Free & Cheap Things to Do in Long Beach

Shopping & Strolling

A 14-block walkable shopping and dining district along 2nd Street between Pacific Coast Highway and Livingston Drive — 150+ shops, restaurants, boutiques, and salons with a laid-back beach-town feel. Anchors Long Beach's Belmont Shore neighborhood between the Naples canals and Bluff Park. Free to walk year-round; hosts the Stroll & Savor food crawl, Christmas Parade, and summer car show.

Address: 2nd St between Park Ave & Livingston Dr, Long Beach, CA 90803

Tip: Best parking is free on side streets a block north or south of 2nd Street. Stroll & Savor (June and October) is the affordable way to sample 25+ restaurants for ~$25 total. Combine with a Naples Canal walk (5 blocks south) for a half day.

Parks & Beaches

Bluff Park is 13.2 acres of clifftop green space along Ocean Boulevard from 20th Place to 36th Place — a passive park with a paved promenade, lawns, telescopes, benches, mature trees, and the 2004 Lone Sailor Memorial with its 7-foot bronze sailor gazing out to sea. The wide white-sand beach below is free with stairway access at multiple blocks. The 4-mile Long Beach Bike Path runs the length of the shoreline below.

Address: Ocean Blvd between 20th Pl & 36th Pl, Long Beach, CA 90803

Tip: Free street parking on Ocean Boulevard and on adjacent side streets (read signs — some have 2-hour limits). The Long Beach Museum of Art is in the middle of Bluff Park if you want to combine free strolling with a $12 art stop. Sunsets here are particularly clean — Catalina Island is visible on clear days.

Iconic Landmarks

Three small connected islands in Alamitos Bay, built in the early 1900s as developer Arthur Parson's Italian-inspired "Dreamland of Southern California" with man-made canals and gondola rides. The 4-loop pedestrian path along the canals (free to walk anytime) passes million-dollar waterfront homes, arched bridges, and the original 1903 Colonnade. Real gondolas still operate; lower-cost version is your own legs.

Address: Naples Plaza, Long Beach, CA 90803

Tip: Start at the Colonnade (Naples Plaza) — the small central fountain plaza — and walk the inner-island loop (about 1.5 miles). Christmas in Naples (early December) is the annual boat parade — completely free to watch from any seawall. Best photos at golden hour.

History & Architecture

The 1844 Monterey Colonial adobe ranch house of John Temple, built when this was Mexican California, sits on five acres of restored 1930s gardens in Long Beach's Bixby Knolls neighborhood. The site interprets Tongva, Spanish, Mexican, Californio, and Bixby-family eras with original adobe rooms, a working herb garden, and a research library. Free admission, free parking.

Address: 4600 Virginia Rd, Long Beach, CA 90807

Tip: Open Wednesday-Friday 1-5pm, Saturday 10am-5pm, Sunday 1-5pm. Free guided tours throughout open hours. Pair with sister site Rancho Los Alamitos (10 mi southeast) for the full Long Beach rancho story.

History & Architecture

A 7.5-acre Tongva-village-turned-Spanish-rancho on Bixby Hill — the 1790-1933 ranch house centers four acres of nationally significant historic gardens, a restored 1920s barnyard with horses, sheep, goats, chickens, ducks, and rabbits, plus the only working blacksmith shop in Long Beach. Free admission and free parking.

Address: 6400 E Bixby Hill Rd, Long Beach, CA 90815

Tip: Open Wednesday-Sunday 1-5pm. Enter at the Bixby Hill residential security gate at Anaheim Street and Palo Verde — tell the guard you're visiting the rancho. Free guided tours hourly during open hours. The farm animals are the kids' highlight.

Parks & Iconic Landmarks

A 13-acre green-space park wedged between the Long Beach Arena and the downtown Shoreline Marina, with the 10-story Lions Lighthouse for Sight (an iconic 2000 monument funded by Long Beach Lions Clubs to advertise vision-care services). Open green lawns for picnics, harbor benches, and a clear view of the Queen Mary across the harbor. Free year-round; open sunrise to sunset.

Address: 200 Aquarium Way, Long Beach, CA 90802

Tip: Park is open sunrise to sunset. The lighthouse is non-functional (a tribute landmark) but is the most-photographed structure in Long Beach. Free street parking on Aquarium Way and Shoreline Drive. Adjacent to the Aquarium of the Pacific.

Gardens

A 1.3-acre traditional Japanese stroll garden on the Cal State Long Beach campus, designed by landscape architect Edward R. Lovell in 1981 — koi pond, arched bridges, tea house, lanterns, and a zigzag bridge through bamboo. Free entry by reservation only (the campus protects the garden by capping visitors), with each reservation good for up to six people.

Address: 1250 N Bellflower Blvd, Long Beach, CA 90840

Tip: Reservations open at japanesegarden.innosoftfusion.com. Open Wednesday-Sunday with split hours (closed Mon and Tue); always closed during private events. Metered parking is in Lot 16 next to the garden — bring quarters or use the campus app.

Arts & Culture

A 12-block downtown arts district between Long Beach Boulevard and Alamitos Avenue with 30+ galleries, vintage shops, indie cafés, mural-covered alleys, and the monthly Second Saturday Art Walk (5-9pm on the second Saturday of every month). Free to walk year-round. The Museum of Latin American Art anchors the district on its eastern edge.

