I’m really excited to interview Chris Browning of the Popcorn Finance podcast about Long Beach, California. Chris’ tips for the best things to do in Long Beach are awesome because they are so diverse and come from someone who really knows and understands both the local music scene and all of the best foodie options.
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Long Beach Grand Prix. Photo by Brian McCall on Unsplash.
Long Beach, California
We share a lot of resources and local suggestions in today’s podcast, but you should also check out Visit Long Beach, the local visitor’s bureau. They are a wealth of information and can help you plan an itinerary based on your time, budget, and interests.
If you’d like to learn how to travel for free using airline miles and hotel points, check out my free 7-day email course.
Rows and rows of boats in Long Beach. Photo by Ameer Basheer on Unsplash.
Best things to do in Long Beach
Best places to eat in Long Beach
- The Attic (reviews) – If you’re looking for lunch or dinner in the attic is a fixture in Long Beach. Shrimp and grits are great.
- The Breakfast Bar (reviews) – The breakfast bar is another great spot to stop by if you want a really great breakfast.
- Pandor Artisan Bakery and Café (reviews) – Pandora is the place to go for an almond croissant.
- The Potholder Cafe (reviews) – Chris loves breakfast and bakeries. One of his favorite breakfast spots is The Potholder. Be sure to order the cinnamon roll pancakes.
- Sweet Jill’s Bakery (reviews) – If you’re looking for a spot to grab a pastry then you definitely have to stop by Sweet Jill‘s. The cinnamon rolls are gigantic.
Best places to stay in Long Beach
- Best Western Plus Hotel at the Convention Center (reviews)
- Courtyard by Marriott Long Beach Downtown (reviews)
- Days Inn by Wyndham Long Beach City Center (reviews)
- Hilton Long Beach (reviews)
- Holiday Inn Long Beach Downtown Area (reviews)
- Hyatt Regency Long Beach (reviews) – The Hyatt Regency in downtown Long Beach is my favorite hotel. It is right in the middle of a brand new shopping center in Petit really close to the convention center, the beach, and great restaurants and bars.
Getting around Long Beach
The local airport is Long Beach Airport (LGB), which is about 7 miles from downtown. Use our Expedia tool below to find flight, hotel, and rental car options.
Chris says that, if you’re staying downtown, there’s no need to rent a car. Uber and Lyft are excellent ways to get around. And I’ve personally found the downtown area along Pine Street very walkable.
If you need to rent a car, click here for the best offers from Avis, Budget, or Hertz.
If you only need a car for a couple of hours, you can rent by the hour with Zipcar. Join now to get $25 loaded into your account.
Feed the lorikeets at the Aquarium of the Pacific. Photo by Vania Medina on Unsplash.
Places we talked about on the podcast
Here is a map of all of the places we talked about on the podcast episode with Chris Browning about Long Beach, California. You can zoom into the map and click on each dot to explore the city.
- Red dots = best places to eat in Long Beach, California
- Green dots = best things to do in Long Beach, California
- Yellow dots = best places to stay in Long Beach, California
Who is Chris Browning?
Chris Browning is the creator and host of the Popcorn Finance Podcast. By day, he works as a Financial Analyst trying to make use of his Bachelor’s degree in Finance. But at night, he hops on the microphone to share his love of teaching and discussing personal finance.
Here are a few of his podcast episodes:
- The Journey to F.I. (Financial Independence)
- A Beginner’s Guide to Buying Stocks
- Taking Your Side Hustle Full Time with Maggie Germano
You can connect with Chris on his website and on Instagram.
Click here to download our one-page guide of Chris’ tips for Long Beach.
Big thanks to today’s affiliate partner – AwardWallet
This episode is brought to you, in part, by AwardWallet. Using airline miles and hotel points makes travel affordable, but keeping track of all of those loyalty programs can be a challenge.
That’s why I use AwardWallet to track my miles and points balances, reservations, and special goodies like free hotel night certifications and airline companion passes.
Having everything in one easy-to-use dashboard helps ensure I don’t let any rewards expire and makes logging into my accounts super easy. Go to WeTravelThere.com/awardwallet to start your free account.
The Long Beach cityscape. Photo by Brian McCall on Unsplash.
Stay tuned for our next episode
Listen to the next episode when Keith and Tina Paul of Retire Early and Travel share how they retired early to live in Cuenca, Ecuador, and now travel the world. We hope you’ll join us when We Travel There.
What’s your favorite part of Long Beach? Send us a Tweet, let us know in the comment section below, or continue the discussion in our Facebook group!
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To see which cities we’ve interviewed and scheduled, please visit WeTravelThere.com/map. If you’d like to be a guest on the show, please submit an application at WeTravelThere.com/guest.
