The things to do in Long Beach, CA that we could check are the Aquarium of the Pacific, the Queen Mary, Shoreline Village, two art museums, Retro Row and Belmont Shore. The Metro A Line gets you there from Downtown LA in about an hour for $1.75, and a free bus covers the waterfront. We read each official page on 29 October 2026.
Long Beach at a glance
| Sight | Price | Hours | How to get there |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aquarium of the Pacific | Adults $49.95, ages 3 to 11 $34.95 | Daily 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. | 10-minute walk from Pine Ave and 1st St |
| The Queen Mary | Adults $45, children $40 | Daily 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (general admission) | Passport bus (Route 37) |
| Shoreline Village | Free to walk | Shops 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. | Passport bus or a walk along the harbor |
| Museum of Latin American Art | Adults $15, under 12 free | Wed to Sun 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. | 5th Street station (A Line), then walk east |
| LBMA Downtown | Free | Thu to Sun 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. | Short walk from Downtown Long Beach station |
| Long Beach Museum of Art (Ocean) | Adults $15, 12 and under free | Thu to Sun 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. | Long Beach Transit Route 121 |
| Retro Row and Belmont Shore | Free to walk | Each shop sets its own hours | Long Beach Transit bus |
| Catalina Express to Avalon | Adults $103 round trip | About 1 hour each way | Downtown Long Beach terminal, 320 Golden Shore |
Getting to Long Beach by Metro
The A Line runs south from Downtown LA to Long Beach. Get off at Downtown Long Beach for the Aquarium, Pine Avenue and the transit mall at 1st Street. Get off at 5th Street for the Museum of Latin American Art.
Subway: About 57 to 59 minutes between 7th St/Metro Center and Downtown Long Beach. Midday trains come every 10 minutes on weekdays and weekends (Metro A Line timetable effective 7 June 2026, read 29 Oct 2026)
Price: $1.75 a ride, with free transfers for two hours. Metro never charges more than $5 a day or $18 in seven days. Tap a contactless bank card, a phone wallet or a TAP card (Metro fares page, read 29 Oct 2026)
Note: Metro's timetable says rail lines may have delays after 8 p.m. for maintenance (same timetable)
Long Beach has its own bus company, Long Beach Transit. A regular ride is $1.25 and a day pass is $4, and Metro and Long Beach Transit are separate fares (Long Beach Transit fares page, read 29 Oct 2026). Its visitor center at 130 E. 1st Street sells TAP cards.
How to pay on Metro, the hours of each line and safety tips are in our LA Metro guide.
The free Passport bus
Getting there: Passport is Long Beach Transit Route 37. Its stops include 10th and Pine, Long Beach Blvd and 1st Street, Shoreline Village and the Queen Mary (Route 37 timetable effective 23 August 2026, read 29 Oct 2026)
Hours: About every 30 minutes, from about 6:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. About 19 minutes from 10th and Pine to the Queen Mary (same timetable)
Price: Free. Long Beach Transit calls it its free downtown bus (Passport page, read 29 Oct 2026)
Some older pages, including the Aquarium's, say Passport comes every 8 to 12 minutes. The current timetable says about every 30 minutes, so plan on the longer wait.
The sights, with address, hours and price
Aquarium of the Pacific
Address: 100 Aquarium Way, Long Beach, CA 90802 (Aquarium of the Pacific, prices and hours page, read 29 Oct 2026)
Hours: Daily 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Closed Christmas Day only. Some days stay open later (same page)
Price: Adults $49.95. Seniors 62 and over $46.95. Children 3 to 11 $34.95. You must book ahead on weekends and holidays (same page)
Subway: About half a mile from the transit mall at Pine Avenue and 1st Street, about a 10-minute walk downhill. Walk south on Pine Avenue, turn right at the Paseo, then left on Aquarium Way (Aquarium public transit page, read 29 Oct 2026)
The Aquarium has sea otters, sharks, sea lions and a walk-in bird aviary called Lorikeet Forest. Lorikeet Forest closes from noon to 1 p.m. Our tip: on a weekday, go at 9 a.m. when it opens, before school groups arrive.
The Queen Mary
Address: 1126 Queens Highway, Long Beach, CA 90802 (Queen Mary, pricing page, read 29 Oct 2026)
Hours: General admission daily 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. A cheaper off-hours ticket covers 6:30 to 10 a.m. and 6 to 10 p.m. Hours can change (same page)
Price: General admission: adults $45, children $40. It includes a 30 to 45 minute tour when one is running. Off-hours admission is $15 for all ages. Guided tours start at $55 (pricing page dated 7 September 2026)
Getting there: Passport bus (Route 37) to the Queen Mary/Cruise Terminal stop
The Queen Mary is an ocean liner from 1936. It is now a hotel and a museum ship. Everyone who goes on board needs a ticket or a hotel room key. If you only want to eat at one of its restaurants, the ship charges $15 at the entrance and takes it off your bill.
Shoreline Village and Rainbow Harbor
Address: 401 to 435 Shoreline Village Drive, Long Beach, CA 90802 (Shoreline Village, read 29 Oct 2026)
Hours: Shops 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. In summer, open to 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays (same site)
Price: Free to walk. Each shop and restaurant sets its own prices
Getting there: Passport bus to the Shoreline and Village stop, or walk around the harbor from the Aquarium
Shoreline Village is a small row of shops and restaurants on the water, with a carousel and an arcade. Harbor cruises leave from here, and you can rent a bike for the beach path. The path runs east along the sand for miles.
