Long weekend Getaway To Santa Monica

When life hands you lemons escape to the beach! In this case I’m going to walk you through a relaxing weekend getaway to Santa Monica, California where the beach, good food, shopping and amusements parks are on the agenda. No car needed. Just a cheap flight, beach side hotel, 4 days and good company.

This post contains affiliate links and I may receive a commission on your purchase. Thank you for shopping through my links.

About this itinerary

When looking for a weekend getaway California is typically at the top of the list. For good reason too. The weather is alway nice. There’s a beach around every corner and plenty of activities to do. After living in Santa Monica it’s always fun coming back to visit. So this itinerary is based off of a locals perspective just wanting to enjoy some time away from the normal 9-5. I hope that by writing down my adventure it will make it easy for you and your loved ones to have an easy, fun and effortless adventure too.

Highlights include

Hidden Gem Restaurants
Beachside hotel
3rd Street Promenade Shopping
Knots Berry Farms Boysenberry Days

Planning the trip

Know when you are going to travel: For the most part California, especially Santa Monica has nice weather all year round. However if you are wanting to go when there is less traffic I highly recommend traveling during the winter and spring months when fewer people travel. Oh and avoid holidays if possible. Bronson and I took this trip early April of 2023 and the weather was perfect! It was cool in the evenings, sunny during the day and very light sprinkling of rain. The crowds were way less making it a more enjoyable vacation. Also look into specific events you are wanting to go to beforehand and check the dates. That may determine your trip plans as well.
Find Accommodations: Now that you know when you will be visiting it’s time to book a place to stay. It helps booking in advance. Santa Monic can get booked out fairly quickly. For this trip I booked our accommodations 6 months in advance but you could try booking 3 month in advance too. I highly recommend using Bookings.com! It’s where I book all of our hotels when traveling. It is user friendly, budget friendly and most places provide free cancellations if necessary. We booked the Bayside Hotel through them and it was steps away from Santa Monica beach and a short walk away from some of my favorite restaurants. Just a cute, antique hotel, with bikes to rent for a nice relaxing getaway.
Book the flights: Use Hopper or Google Flights to help with finding the perfect flight for you. Then book directly through the airline. It’s cheaper that way most of the time. If you have a credit card use it to earn more miles or to get cash back. My favorite card in my wallet is my Ventue X card by Capitol One. It saves me so much when traveling.
Transportation: If you feel like you are going to be driving around a lot get a rental car for a few days but it’s not needed. Save the money and walk or bike instead. If you need a ride to and from the airport or a car for the day get an Uber. You will save more money this way since it’s only a short trip. This also saves you time so you can enjoy more of it vacationing.
Packing: For short weekend trips bring a large backpack or a carryon. Whichever is free with your flights. It’s the ultimate hack to saving money while traveling. Pack a separate bag (like a beach bag) that you can use to store small items bought while shopping to board with later as a personal item. Or check with the stores before purchase to see if they will ship the item home to you for free. A lot of stores will do that.

Long weekend getaway to Santa Monica

Day 1: Arrive into the L.A. Airport, find the LAX-it shuttle for Uber, Lyft, Pickup or a Taxi. Reserve and Uber and head to your hotel to get settled in. Once settled, head to the beach. It’s the perfect way to de stress after flying. The ocean air and breeze is so therapeutic. Then grab a bite at Cha Cha Chicken on Ocean Blvd right up the street from the Bayside Hotel. They serve really good Caribbean latin infused food in a really fun spot. After eating if you feel up to it head over to the Santa Monic Pier. Where you can get tickets for the carousel, stare out into the ocean and enjoy the fun night life.

Day 2: Wake up and walk to Shoops Market. It’s my favorite European Caffe! They serve the best breakfast and cappuccino’s. You’ll have to come back for deli sandwinches and go next door for Dolcenero Gelato. I used to walk here every weekend when I lived in LA. Then visit 3rd Street Promenade for some shopping. It is three blocks of car free shopping. Bronson and I had so much fun going into all the stores. Especially West Elm, Patagonia and Burton. Take lots of photos and have a great time.

Day 3: Day trip to Knots Berry Farms for the boysenberry festival! It’s a food and wine festival centered around boysenberry’s that takes place during the first weekend in march through the first weekend in April. Where you can ride roller coasters, drink and eat yummy boysenberry inspired foods. Our favorite eats of the day were the boysenberry bread pudding, frozen rose and cider. Click this link for a detailed list of all of Knots Berry Festivals. It was the most fun I have ever had at an amusement park. For reference we did not get our tickets in advanced, just the night before and got an Uber for transportation both ways. Once there we basically walked onto all the rides. It was not crazy busy like Disneyland.

Day 4: Start the day by walking up the street to Dogtown Coffee. Get the stuffed breakfast croissant with eggs and bacon and your preferred latte. So good! Then walk to the beach to eat it. After the beach rent some bikes or electric scooters and zoom on over to Venice Beach. It’s a fun scene! Afterwards shower back at the hotel, pack up and finish the trip by eating at Stellabarra for authentic Italian pizza and cuisine before getting an Uber back to the Airport.

* I’m so sad to say, Stellabarra is permanently closed. Please support your local, small businesses and restaurants. Leave reviews and share where you can. It’s so sad to see a very good place that used quality ingredients go out of business. I’ll have to recreate their carbonara pizza to share.

Last but not least

I hope you enjoy your long weekend getaway and leave feeling inspired and refreshed. I also hope you find this Itinerary as a guideline for your vacation. You do not have to follow it step by step. Make it your own. Take time to wander from the beaten path. It’s where magical places are found and the greatest memories are made. Choose your own adventure and create your own experiences and take lots and lots of photos!