Where to stay

Hotels near Atlantic City Beach and the Atlantic City Boardwalk are perfect for enjoying sun, sand and water during the day and exciting nightlife as the sun begins to set. Stay in the Brigantine neighborhood, separated from Atlantic City by the Absecon Inlet, to visit the more peaceful Brigantine Beach for sailing, kayaking, sunbathing and swimming. Book a hotel in Ventnor City where nearly a dozen sections of beach have lifeguards and varying activities. Farther south, family-friendly Ocean City is a great place to stay to enjoy a very long beach with a less hectic backdrop and popular activities of surfing, skim boarding and building sandcastles. Even hotels in the gateway neighborhoods of Pleasantville and Absecon on the mainland are within a 20-minute drive from Atlantic City beaches.

Kids can't gamble but they can have lots of fun in and near Atlantic City. Ocean City hotels are popular with families because the neighborhood does not allow alcohol, resulting in far less of the wild party atmosphere in parts of Atlantic City. Staying along the Atlantic City Boardwalk also provides many great activities for kids, including amusement park rides on the steel pier, visits to the aquarium and plenty of taffy and arcades. Charge kids with a scavenger hunt for street names from the Monopoly board game, from Mediterranean Avenue to Boardwalk. For some time out from city life, book a hotel in White Horse Pike, where kids can pick blueberries while exploring state forest and wildlife areas and still be only a 40-minute ride from the boardwalk and beaches of Atlantic City.

Downtown Atlantic City hotels are near numerous cultural attractions beyond casinos, from the 1857 Absecon Lighthouse to the galleries and modern exhibitions of the Noyes Arts Garage. Stay in Galloway near the Stockton University campus to enjoy lectures, live stage performances and comedy in its performing arts center. Book a hotel along the boardwalk in Ventnor City to climb into one of the city's iconic sights, the six-story-tall structure of Lucy the Elephant. Along the mainland shoreline, Somers Point accommodations are close to a community playhouse and art gallery. As a contrast to the casinos of the city, Egg Harbor Township resorts and hotels offer the peaceful alternative of golfing culture, with relaxing days on the fairways followed by evenings reviewing the day's scores over casual drinks and dinner.