SoCalSights

What to see near Channel Road Inn

219 W Channel Road·Santa Monica, CA·channelroadinn.com

Within 25 miles · ranked by scenic score

5 Places Worth Seeing

Explore all →
A broad morning view of the Venice Canals shows calm water reflecting a row of eclectic homes, including a large Tudor-style house with steep gables and balconies, plus tall palm trees against a clear blue sky. Low greenery lines the canal edges, and a small arched pedestrian bridge and dock sit along the right side.
Hidden Gems
31

Los Angeles, CA

Venice Canals

A surviving grid of residential canals built in 1905 to evoke Venice, Italy, now lined with eclectic houses, gardens, and arched pedestrian bridges a few blocks from the boardwalk. Ducks paddle past kayaks and the still water doubles the bridges and palms. It is a quiet, walkable pocket that feels nothing like the rest of Los Angeles.

morningspring · summer
A large oak with spreading, twisting limbs fills the foreground, partially silhouetted against a pale sky and a dry, brushy canyon hillside. Dense green trees and undergrowth frame the shaded Solstice Canyon scene.
Canyons
30

Malibu, CA

Solstice Canyon

A shaded canyon in the Santa Monica Mountains where an easy trail follows a year-round creek to the stone ruins of a 1950s house and a small waterfall. Oaks and sycamores arch over the path, and the Rising Sun Trail climbs the ridge for ocean views back down the canyon. It is one of the few Malibu canyons with water and shade through summer.

morningwinter · spring
The cream-colored Art Deco facade of Griffith Observatory fills the frame, with its green patina roofline and bold “GRIFFITH OBSERVATORY” lettering lit by warm low sun. A deep shadow falls across the entrance, while the blue sky above is streaked with thin clouds.
Overlooks
56

Los Angeles, CA

Griffith Observatory

An Art Deco landmark on the south slope of Mount Hollywood with the most famous view in Los Angeles: the entire basin spread out to the Pacific, the Hollywood Sign on the ridge behind, and downtown's towers rising in the middle distance. The lawn and terraces are free and open late, and the domes glow copper at sunset. On clear winter days the view runs from the snow on Mount Baldy to Catalina Island.

blue hourfall · winter
Walt Disney Concert Hall’s sweeping stainless-steel panels rise in overlapping curves, catching cool light against a deep blue sky. The low, wide composition emphasizes the sculptural facade, with glass entryways and a bit of downtown street foreground below.
Photogenic
64

Los Angeles, CA

Walt Disney Concert Hall

Frank Gehry's stainless-steel concert hall on Bunker Hill, a billowing sculpture of curved panels that catches and bends the light differently every hour. The public garden on the upper level winds between the steel sails with views over downtown. Across the street, the Broad museum's honeycomb facade makes a second study in contemporary form.

golden hourspring · summer
Golden-hour light turns the sky pink and orange over El Matador’s rocky shoreline, with dark sea stacks and scattered surf rocks silhouetted against the glowing water. Wet sand in the foreground reflects the sunset while small waves lap around the tide pools and cliffs.
Beaches
39

Malibu, CA

El Matador State Beach

A pocket beach below the bluffs of western Malibu where sea stacks, arches, and caves stand in the surf, the most photographed stretch of the Los Angeles coast. A steep stair descends to sand that nearly disappears at high tide, leaving the rocks wet and reflective. Sunset backlights the stacks and turns the wet sand to copper.

golden hourfall · winter

Discover more

Browse the full SoCalSights atlas — 100+ curated spots across Southern California.

Open SoCalSights