The holiday season is just around the corner, which means that shopping season has already begun. While online sales have continued to rise, in-store shopping is still where the real deals are. Santa Monica offers some of the best shopping in the country, with the 3rd Street Promenade at the center of the action. People flock from all over Los Angeles to walk store to store in Santa Monica, looking for the perfect gifts for friends and family every holiday season.
You can spend hours walking from one end of the 3rd Street Promenade to the other, making stops at any shops that grab your eye along the way. From clothing to toys to electronics, you can find just about anything on your holiday shopping list on this stretch in Santa Monica – but the City has much more to offer too.
The Santa Monica Place shopping mall is within walking distance of the Promenade, and has some larger retail stores for your browsing pleasure. With hundreds of stores between the two locations, your trunk should be full of gifts ready to be wrapped early this year!
Get Into the Holiday Spirit
Southern California isn’t exactly known for cold weather, snow or ice – but that doesn’t mean you can’t go ice skating outdoors in Santa Monica this year! At the corner of Fifth Street and Arizona Avenue there is an 8,000 sq-ft ice-skating rink from early November to mid-January. Skating around on the frozen ice will put you in the holiday spirit, and test your skating abilities!
Don’t own ice-skates? You can rent them on location! If you have never ice-skated outdoors in Southern California before, this is the place to do it! Lessons, birthday parties and more are available through the holiday season in Downtown Santa Monica.
Make a Day Out of It
Because many people travel over an hour to get to Santa Monica for holiday shopping, they want to make a full day out of the trip. If you’re looking to end your shopping day the right way, make your way to the Pier for special holiday events, lights, and more!