Neighborhood 48H guide
Santa Monica: Where to Stay & What to Do in 48 Hours
The pier’s Ferris wheel, the beach bike path and beachfront hotels on the sand.
Santa Monica is a separate beach city on the bay. The pier marks the end of historic Route 66, the beach bike path runs south to Venice, and the Third Street Promenade is a few blocks inland.
Photo gallery
Photo: Cayambe · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: AramilFeraxa · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Why stay here
Walkable, by the beach, with the Metro E Line to downtown.
Who it's for: First-timers, families and anyone who wants the beach at the door.
Pros
- Beach and bike path
- Walkable downtown
- Metro E Line to downtown LA
Cons
- Expensive hotels
- Crowded pier on weekends
- Far from Hollywood and Pasadena
48H in Santa Monica
Pier, bike path, sunset on the sand.
09:00 – Beach bike path
Ride south from the pier to Venice and back.
12:00 – Santa Monica Pier
Pacific Park’s Ferris wheel and the Route 66 end sign.
17:30 – Palisades Park
Clifftop park on Ocean Avenue for sunset over the bay.
Named recommendations
Real places with links to their official site or a Maps place page. We do not invent hours, prices, or ratings.
Shop
Shop
Third Street Promenade
Third St, Wilshire to Broadway
Pedestrian shopping street a few blocks from the beach.
Official site / map →
See / do
See / do
Santa Monica Pier
200 Santa Monica Pier
1909 pier with an amusement park and the end of Route 66.
Photo: Cayambe · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons Official site / map →
Sunrise / sunset
Sunrise / sunset
Palisades Park
Ocean Ave
Palm-lined clifftop park above the beach.
Official site / map →
Where to stay
Specific named properties—not vague city-wide searches. Expedia stays use tracked Creator links; others open the hotel's official site.
Roam48 may earn a commission when you book a stay through Expedia or Vrbo links on this page, at no extra cost to you. All commercial stay links use rel="sponsored nofollow".
Hotel · Expedia
Shutters on the Beach
1 Pico Blvd
Beach-house-style luxury hotel directly on the sand.
Check rates on Expedia →Hotel · Expedia
Hotel Casa del Mar
1910 Ocean Way
Restored 1926 beach club on the sand with an oceanfront pool.
Check rates on Expedia →
Vacation rentals
Prefer an apartment or whole home in this neighborhood? Browse Vrbo listings for Santa Monica.
Los Angeles and most nearby cities (Santa Monica, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Pasadena, Culver City, Malibu) limit short-term rentals, usually to registered hosts in their own homes. Look for a city registration or permit number on the listing before you book.
Browse vacation rentals in Santa Monica on Vrbo →Other ways to spend 48 hours in Los Angeles
- Venice — The boardwalk’s skatepark and Muscle Beach, the quiet canals and Abbot Kinney’s shops.
- Malibu — El Matador’s sea stacks, Malibu Pier and an inn on Carbon Beach.
- Hollywood — The TCL Chinese Theatre, the Walk of Fame, Musso & Frank and Griffith Observatory above it all.
- West Hollywood — The Sunset Strip’s clubs, the Comedy Store and cocktails at the Art Deco Sunset Tower.
- Beverly Hills — Rodeo Drive, the Pink Palace’s Polo Lounge and Wolfgang Puck’s Spago.
- Downtown LA — The Broad, Disney Concert Hall, Grand Central Market and the Angels Flight funicular.
- Silver Lake / Echo Park — The reservoir loop, Intelligentsia at Sunset Junction and Echo Park Lake’s paddle boats.
- Culver City — Sony Pictures’ studio tour, the Culver City Stairs and a 1924 hotel downtown.
- Pasadena — The Huntington’s gardens, Old Pasadena, the domed City Hall and the Colorado Street Bridge.