Take care to stick to the coastal section of Long Beach and the features which are described below. Just a mile or so inland lay some very mean streets.

High-rise offices and hotels give parts of Long Beach an anodyne appearance, but within the compact town centre – around the junction of Pine Avenue and 3rd Street – several pleasing examples of 1920s architecture give substance to a stroll. Also justifying a swift perusal are the souvenir shops and food outlets of Shoreline Village, arranged along a bay side boardwalk. Beside Shoreline Village, the grassy acres of the thoughtfully landscaped Shoreline Aquatic Park (https://shorelinelake.com) provide a tempting place for picnics or just strolling and relaxing.

For many years, Long Beach’s foremost tourist attractions have been the 1930s Cunard liner, the Queen Mary (clearly visible across Long Beach Harbour), and Howard Hughes’ 1940s Spruce Goose wooden aircraft (inside a geodesic dome behind the Queen Mary).

Detour – Rancho los Cerritos

Completed in 1844, Rancho Los Cerritos, 4600 Virginia Road, is an excellent example of California’s Monterey-style architecture and one of the few remaining examples of the style in the south of the state. The furnishings of the family who lived here – over the period when ownership of California switched from Mexico to the U.S. – are arranged throughout ten rooms. You can reach Rancho Los Cerritos by driving 8 km north along Long Beach Boulevard, off Ocean Boulevard.