Venice just cannot be quite separated from the image of canals-lined-with-buildings-on-either-side and spotted with gondolas, can it? Did you know that there’s a Venice in California, too? And that it is not without its own canals? This Venice of America, as it is also known, is a replication of the original Venice in Italy.
Venice, California, a few miles west of Los Angeles was once meant to bring in some resort-style living to Southern California. Abbot Kinney, the name behind the project brought some land south of Santa Monica and drained the marsh there with plans to build rows of houses beside some canals.
And it was done. The result: California had its own Venice.
The Canals of the Venice of America
That was in the 1900s. The area christened Venice went through several changes since then. However, what is now known as the Venice Canal Historic District still stands as a symbol of what the architect of Venice wanted it to be — the Venice of America. It is a residential neighbourhood. And a very affluent one at that – a block of multimillion-dollar homes with Venice’s canals in their front yard: with water, canoes, ducks and all.
Are the canals of Venice, CA open to public?
The good news is: Yes! The Canal District is open to visitors. There are walkways along the canals and in between the rows of houses that line the canals. The residential area here makes for a very pleasant stroll. The walkways run the length and breadth of the canals and there are cute little bridges running across them too. The white bridges are also open to visitors.
One Saturday afternoon, we ambled those paths along the canals and gazed at the homes, the calm waters of the canals in their front
How to get to the Venice of California
Since you cannot drive around the canal district, you might find it tricky to get yourself to the area. Let me tell you what we did.
We set out navigation to ‘Venice Canals’ and drove towards the canal district. You can do the same. It gets you as close to the area as possible.
When you are almost there, you will see signs that say that the roads through the canals are only open to the residents. (Remember, the area is open to pedestrian traffic, alone ). That’s when you look into your maps again and pick the closest public parking. There are several public parking facilities in the periphery of the canals. Some of them have valet parking too.
We parked near Pacific Avenue and Venice Way (near the Venice sign) and it was an easy walk to the Canals from there. It had valet parking too. There was another parking on the other side of the road too. And one closer to the canals.
I’d like to add that even though we were there on a weekend, the parking areas and the streets were not
PS: The area did seem to allow pets. (I’m pretty sure they need to be on leashes, though.)
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The Venetian, Las Vegas
The Venetian, Capitola
Coming soon on Tipsy from the TRIP
Venice Beach
Street Art from Venice, CA.
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Marvelous.It looks truly amazing with canals,ducks and serene ambiance.
True, the canals were an interesting mix of things. That was an enjoyable one.
Thank you for visiting, Murthy. 🙂
What a gorgeous place. And superb photos!
It is a lovely place. I’m happy I got to see this place that was modelled like the Venice in Italy. Happy to share it too.
Thank you, Lady Fi. 🙂
Cool shots.
Thank you, Jim.
Thank you for stopping by. 🙂
It looks well designed. I would enjoy walking around there.
It is. A lot of work has gone into this place. I hear it used to be a marsh.
I’m sure you would. There are a lot of photo ops here, too. 🙂
I have seen this featured in many different travel shows, but still haven’t gotten there myself. Time to explore SoCal, methinks. Thanks.
Worth a Thousand Words
Oh yes — time to explore the south of our sunny state. Maybe you should club it with the trip to the California poppies. 😉
Thank YOU for coming this way, M. 🙂
This is such an informative post with great shots of the canal. I had heard of Venice but did not know the history behind the name. Thanks for all the great info.
Hi Mary,
I’m glad this post was of use to you. I remember when I first heard about Venice Beach, I wondered why it was called that. Now I understand that that beach owes its name to this area just east of it. 🙂 And now that I’ve made a trip that side, I learned a little more about the place.
Thank you for coming this way, Mary. Thank you for your feedback on the post. 🙂
Now who could have thought there is a Venice in California and it is this pretty!
Not a bad job, no? And it is pretty, pretty. 🙂
That looks interesting. Seems like a very peaceful place. Good to know about this, Divya.
When I first heard of this place, I didn’t think I’d be able to see it. It’s nice that we are allowed in there. The ‘peaceful’ part was a very pleasant surprise. I hope it’s like that, all the time. It’s good for everybody. 🙂
Venice is some kind of standard to judge the beauty of a city… we have Venice in every country!
Good to know of this California Venice. Great pictures, truly a beautiful place.
I’m sure. I’ve seen only the re-creation in Vegas. And now this one. I was impressed by both.
Thank you, Indrani. It is beautiful.
Looks so peaceful 🙂
And it was, at least that afternoon that we were there. 🙂
Some happiness inducing pics.
Hmm, yeah. It’s a pretty place. 🙂
So beautiful. Awesome pics.
🙂
Thank you, Rupam.
I don’t know why, but it reminds of of Bankok…
Maybe because the buildings beside the canals are not too tall…?
(They are all residential structures)
Never seen so many pic of Venice, loved each and every one.
🙂
I must say this does look very little like the American image I have in my mind – the canals, small bridges brings me very close to the Europe architecture and love of water 🙂
This is a very interesting place.
Each building is built in a different style. Each seemed to have a character of its own. And they are all tied together by these canals. I’m happy I got to tick Venice, CA off the list.
Thank you for visiting, Vinay. 🙂