Long Beach is California's seventh-largest city, sitting on the coast about 40 kilometres south of downtown Los Angeles. It has long lived in LA's shadow, but the city has its own distinct identity — more laid-back, more diverse, and with a genuine waterfront life that much of coastal Southern California lacks.
The main attraction is the Queen Mary, the retired Cunard ocean liner permanently moored in the harbour. You can tour the art deco interiors and engine rooms. Nearby, the Aquarium of the Pacific is one of the better aquariums on the West Coast, focused on the marine life of the Pacific from the tropics to the Arctic.
Downtown Long Beach has undergone steady revitalisation, with a good restaurant and bar scene along Pine Avenue and the East Village Arts District. Retro Row on 4th Street is the heart of the city's vintage shopping and café culture. The waterfront bike path connects to the broader LA coastal trail, and Belmont Shore, a few kilometres east, has a pleasant neighbourhood beach and a walkable strip of shops along 2nd Street.
Long Beach is also one of the busiest cargo ports in the world — the container ships stacked high offshore are an oddly compelling sight from the beach. The Astronaut Islands — four man-made oil-drilling platforms disguised as pleasure islands — are visible just offshore and are one of the stranger sights in Southern California.