Long Beach Travel Forum

My boyfriend will be traveling to Long Beach for work related purposes and I will be tagging along. We are from Canada and don't know to much about it. We are both in our early 30's. While he is at work what is there to do....besides sitting on the beach :)

Any good hotel deals, shopping etc. I am your typical girl so anything you can tell us about Long Beach would be SOOOO appreciated. We are traveling there mid May 2009.

Thanks so much

I liked visiting the Queen Mary in Long Beach. You can stay on it, if you want, but then you would be far from shopping, restaurants, etc (not real far - you can walk a couple of miles or take the water taxi).

There's a branch of the LA subway that ends up in Long Beach. You could take that to downtown LA, which is fun to wander around it. My list includes the Bradbury building, Union Station, Angel's Flight, Grand Central Market, Phillippe's (home of the French Dip sandwich), and Olvera Street.

The Queen Mary has some interesting rooms, er, cabins to sleep in. The idea is to make believe that you are off on a cruise. Next door, Carnival Cruises does just that. Many tours and dining on the Queen Mary and they do have a shuttle bus that goes to the Aquarium of the Pacific across the bay. See their website:http://www.queenmary.com/
Besides the Aquarium of the Pacific, you could take the Catalina Express over to Avalon, sightsee, shop, eat, and return befor his work ends. There are many things to keep you busy. See Long Beach website:http://www.visitlongbeach.com/attractions/

There's an area called Belmont Shore, which is on 2nd St, just off Ocean Ave. that has a lot of funky shops and restaurants. It's a lot of fun to wander around and just people watch. Connected to that is Naples, an area of fancy houses all situated on canals, perfect for strolling and also in Naples, on the bay, is a kayak rental company. You can rent 1 and 2-person kayaks by the hour. They provide everything you might need, including maps of the waterways so you can explore without getting lost.

If you enjoy nature, I would recommend skipping LA and heading the other direction - if you have a rental car - and checking out Bolsa Chica, an area just south of Long Beach at the edge of Huntington Beach, that is a protected wetlands area for birds. It's right on the beach so there are the waves and gorgeous views of Long Beach on one side and the wetlands and birds on the other side. It's lovely.

You can go to www.bolsachica.org for more info on that.

My brother works in Long Beach but lives a bit to the south. If you have a car, it's easy to drive down to Seal Beach, which is a great little town to walk around. There are small shops, restaurants and a long pier with a 50's type restaurant at the end. It's the typical CA beach town you'd see in a movie. There used to be a great bikini shop there - not sure it's still in business.

Further down the coast are other great towns... and a huge shopping center in Costa Mesa.

Yes, if you have a car and like shopping, try tomake it down to South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa - here's a link: http://www.southcoastplaza.com/

Another nice place to walk around is Newport Beach.

If you want to drive, then go further south than Newport Beach and head for Laguna Beach. It is a great walking beach town. See website: http://www.lagunabeachinfo.com/

I'd just like to mention that Newport and Laguna are quite a ways from Long Beach and the traffic can be horrendous there and getting down there, especially on the weekends.

Just an FYI:-)

The distance between Long Beach and Laguna Beach is 34 miles. Driving time depends on traffic but average time is about 45 minutes. I only add this as an option if you were to drive. Long Beach has enough to keep you happy but there are options. I would take the day trip to Catalina for something different. No driving needed. Driving option is to a great California coastal town like Laguna Beach as my other choice.

There is plenty of stuff to do in LB. A lot of it depends on what part of LB you are staying in. Its a big city. Id recommend staying as close to the beach as possible, something off of ocean would be nice. Just off the top of my head, here are some points of interest:

Queen Mary, The Pike, Aquarium of the Pacific, Shoreline Village, Pine Street, The Art District, Belmont Shore, 2nd Street, Signal Hill, Roscoe Chicken & Waffles, midgetland & Igor's Alley....