Santa Monica in 2009 continues to offer Irish holidaymakers the best location to enjoy incredible scenery, fantastic sunshine as well as world class shopping. This coastal city jewel offers Irish holidaymakers a wonderful welcome combined with incredible hospitality. Whether your clients are looking to stay just a few days or for a week you can let them know that we are looking forward to their arrival and can enhance their trip with some of these inviting activities.

Top 25 Free Things to Do in Santa Monica!

1.       Grab a towel, sun block and a good book and head out to enjoy the Southern California scenery on picturesque Santa Monica Beach, which stretches for 3.5 miles between Venice and Malibu.


2.       Take a stroll on Santa Monica Pier, hailed as the oldest piers on the West Coast of the United States. Featured in the Oscar-winning movie, “Forrest Gump,” the Pier is open year-round and is the perfect spot for viewing a sunset or taking a romantic stroll.

3.       Pay a visit to Third Street Promenade by evening. Street performers and entertainers light up this pedestrian-only boulevard with the sound of drums, acoustic guitars, and tambourines. Stop to watch the acrobats, dancers, psychic cats, mimes and bubble blowers.

4.       Window shop along Montana Avenue, a 10-block open-air, retail destination frequented by discerning visitors and affluent Angelenos. Lined with boutiques, celebrities come to get coffee, lunch with friends, or shop for the latest in furnishings and skin care.
 

5.       Walk down Main Street to discover quintessential beach life with a hip, urban edge. Peruse the lively and eclectic boutiques, chic clothing stores and design showrooms.
 

6.       Sway to the tunes at the Twilight Dance Series on the Santa Monica Pier featuring free evening concerts in the summer from some of your favorite musicians.
 

7.       Make it a summer movie night at a drive-in movie on the Santa Monica Pier. Offered Thursday evenings in September, movies are projected onto a huge screen in the open air.

 
8.       Visit one of Santa Monica’s three farmers markets. Choose from the Third Street and Arizona Market, the Santa Monica Airport Market or the Main Street Market for organic produce and plenty of edibles.

 
9.       Indulge your ears with “Jazz on the Lawn” at Santa Monica City Hall in the summer time, the best way to spend a hot summer afternoon. Talented jazz artists bring their own flavor to the genre.

 
10.   Enjoy gardens, public art, volleyball, beach tennis, and a playground at the newly unveiled Annenberg Community Beach House, the only public beach house in the United States.

 
11.   Explore the Pico Boulevard neighborhood at the southern end of Santa Monica. This area contains a varied mix of shopping and attractions including a planetarium, Santa Monica College's performing arts venues, boutiques, galleries, and dining options

 
12.   Cozy up to a series of free events in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Santa Monica Pier. Visitors can enjoy “Lalop at the Pier,” “Sideshow at the Pier,” “School's Out!” and “La Monica Ballroom Redux,” which all take place between March and September 2009. These events highlight photography, dance, children's activities, art and entertainment.

 
13.   Flex your muscles at the original Muscle Beach, which beckons visitors to test their strength and work on your beach body in an open-air gym along a three-acre stretch of beach. Test out the fully restored areas featuring chinning bars, parallel bars, rings and small jungle gyms for children. Celebrities such as Jack LaLanne, Jayne Mansfield, and Mae West were frequent visitors at Muscle Beach, helping to establish Southern California as a body builder’s paradise.

 
14.   Relax and unwind with a free yoga session in Santa Monica Park

 
15.   The South Bay Bicycle Trail runs for 22 miles alongside the Los Angeles coast from Will Rogers State Beach to Torrance Co. Beach and provides a unique way to see a long stretch of Pacific coastline and get some exercise. With easy points of entry and exit, cyclists can make the ride as long or as short as they desire.

 

16.   Serve in a game of volleyball at Santa Monica’s many volleyball courts, where several US Olympic beach volleyball competitors have trained. Adjacent to the pier, a row of volleyball courts is available to the public on a first come, first serve basis. Olympic Gold Medalist Misty May-Treanor grew up playing volleyball in Santa Monica.

 
17.   Hunt for Santa Monica’s many green-friendly businesses. City partners have joined together to implement the Santa Monica Certified Green Business program. Look for these decals in storefronts showing that they meet the “green” requirements.

 

18.   Immerse yourself in the arts at Southern California’s largest art gallery complex, Bergamot Station. Visit over 35 contemporary art galleries, studios, and architecture design firms.

 
19.   Explore the Santa Monica Museum of Art, displaying innovative exhibits that foster diversity, and pivotal moments in the history of contemporary art and history. 

 
20.   Enjoy a mirror-and-lens panorama that has documented Santa Monica for more than 100 years. Stop by Camera Obscura – a lifesize, walk-through pinhole camera – only one of three in the US along Palisades Park.

 

21.   Experience “culture within culture” along Santa Monica’s Design District, featuring showrooms of modern design for home or business.  Embark on a self-guided tour with the Santa Monica Design District Map, available at any of the three Santa Monica Visitors Center locations.

 

22.   Visit legendary McCabe’s Guitar Shop for live concerts and strum a vintage guitar. Opened in 1958, McCabe’s specializes in acoustic and folk instruments and offers thousands of books and recordings.

 
23.   Come and see where historic Route 66 begins! Visit the spot that is home to the plaque of the original US highway that ran from Chicago to Los Angeles.

 

24.   Pick up a Santa Monica Art Trek Map which offers a comprehensive guide to public art works around the City.

 
25.   Music to your ears. The award winning Santa Monica Symphony presents four concerts a year at no charge at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium.

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A selection of 25 Santa Monica accommodations, from luxury to beachfront hotels, and value options to boutique havens, are welcoming guests with a never-before seen hotel promotion showcasing a Southern California hotel collection as diverse as its destination. Santa Monica’s “Sun, Sea, Save” promotion offers travelers a 3rd night free and a variety of free attraction passes when booking from a selection of participating Santa Monica properties.