It surprises me a little that you don't see more of the real Venice, California, on travel shows - as opposed to Venice Beach, which they seem to be all over like the plague. Don't get me wrong - I love the party lifestyle and don't care mentality of the beach as much as the next man - but surely, when you've gone to all the trouble of creating a little clone of Italy complete with canals and beautiful European style waterfront houses, it would be nice if somebody actually mentioned that you'd done it. Am I missing something, here?

On the way to Venice Beach, which is where the bus goes, we were driven through the town of Venice itself, crossing over small Venetian bridges every two hundred yards. On the way, those of us who were on the tourist trail stared quietly out of the windows and wondered why we weren't allowed to get off, instead having to travel to the beach and walk back. People who come here always go away impressed, but few realise just how much Venice has changed over the years. The town was originally conceived and built in the early twentieth century as an almost photographic copy of its Italian cousin, and if it had stayed that way until the twenty-first century then I feel sure that California would have a truly world class holiday destination on its hands. Unfortunately, shortly after building this paradise of grand mansions and beautiful bridges spanning across canals wide enough to permit several boats to pass each other comfortably, some idiot came along and ruined it all by inventing the car. Within twenty years, the majority of the buildings had been demolished and the canals filled in to create what is now a major metropolitan road network. So where California could once claim to be home to a peaceful Venetian idyll, where you could sail your boat on sixteen miles of waterways and be waved at by happy locals sitting on the riverbank, now only a few blocks remain. In the sixties and seventies, Venice enjoyed a brief popularity again as it became home to the hippy crowd who all turned up at once looking for somewhere to hold pot parties, tell everyone to chill out and conceive children called Moonchild and Stardust, but now only the truly rich can hope to own property here.

What's left of the town is pretty, clean, and frighteningly expensive, making it home to businessmen and Hollywood moguls alike - although I feel sure that none of them have ever set foot in the real Venice in their lives. Property in this area will set you back anything in the region of a million dollars upward to buy, or a staggering ten thousand dollars a month to rent. All the same this is considered quite cheap for Southern California, but I think I might be saving for quite a while yet before I can call Venice home. Venice Beach on the other hand, is more of the typical Californian beachfront as portrayed on television, and attracts sun worshippers from all over the world - luckily, by the time I arrived at mid-day the fog had lifted and the area was basking once more under the Southern Californian sun. As I strolled along the wide pavement between the golden sandy beach and a row of cafes and beachfront boutiques, all I could see for miles were guys with muscles on their muscles surfing in the waves or half-naked girls straight out of Baywatch jogging, sunbathing or playing netball. People of all ages whizzed by on roller skates, skidding to a halt at the street markets or outside beachfront cafes around the front of which their friends were gathered on plastic chairs eating Ice Cream and drinking soda. Some of the roller skaters even stopped to entertain visitors with jokes, juggling or by serenading them as they passed.

If I had made a list of all the American Pie party stereotypes depicted in movies which none of us actually believe, I could've walked along Venice Beach ticking them off as I saw them. If some dopey looking college guy had approached me, invited me to a kegger at the Frat house and mentioned in passing that they were also inviting lots of hot girls and finishing the evening off with a panty raid while helping their mate Dork to lose his virginity, I don't think I would've batted an eyelid.

As the day moved on and more people began to appear along the front at Venice, street performers and artists began to appear to entertain them. You'll find people to keep you amused every hundred yards along the beach, from jugglers to professional statues to top class singers. One of the most famous pieces of art in Venice is the huge painting of Jim Morrison on the side of one of the buildings next to the beach, painted in recognition of the fact that Venice Beach was the birthplace of The Doors. The street artists who sit around and paint beautiful landscapes or portraits of tourists onto the sidewalk are all seemingly oozing talent from every pore, but it must be hard to live up to a three storey painting of Jim Morrison hanging over their heads all day. In the evening, Venice Beach must be a seriously wonderful place to be when you can sit down at a restaurant by the ocean and be surrounded by all this as the sun goes down.

Down the road from Venice Beach is Marina Del Ray, another expensive and upmarket area of Los Angeles and apparently the largest marina in the world with mooring facilities for around six thousand yachts. I say "apparently", because a quick search on the internet will tell you that several other places claim exactly the same thing. Covered in waterfront cottages and wine bars full of people sticking their noses in the air and pointing at their yacht, this is pretty much the place to be seen if you're part of the Californian boating set. There isn't an awful lot for tourists at the marina, and people generally just come for the view and to see the lighthouse in the neighbouring Fisherman's village - supposedly the same lighthouse that Angela Lansbury cycles around in the opening sequence of Murder She Wrote. The man at the counter of the tourist shop cum souvenir place assured me that just about everything on the planet had been filmed at Marina Del Ray, from Beverly Hills 90210 to Baywatch - but I didn't really know how much of it to believe as I've already been told by people in at least three different countries that Jurassic Park was shot there. It seems people will say anything if it makes the tourists come. Still, at least I know where I can moor my yacht when I win the lottery - although I suspect I would still be on the waiting list for most of my life even if I did.

About Simon and Burfords Travels:

Simon Burford is a UK based travel writer. He will be re-publishing his travel blogs, chapters from his books and other miscellaneous rantings on these pages over the coming weeks and months, and the entry on this page may not necessarily reflect todays date.