The 6 Most Famous Attractions in Long Beach

Located on the Pacific Ocean to the West of Los Angeles, Long Beach is one of the most underrated places to visit in the United States. It has a perfect climate, plenty of beaches, and is a gateway to Hollywood and the offshore Channel Islands.

source: Wikipedia

Most people that plan to visit discover that finding Long Beach hotels online is fairly straightforward when you use a site like Hipmunk.com that focuses on providing information on all the hotels in every price range.

When you do visit, you will find a wide variety of things to do and see. Here are the 6 most famous attractions in Long Beach:

The Queen Mary: Located on the harbor with a perfect nighttime view of downtown Long Beach, the Queen Mary is a cruise ship that used to epitomize elegance while it sailed for the Cunard Line. Pressed into service to move US troops to Europe during the last World War, it took on many dangerous missions before it returned to civilian use. The city took a role in acquiring the ship when it was retired, making it a floating museum, hotel, and restaurant that is like a fascinating trip to the past.

Downtown Long Beach: As an entertainment area, downtown Long Beach offers some of the most popular nightclubs in the Los Angeles area. It also provides a large mix of restaurants that range from Spanish to Californian Bistro. One of the nice things for visitors is that the restaurants and clubs are arranged to fit any size of budget. The downtown area is also very safe to walk around in at night.

Little Phnom Penh: Cambodia is an up-and-coming country in Asia. Long Beach is home to one of the largest populations of Cambodians not actually in Cambodia. To celebrate their culture, their community business people got together and created a district known as Little Phnom Penh. Full of shops and restaurants offering traditional Cambodian fare, it is well worth a visit.

Naples: You don't often get a chance to take a gondola ride outside of Italy. Yet the Naples area in Long Beach offers gondola rides along the canals that criss-cross the area. Built in the 20th century by developers, the area also offers restaurants and shops that cater to people who are interested in European style.

The Long Beach Grand Prix: Every April, the city gets ready for its main event, an Indy car race that brings thousands of fans in to see the action close up. One of three races held during the same weekend, the Grand Prix has a storied history that goes back decades to a time when it was a Formula series race. If you are going to visit Long Beach for the race, it is a good idea to book your hotel room early so that you have a larger range of rooms available. The Hyatt The Pike Long Beach is one of the more popular hotels during this event.

The Aquarium of the Pacific: Long Beach has long been associated with the ocean that laps at its shores. However, it was only in the past few decades that developers became serious about building a world-class aquarium. When it wss finally completed, the Aquarium of the Pacific exceeded most people's expectations. Not only does it have a very large collection of sea life on display, it also hosts events and festivals that are open to the public, managing to weave the lives of different interest groups into the theme of each celebration.