Address: Long Beach Blvd at 1st St, Long Beach, CA 90802

Tip: Second Saturday Art Walk (5-9pm second Saturday monthly) is when most galleries open late with free wine and music. Free street parking on side streets after 6pm. The murals between Linden and Elm avenues are the most-Instagrammed.

Arts & Culture

A small contemporary and California-art museum in a 1912 Craftsman home on the Bluff Park clifftop, with rotating exhibitions emphasizing post-1950 California art, video, and works by underrepresented Long Beach artists. The Claire's at the Museum waterfront restaurant on the museum lawn has unobstructed Pacific views (paid). Free for kids under 12; half-price Fridays; free Thursday evenings.

Address: 2300 E Ocean Blvd, Long Beach, CA 90803

Tip: Free Thursday evenings 5pm-close is the budget play. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays. LBMA Downtown (a separate 2nd-floor space at 356 E 1st St) is always free to visit. Free street parking on Ocean Boulevard.

Arts & Culture

The only museum in the western US devoted exclusively to modern and contemporary Latin American and Latino art — Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, Wifredo Lam, plus rotating exhibitions of living Latin American artists. A sculpture garden, two outdoor patios, and 55,000 square feet of gallery space anchor downtown Long Beach's East Village. Free first Sundays.

Address: 628 Alamitos Ave, Long Beach, CA 90802

Tip: Free first Sunday of every month — Sunday Family Days run with bilingual programming, kids' art-making, and live music. Free parking in the museum lot. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays.

Parks & Nature

An 85-acre nature preserve inside the 800-acre El Dorado East Regional Park — 2 miles of dirt walking trails through mature oak and sycamore woodland, two ponds with waterfowl, a small free visitor center museum, and a creek that runs in winter. The trails are free; only the vehicle entry to the park has a fee.

Address: 7550 E Spring St, Long Beach, CA 90815

Tip: Trails open Tuesday-Sunday 8am-5pm (no entry after 4:30pm). Visitor Center open Tue-Sun 8:30am-4pm. Pedestrians and cyclists pay nothing — park free on Spring Street outside the gate and walk in. Cashless payment only.

Iconic Landmarks

The 1936 RMS Queen Mary — one of the most beautiful ocean liners ever built — has been moored at Long Beach Harbor since 1967 as a hotel, museum, and event venue. Reopened in 2023 after a long restoration. The harbor walk along Queens Way and Pier J Way runs free along the ship's hull — close enough to photograph the riveted black-and-red plates from a few feet away. Tours and onboard access start at $45.

Address: 1126 Queens Hwy, Long Beach, CA 90802

Tip: Free public parking on Pier J Way (the south side of the harbor, opposite the ship) gives the cleanest photo angle. The Carnival Cruise Terminal and free Queens Way harbor walk run within 100 feet of the ship's hull. Onboard tours and hotel stays are paid.

History & Architecture

Opened in 2019 in downtown Long Beach's Civic Center, the 92,500-square-foot Billie Jean King Main Library is an SOM-designed cross-laminated-timber building — three stories of glass and warm wood with a Family Learning Center, a Center for Adaptive Technology, a Veterans Resource Center, special collections, and an extensive children's area. Free to enter, free WiFi, free public art.

Address: 200 W Broadway, Long Beach, CA 90802

Tip: Open Monday-Saturday with normal library hours; closed Sundays. The rooftop reading terrace is a quiet free spot with skyline views. Civic Center Garage gives 30 minutes free, then $2 for 3 hours with library validation. Adjacent Long Beach Civic Center plaza is free to walk and hosts public art.

Shopping & Strolling

Long Beach's historic main street and entertainment spine — Pine Avenue runs from Ocean Boulevard inland through the downtown promenade with restored 1920s-30s commercial buildings, the 1925 Walker Building, restaurants, bars, the Long Beach Convention Center, and the free Pine Avenue Pier overlook. Free to walk; closed to vehicles for special events and movie nights.

Address: Pine Ave between Ocean Blvd & 7th St, Long Beach, CA 90802

Tip: The promenade between 1st and 3rd streets stays liveliest evenings and weekends. Free outdoor concerts and movie nights typically run summer weekends. The Pine Avenue Pier between the Aquarium and Shoreline Park has free harbor benches.

Shopping & Strolling

Stretching between Cherry and Junipero avenues, 4th Street "Retro Row" is the LA region's vintage epicenter — 40+ independent merchants selling vintage clothing 1940s-80s, mid-century furniture, vinyl, antiques, books, roller skates, locally owned restaurants, coffee shops, and the restored 1925 Art Theatre. Featured in the New York Times Travel section.

Address: 4th St between Cherry Ave & Junipero Ave, Long Beach, CA 90814

Tip: Fourth Fridays on 4th — fourth Friday of each month, shops stay open late with live music and street performers. Best parking is free on side streets like Newport or Wisconsin. The Art Theatre runs first-run, classic, and indie films at affordable prices.

Parks & Iconic

A 12-acre 1903 oceanfront park between Junipero and Cherry avenues, one of Long Beach's oldest. Lawns, mature trees, a band shell that hosts free summer concerts, a community center, and direct stair access to the beach below the bluff. Free year-round, with free street parking on the surrounding residential blocks.

Address: 130 Cherry Ave, Long Beach, CA 90802

Tip: Free Municipal Band concerts at the band shell most Friday evenings June through August. The Bluff Park beach is reachable via the staircase on the south side of the park. Combine with Bluff Park (immediately west) for a longer coastal walk.