Museum of Latin American Art (MOLAA)
Address: 628 Alamitos Avenue, Long Beach, CA 90802 (MOLAA, visit page, read 29 Oct 2026)
Hours: Wednesday to Sunday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Closed Monday and Tuesday (same page)
Price: Adults $15. Seniors and students $10. Under 12 free. The museum has free Sundays, but the page listed no dates. Booking online is suggested, and walk-ins are welcome (same page)
Subway: A Line to 5th Street station, then walk east on 6th Street to Alamitos Avenue, says the museum
MOLAA shows modern and contemporary art from Latin America and Latino artists in the US.
Long Beach Museum of Art
Address: LBMA Ocean: 2300 E. Ocean Boulevard. LBMA Downtown: 356 E. 3rd Street (Long Beach Museum of Art, visit pages, read 29 Oct 2026)
Hours: LBMA Ocean: Thursday to Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. LBMA Downtown: Thursday to Sunday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. (same pages)
Price: LBMA Ocean: adults $15, students and seniors $10, children 12 and under free. LBMA Downtown is free for everyone (same pages)
Getting there: LBMA Ocean: Long Beach Transit Route 121 stops in front. LBMA Downtown is a short walk from Downtown Long Beach station
The Ocean building sits on a bluff above the beach. Its café, Claire's, takes its last seating at 2 p.m., so go early if you want lunch with the view.
Retro Row and Belmont Shore
Address: Retro Row: 4th Street, about 1700 to 2300 E. 4th Street. Belmont Shore: 2nd Street, east of downtown (Visit Long Beach, neighborhood pages, read 29 Oct 2026)
Hours: Each shop sets its own hours
Price: Free to walk
Getting there: Long Beach Transit bus from downtown, or a rideshare
Retro Row has more than 40 local shops for vintage clothes, furniture, records and books, plus the 1920s Art Theatre. Belmont Shore is a 14-block walk of shops, cafés and patios on 2nd Street. Naples, next to it, has canals and small bridges. Gondola Getaway runs 50-minute gondola rides on the canals from $140 for up to four people (Gondola Getaway site, read 29 Oct 2026).
Catalina Island by ferry
Address: Catalina Express, Downtown Long Beach terminal, 320 Golden Shore, Long Beach, CA 90802 (Catalina Express, Long Beach page, read 29 Oct 2026)
Hours: About 1 hour each way to Avalon. The ticket window opens 1 hour before the first sailing (same site)
Price: Round trip to Avalon, 8 September 2026 to 31 March 2027: adults $103, seniors 55 and over $93, children 2 to 11 $82, including the $10 wharfage fee and tax (Catalina Express fares page, read 29 Oct 2026)
Getting there: The terminal is near the Aquarium, a walk from Downtown Long Beach station
A day trip works well from Long Beach. Take an early boat, walk Avalon's harbor front, and come back in the late afternoon.
Water taxis are off until 2027
Long Beach Transit's AquaBus and AquaLink water taxis link the Aquarium, the Queen Mary and the beaches in summer. Long Beach Transit says regular service has ended for the season and will return in 2027 (water taxi page, read 29 Oct 2026). Until then, use the Passport bus or walk the harbor.
LA 2028 Olympics in Long Beach
Long Beach is one of the big Games zones. LA28 lists seven venues here (LA28 venues pages, read 29 Oct 2026):
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Marine Stadium: rowing and sprint canoe and kayak.
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Belmont Shore: sailing, open water swimming and coastal rowing.
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Long Beach Arena: handball.
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Long Beach Aquatics Center: artistic swimming and water polo.
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Allianz Beach Arena, a temporary venue near downtown: beach volleyball.
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Long Beach Target Shooting Hall, in the Convention Center: shooting.
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Long Beach Climbing Theater, next to the Convention Center: sport climbing.
LA28 says plans for several of these venues may change.
Free things to do in Long Beach
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See LBMA Downtown on 3rd Street. It is free.
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Walk the harbor from the Aquarium to Shoreline Village and the lighthouse.
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Ride the free Passport bus to look at the Queen Mary from the dock.
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Walk or bike the beach path east from Shoreline Village.
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Walk Retro Row on 4th Street or 2nd Street in Belmont Shore.
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Go to MOLAA on one of its free Sundays. Check the museum's page for the dates.
A day in Long Beach by Metro
This is our own plan, not an official one. Take the A Line to Downtown Long Beach and walk down Pine Avenue to the Aquarium for 9 a.m. In the early afternoon, walk around Rainbow Harbor to Shoreline Village for lunch. Ride the Passport bus to the Queen Mary for the afternoon tour. Ride Passport back to Pine Avenue for dinner, then take the A Line back to Downtown LA.
The Aquarium needs a booking on weekends. MOLAA is closed Monday and Tuesday, and LBMA is open Thursday to Sunday only.
What we checked and what can change
Read on 29 October 2026: the Aquarium of the Pacific's prices, hours and public transit pages; the Queen Mary's pricing, FAQ and directions pages; Long Beach Transit's Passport page, Route 37 timetable, fares page and water taxi page; Shoreline Village's site; MOLAA's visit page; the Long Beach Museum of Art's visit pages; Visit Long Beach's neighborhood pages; Gondola Getaway's site; Catalina Express's Long Beach and fares pages; the LA28 venues pages; Metro's fares page; and Metro's A Line timetable effective 7 June 2026.
Not confirmed: whether the Aquarium charges more at the gate than online, MOLAA's free Sunday dates and holiday hours, Gondola Getaway's hours, and the water taxi fares for 2027. The Queen Mary's directions page still names old bus routes, so we used Long Beach Transit's own timetable. Our own advice, not an official source: the day plan and the timing tips. Hours change on holidays and for events, so check each venue's page for your date. We did not visit Long Beach for this page.
