Long Beach Travel Guide

Long Beach is situated in Los Angeles County, in southern California and is the 5th largest city in California. The city borders Orange County on its southeast edge with one of largest shipping ports, Port of Long Beach, and is home to headquarters for famous and powerful corporations. The town grew as a seaside resort and then as oil, navy, and port town with the later development of high technology and aerospace industries in the area.

Long Beach was long a port of entry for Europeans and mostly Anglo-Americans. It was nicknamed "Iowa by the Sea" or "Iowa under Palm Trees" as it relived the atmosphere of a contemporary Middle West town with the peaceful coast being "the" laidback 1-day holiday center. There are various interesting sites such the Shore Line Village, with fascinating shops and above-ocean restaurants, the pyramid shaped building, Walter Pyramid, sports stadium to NCAA college basketball and volleyball teams of Long Beach State University 49ers, and multicultural arts and events.

In addition, there is the RMS Queen Mary, an art deco ocean liner twice the size of the Titanic permanently docked in Long Beach. The city owns Long Beach Museum of Art, a museum with a reputation for its high-quality and innovative programs, and also features Museum of Latin American Art, the only museum that exclusively features Latin American Art.

The city has free bus routes, which uses minibuses to shuttle passengers within the downtown area (including the Queen Mary).

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