa Monica for business and pleasure. From the beaches of the Santa Monica Bay to award-winning restaurants and accommodations, to cutting-edge California culture, the quality of life in Santa Monica is apparent and abundant.
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Santa Monica Beach is unique among California locations because of the array of activities available. From swimming and surfing to biking and volleyball, from outdoor chess to beachside gymnastics, Santa Monica is a haven for those seeking an active, outdoors vacation. The open-air, pedestrian-only Third Street Promenade is a huge draw for its shopping, dining, street performers, bookstores and movie theaters.
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Weather: Sunny California
Santa Monica enjoys more than 340 sunny days each year so expect mild temperatures and clear skies during most seasons. Average winter temperatures range from daytime highs in the mid-60s to low 70s ℉ (18-22 ℃) and in the high 40s to high 50s ℉ (10-18 ℃) at night. In the summer, average daytime temperatures are in the 80s ℉ (30s ℃), with nighttime temperatures in the 60s or 70s (20s ℃). Pacific Ocean breezes blow onshore all year round.
Attractions
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Santa Monica Pier
Santa Monica Pier offers a variety of entertainment, dining and shopping experiences, including the thrill rides of Pacific Park; a historic 1922 Carousel, and an interactive aquarium. As you stroll the planks of the Pier, enjoy lively street performers — from musicians to artists plus fabulous vendor carts and don't miss some of the best sunsets along the California coast.
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Third Street Promenade
Third Street Promenade is known for its weekly farmers' markets, fabulous dining, terrific shopping and engaging street performers. Street performers and entertainers are a frequent sight on the street. On a typical Saturday night in the summer, singer-songwriters, classical guitar players, magicians, clowns, hip-hop dancers, lounge singers, session drummers, and many harder-to-classify artists line up approximately 50 feet (15 m) apart from each other all along Third Street. The open-air, pedestrian-only Third Street Promenade is a huge draw for its shopping, dining, street performers, bookstores and movie theaters. It is considered one of the premier shopping destinations in West Los Angeles and frequently draws crowds from all over Los Angeles County.
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Venice Beach
Venice Beach is understood to include the beach, the promenade that runs parallel to the beach ("Ocean Front Walk" or just "the boardwalk"), Muscle Beach, the handball courts, the paddle tennis courts, Skate Dancing plaza, the numerous beach volleyball courts, the bike trail and the businesses and residences that have their addresses on Ocean Front Walk. The basketball courts in Venice are renowned across the country for their high level of street ball and numerous NBA players were developed or recruited from these courts.
Venice has always been known as a hangout for the creative and the artistic. In the 1950s and 60s, Venice became a center for the Beat generation. There was an explosion of poetry and art. Major participants included Stuart Perkoff, John Thomas, Frank T. Rios, Tony Scibella, Lawrence Lipton, John Haag, Saul White, Robert Farrington and Philomene Long.
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Santa Monica Mountains
Santa Monica Mountains are a Transverse Range in Southern California, along the coast of the Pacific Ocean in the United States.The range extends approximately 40 mi (64 km) east-west from the Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles to Point Mugu in Ventura County. The southern mountains form a barrier between the San Fernando Valley and the Los Angeles Basin, separating "the Valley" on the north and west-central Los Angeles on the south; and the northern mountains separate the Conejo Valley from Malibu. The Santa Monica Mountains are parallel to Santa Susana Mountains, which are located directly north of the mountains across the San Fernando Valley.
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Getty Museum
The J. Paul Getty Museum seeks to further knowledge of the visual arts and to nurture critical seeing by collecting, preserving, exhibiting and interpreting works of art of the highest quality. To fulfill its mission, the Museum continues to develop its collection through purchase and gifts, complementing its impact through special exhibitions, publications, educational programs developed for a wide range of audiences, and a related performing arts program. The Museum strives to provide its visitors with access to the most innovative research in the visual arts while they enjoy a unique experience in viewing works of art at our Getty Center and Getty Villa sites. While benefiting from the broader context of the Getty Trust, the Museum also extends the reach of its mission via the internet and through the regular exchange of works of art, staff, and expertise.
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Griffith Observatory
Griffith Observatory is an icon of Los Angeles, a national leader in public astronomy, a beloved civic gathering place, and one of southern California's most popular attractions. The Observatory is located on the southern slope of Mount Hollywood in Griffith Park, just above the Los Feliz neighborhood. It is 1,134 feet above sea level and is visible from many parts of the Los Angeles basin.
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Other local attractions include:
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Rodeo Drive
This famed shopping street, located in the tony Beverly Hills, is known throughout the world as the epicenter of luxury fashion. Spanning three city blocks where visitors can enjoy more than 100 world-renowned boutiques and hotels, as well as specialty stores and fine dining.
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Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Walk of Fame on Hollywood Boulevard immortalizes Hollywood's icons with a star on the pavements of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street. Take a time-capsule stroll down the Walk of Fame and enjoy stars old and new, real and fiction, and learn the stories behind each star, the person behind each name.
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La Brea Tarpits
Rancho La Brea is one of the world's most famous fossil localities, recognized for having the largest and most diverse assemblage of extinct Ice Age plants and animals in the world. Visitors can learn about Los Angeles as it was between 10,000 and 40,000 years ago, during the last Ice Age, when animals such as saber-toothed cats and mammoths roamed the Los Angeles Basin.
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Universal Studios
With thrilling theme park rides and shows, a real working movie studio and Los Angeles' best shops, restaurants and cinemas at CityWalk, Universal Studios Hollywood is a unique experience that's fun for the whole family. Go behind the scenes on the Studio Tour, and see the King Kong 36 3-D created by Peter Jackson.
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Disneyland
The original. Disneyland has the most cumulative attendance of any theme park in the world, with close to 600 million guests since July 18, 1955. In 2009, 15.9 million people visited the park, making it the second most visited park in the world during that calendar year.
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