After a week in Long Beach, we’ve rounded up a list of the top 5 things we think you should do while visiting. Although we weren’t originally planning on visiting this town, we’re glad we did as it was the perfect place for a slow week near the sea. It’s a bit of a tourist town but that isn’t always a bad thing.
- Visit The Long Beach Peninsula (the longest contiguous beach in the U.S.)
- Dylan’s Cottage Bakery & Delicatessen
- Eat dinner at El Mar or El Compadre
- Eat lunch at Molly’s Station & More
- Take a stroll on Discovery Trail
Long Beach Peninsula– The beach here is quite nice! You can drive your personal vehicle out on the beach. We actually drove the RV out and let Winnie touch the sand for the first time! There were a lot of van-lifers hanging out on the beach watching the sunset. The beach is also dog friendly so you can bring your pup with you (on a leash). We noticed a lot of dead crab and washed up jelly fish so watch your step near the water. The tide here moves quickly and we had to move our setup multiple times over a few hours to stay out of the water.
Dylan’s Bakery (4/5)- I’m a sucker for sweets so I always love a good bakery. This place had SO many options. We tried the cinnamon rolls, racetracs and a few different danishes. The coffee was good as well. Overall it was a good stop, a little pricey but #tourism
El Mar/El Compadre (5/5)- So we only had chips and salsa & a fried ice cream at El Mar but it was all delicious! The salsa was so fresh and tasted more like pico de gallo than it did traditional salsa. I’d definitely recommend going here for the salsa if nothing else. Just an FYI, they only have bottled drinks and run a very small kitchen so your order may take a bit longer. El Compadre was another good mexican joint that we visited for lunch. The chips were FRESH out of the fryer and I’ve never tasted better tortillas in my life.
Molly’s Station & More (5/5) – This was an awesome local spot. The menu is pretty basic and only offers sandwiches but they are massive! We could only eat half of it and ended up splitting it into 2 meals. The owner has spent the last few years building a train depot model inside the restaurant that’s really unique. You can tell that the locals love the town and enjoy the company of travelers visiting town.
Discovery Trail (5/5)- Such a cool path! This is a historical paved walking/biking path that has little stops along the way to describe the early settlers. It runs parallel with the beach so you can occasionally catch views of the sea during your walk. We came out almost every afternoon to stretch our legs on the trail. We saw a few people riding horses on the beach but you may also be able to ride horses on the trail (not totally sure, so I’d verify if you plan on riding your horse here…)
That’s our top 5 list for Long Beach! It’s a quaint town with enough to keep you busy for a week. We also frequented the hardware store here for some RV parts during our stay and had our tires replaced in town. Both businesses were very friendly and helpful.
Accommodations: Sand Castle RV Park (5/5) – We enjoyed our time here because it was a quick 10 minute walk to town and a 15 minute walk to the beach. We also had full hookups and free onsite laundry services! It’s rare to find laundry services included at RV parks so we really appreciated that perk.
Additional Dining: Bensen’s by the Beach (4/5)- This is the only breakfast spot in town so you may have to wait 20 minutes or so to be seated. It’s also another small family owned business which is nice because you feel like you’re giving back to the community when you eat at places like this. We read online that it was expensive for breakfast food but the portions were worth it. That’s the most accurate description I can give as well. I ordered 2 pancakes and between the two of us, we still had leftovers. The portions here are HUGE. They do nickel and dime you on everything (to the level of whip cream on your pancakes) but the food was still great!
