Long Beach loves kids, and kids find a lot to love about Long Beach. Here are five of the favorite things for families to do there.
Go Backstage in an Airport
Long Beach Airport is a welcoming place to arrive, with its palm trees, open-air breezeway, mosaic artwork and only local cafés, but kids aged 5 and older can get a look behind the scenes, too. The free Airport Tour is family-friendly and takes guests beyond the public areas to see how it all works. The tour includes aviation operations, fire and rescue, the mosaics and aviation history exhibits on Long Beach’s aviation legends.
Pet a Shark
The fourth-most attended aquarium in the nation, Aquarium of the Pacific displays more than 11,000 animals in upwards of 50 exhibit areas. These are designed to engage all ages in the tremendous variety of sea life and diverse environments in the Pacific Ocean. Along with learning about preserving our oceans and their valuable resources, kids can pat sharks and rays, and see sea lions play Frisbee. Frequent special shows, animal encounters and festivals keep the aquarium a lively experience.
Display of ocean life at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, California © David A Dodson | Dreamstime.com
Bike Through an Art Gallery
There’s nothing stuffy or off-putting about Long Beach’s art collection — it’s outdoors and all over town. Download a map from the POW! WOW! Long Beach website
and rent bikes or walk to find painting by more than two dozen artists. You won’t have trouble spotting them, as they cover entire walls. There a style for everyone, as the murals rage from pop art and cartoons to realistic, abstract and surreal to three dimensional and trompe l’oeil.
Bike on the Water
Glide past the moonlit beaches on a glowing boat that pedals like a bicycle with Long Beach Waterbikes. These silent boats glow in fluorescent shades of brilliant red, blue and green, riding in groups that create a moving luminous mosaic as they reflect on the rippling water. Glow rides through Alamitos Bay are suitable for kids over 10 years old, and on daytime rides you can tour the bay on a tandem with young children as passengers.
Choose Your Beach
With nearly six miles of sand-fringed shoreline to choose from, Long Beach has the right beach for everyone. Mothers Beach is a favorite for families for its shallow water and gentle waves. Its location on Alamitos Bay protects it from the open ocean, assuring calm waters. Lifeguards supervise the beach, and there’s a playground with plenty of modern equipment, as well as a grassy picnic area shaded by trees. If you are traveling with the family pooch, Rosie’s Dog Beach is the only beach where dogs can swim and play off leash.
Read This Next
#WhereverFamily
Insta FeedDestinations / North America
Jul 9, 20265 Places to Have a European-Style Vacation Without Leaving the Country
Flying isn’t cheap, especially for a whole family. Luckily, if you want a European vacation but it just isn’t in the budget, you can get creative with your destination and have a European-style vacation without ever leaving the country.
Sponsored Content
Best of Both Worlds
Enjoy the best of both worlds when you fly with TAP Air Portugal thanks to the Portugal Stopover program. With the program, TAP passengers, whether traveling for business, leisure or both, can stop in Portugal for up to 10 days at no additional airfare on the way to their final destination. What does this mean for travelers wishing to explore by both land and sea? It means after flying to Portugal with TAP and experiencing the country in an entirely new way, travelers can then embark on scenic river and ocean cruises from Portugal’s port cities, or fly with TAP to another European destination.
Destinations / Latin America
Jul 9, 20268 Savannah, Georgia, Destinations for Family Travel
It’s time to start dreaming of your next family trip. Here’s some destination inspiration for you. Take a visual journey through Savannah, Georgia, with us.
Hotels
Jul 9, 2026Refreshed Renaissance Esmeralda Resort & Spa Elevates Family Getaways
Renaissance Esmeralda Resort & Spa, a 560-room resort in the Greater Palm Springs area, recently completed a comprehensive, multimillion-dollar renovation. With the updates come new resort experiences, a Kids Eat Free package, new pickleball courts, upgraded poolside cabanas, the debut of Seven Olive Modern Gastropub and Topgolf Swing Suites, and more.
Destinations / Europe
Jul 8, 2026A Trip to London: Exploring the South Bank
Courtesy of a night spent at London’s Sea Containers hotel, I had the opportunity to explore the South Bank neighborhood. Let’s dive into some family-friendly highlights:
Destinations / North America
Jul 8, 2026Summer Fun Awaits in New Hampshire’s Lakes
When you’re traveling in New Hampshire, you’re never far from water. Although its Atlantic coastline is short, lakes — including New England’s largest — are scattered throughout the state, so family travelers will have plenty of opportunities for swimming and water sports.
ShareThis