How to Spend the Perfect Day in LA

Whether you’re a first time visitor or a native to the city of angels, figuring out how to spend a day in LA can be challenging. With so many activities to choose from, it can seem overwhelming to decide what the main highlights of your trip should be. As someone who grew up and lived in LA for most of their life, I’m here to give you one of my favorite itineraries for how to spend a perfect day in LA.

If you’re not already familiar with LA, there are many different regions of interest spread out within the city. Some of these regions include Hollywood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Griffith Park, Venice, Santa Monica, Malibu, The Valley, and more. I will write a separate post going into further detail on these regions, but today, we’re going to focus on a single-day itinerary. One of my favorite ways to spend a day in LA is biking in Santa Monica and Venice. 

Depending on where you are based in the city, you may need to have a car to get to your starting point in Santa Monica. If you come from the valley, the iconic drive along Topanga Canyon Road is so scenic that I consider it an experience of its own. At the end, Topanga Canyon Road meets with PCH (Pacific Coast Highway), where you will drive beside the ocean.

I like to start my bike ride near Palisades Beach, because biking from here to Venice Beach and back ends up being a 30 minute - 1 hour long bike ride. However, you can choose anywhere between the Palisades Beach area and Venice Beach as your starting point, depending on how long you want the bike ride to last.

Once you choose your starting point, you can bike south along Ocean Avenue, taking in the lively atmosphere and all the scenery that Santa Monica has to offer. You can bike to the Venice Boardwalk and the Venice Sign, exploring the area as long as you like. Once you’re done, you can start heading back to Santa Monica. 

On the way back, I recommend biking via Main Street. As you make your way back through Santa Monica, stop at Urth Caffe for a refreshing smoothie, latte, or even a meal. Urth Caffe is a trendy spot for locals and tourists alike, and everything I’ve had there has been great.

It is worth noting that there is a wide variety of trendy restaurants, bars and cafes to choose from all along your route between Venice and Santa Monica. After you’re done exploring, you can continue your route and make it back to where you started. 

One of the great things about this itinerary is it’s very flexible for anyone to adjust to their liking.

What does a perfect day in LA look like for you? Let us know in the comments below!