Hi,
My boyfriend and I are taking a trip to San Diego on the first week of May. We are flying into San Diego are planning on staying for 1 or 2 nights there and then driving up the coast to Long Beach. We only have 4 nights but wanted to stay somewhere in the middle and then somewhere in long beach the next night. Does anyone have any must-sees that we should stop at? Also any inexpensive hotel ideas?
Thanks!
Steph

Laguna Beach would be a great stop mid way.

Check Hotwire and Priceline for hotel deals in Long Beach.

There are some new hotels around downtown LB such as the Avia and the Maya, you might figure get a really good rate for a 4-star. There's also a hotel on the Queen Mary.

Also, San Diego and Long Beach are only about 2 hours apart, and it's only about an hour to Laguna, do you really need to split your stay?

Not even 2 hours. Rather than split your stay, you might take a whole day to drive up to Long Beach. That would give you time to visit things of interest like the Mission at San Juan Capistrano, and perhaps have lunch in Laguna Beach.

Thanks! I know its 2 hours, so we might just do 2 nights in San Diego and 2 in Long Beach. I just didnt know if there was anywhere we realy should spend a day in between. I've actually never used Hotwire, but I will definetly check it out for Long Beach. For San Diego I have just been looking for places that are really close to the beach.
Thanks again,
Steph

Why Long Beach?

I was wondering that too. I thought maybe you're going on a cruise which leaves from Long Beach, but other than that there's not much reason to stay overnight for even one night.

why stay 2 nights in Long Beach...eeeewwwwww!
How about 3 nights in SD and 1 night in Santa Monica or Laguna Beach?
Long Beach is filled with oil refineries and just not a real pretty place to hang.
Great deals in SD right now for 4-5* resorts in SD.
check expedia.com

ksucat..have you actually been to Long Beach? Because there isn't even a single refinery here?

here is one in Long Beach for you..there are others..
yes, I've been to Long Beach..not a fan, especially for our tourists that I feel would be better served elsewhere.
Fifth Generation native Southern Californian.

www.ppcla.com/l_paramount.html

Filled with refineries? I'm sure you googled hard to scrape that single one up that is barely inside the city boundaries.

Carson, Paramount, Wilmington...but not Long Beach.

Hi, rosie785:
I'm assuming you have good and sufficient reasons to go to Long Beach. Every year about 5 million visitors do the same. And for all I or any of the other posters know, you're going to your Aunt Minnie's funeral, or perhaps the annual convention of Oil Refiners.

My suggestion is similar to Barbara's, except that it involves a visit to the Wild Animal Park near Escondido, about 30 minutes north of San Diego. It opens at 9AM, and you can easily spend 5 hours there (or more, depending on how long your feet can take it.) Then it's about a 90 minute drive to Long Beach.

mlgb..
when you make a snarky comment that you did..
'Because there isn't even a single refinery here?'

You better be right..3 refineries is a lot.

There is Edgington Refinery and Chemoil in Long Beach..

Sorry but don't turn this around that I'm the bad guy and you are so right...when you're WRONG!

One interesting alternative if you must stay in Long Beach is to stay aboard the Queen Mary.

The only time I've stayed in Long Beach was when my daughter competed in the So. Cal. Special Olympics Summer Games which are held at Long Beach State university. I stayed at the Westin and it was very nice.

"Why Long Beach?" is a valid question. Maybe Steph has a reason that we can help her with. Long Beach has quite a bit to recommend.

OTOH "eeeewwwwww!" is a pretty snarky and uncalled for response, IMO.

It's my opinion lvk..when your a tourist and only have 4 days, I am trying to maximize the highest and best use for Steph.
I think the Queen Mary would be fun day trip..heard mixed on the rooms and the place is very haunted.

At least I bring ideas to the table..if Steph needs to stay in LB, then lets get him/her the best place..but just to go up and not spend most of your time in SD for LB, is not computing.

Sorry guys, I am just reading this now. We are flying out of Long Beach. We dont necessarily need to stay there for a night. We are thinking 2 in san diego and then 2 in the laguna beach/ dana point area. Thanks for letting me know to stay away from Long Beach!

Sorry OP if you relied on kuscats bad information but I'm sure you'll have fine time in Laguna.

Long Beach's two major tourism attractions are the Queen Mary and the Aquarium, as well as the whale watching/dolphin tours and ferry to Catalina. Belmont Shore is a pedestrian zone where you can find a range of restaurants.

I mentioned two hotels and Queen Mary in my first post before kuscat decided to snark her "ewwwwwww". I stand by my opinion that her knowledge of LB is limited to Google. EG, she gets a hit with "refinery" in Google, but that does not mean it is a refinery. For example Chemoil is an offloading terminal in the harbor, not a refinery.

If your going to diss me mlgb, spell my moniker correctly!
Second, I am a man and not a 'her'.
Third, its my opinion about Long Beach.
There are 3 oil refineries in Long Beach.
I'm sure there are some great areas of LB, I just haven't experienced them, thats great that you have!
Laguna Beach is a great coastal town and the last I checked, no oil refineries!
Rosie, just trying to give you the best 4 days while your here in Southern California.
Have a great trip and report back!