Classic beach towns of Southern California - includes Laguna Beach, Newport-Balboa, Venice and Avalon

Now you're at Ocean Front Walk (3). Walkers take the sidewalk nearest the buildings; bicyclists and roller skaters ride a few yards nearer to the ocean. (You can rent bikes or skates here or elsewhere along the walk; cost is about $4 an hour.) Just west of the Venice Pavilion recreation center, look for a flower bed with a flower bicycle and the name "Venice" spelled out in pansies.

Stroll northwest along Ocean Front Walk. "I will to Venice," Shakespeare's Petrucchio said. "We will have rings and things and fine array." Ocean Front is full of fine array, if you put risque T-shirts in that category. For a breather, duck into The Small World Bookstore, 1407 Ocean Front Walk; if you're interested in Venice history, pick up Jeffrey Stanton's illustrated Venice of America (Donahue Publishing, Los Angeles, 1988; $15.95). Next door, The Sidewalk Cafe offers breakfast, lunch, or dinner and a ringside view of fire-eaters and fortune tellers. (Farther along, you can dine and people-watch at Figtree's Cafe, 429 Ocean Front Walk.)

At Ocean Front and Breeze Avenue, the balconied building is a replica of the old Venice bathhouse. At 517 Ocean Front stands Charlie Chaplin's Gingerbread Court; no one knows if The Little Tramp really owned this red-brick apartment court, but, restored, it holds a half-dozen shops.

Continue up Ocean Front to Rose Avenue and-if you're hungry walk two blocks northeast. At 215 Rose (just above Main Street) Robin Rose Ice Cream sells its chocolate raspberry truffle (other flavors, too); at 220 Rose, The Rose Cafe serves more serious meals daily.

Double back down Rose and walk southeast along Ocean Front Walk. This time, make two jaunts off Ocean Front. Thornton Avenue (4) holds houses from Venice's earliest days. A few blocks southeast, jog left on Market Street (5). Producer-director Tony Bill's restaurant, 72 Market Street, helped make Venice a center of California cuisine; it's open for pricy lunches and dinners daily; 392-8720. At 77 Market, L.A. Louver Gallery is famous for its exhibitions of David Hockney and other artists; hours are noon to 5 Tuesdays through Saturdays.

Continue past Windward on Ocean Front, past the temple of sweat that is Muscle Beach (6), and on to N. Venice Boulevard (7). At 60 N. Venice, The West Beach Cafe (823-5396) serves elegantly simple fare in an elegantly simple dining room. Rebecca's, at 55 N. Venice, walks a wilder side: nouvelle Southwestern in a zany representation of the old Venice Pier, where alligators and octopus dangle from pilings; 306-6266. Just next door is L.A. Louver's second Venice gallery, open 11 to 5 Tuesdays through Saturdays.

Go a block southeast on Pacific Avenue to S. Venice Boulevard and walk a few dull blocks northeast to Dell Avenue. Head southeast on Dell to the canal neighborhood (8). Linnie, Howland, Grand, and three other canals survived repeated attempts to fill them in; now they're beloved by residents and ducks alike. Stroll the bridges and canal banks (public property, though sidewalks are sometimes missing). At Sherman Canal and Dell Avenue, a pilot restoration project uses concrete blocks and native pickleweed to stabilize canal banks.