Monterey: what to see, where to stay and how to get around
In the 1930s and 1940s Monterey was one of the biggest sardine ports in the world, and the canneries on Ocean View Avenue ran day and night. John Steinbeck wrote about the street and the people who lived around it, and then the sardines disappeared almost overnight around 1950. This walk follows the waterfront from the old wharf, along the cannery street, out to the point where the bay meets the open ocean. About three hours with the aquarium visit cut short; a full day if you go in properly.
A short history of Monterey
The Spanish explorer Sebastián Vizcaíno anchored in the bay in 1602 and named it after the Viceroy of New Spain. Only on 3 June 1770 did Gaspar de Portolá and the friar Junípero Serra establish a presidio and mission here, and Monterey became the capital of Alta California, first under Spain and from 1822 under Mexico. On 7 July 1846 Commodore John Sloat raised the United States flag in the harbour, and in 1849 California's first constitution was written here. In the 20th century the town lived from sardine fishing, and the canneries of "Cannery Row" became world famous through John Steinbeck's 1945 novel. The sardines disappeared in the 1950s, and in 1984 the Monterey Bay Aquarium opened in a former cannery building.
The ten best sights in Monterey
1Monterey Bay AquariumBuy tickets online and plan the day around the feeding times at the kelp forest and the otters
2Cannery RowPark once in the garage and walk; the street is a mile of old canneries turned into shops
3Old Fisherman's WharfWalk the length tasting the free chowder samples; sea lions bark under the far end
4Custom HouseThe start of the Path of History, a walking trail marked by tiles in the pavement
5Colton HallFree museum upstairs, where California's constitution was written
6Royal Presidio ChapelStill a working parish; visit between Masses
7Stevenson HouseOpens only on certain days, but the garden is lovely from the street
8Carmel MissionThe most beautiful of California's missions; allow an hour for the museum rooms
9National Steinbeck CenterIn Salinas, Steinbeck's home town, 30 minutes inland — pair it with the train if you need one
10Point Pinos LighthouseSmall and open only some afternoons; the shoreline drive past it is the real reason
Scan with your phone camera to open the map there
What is an audio walk?
Tours in Monterey →A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Monterey:
Free walking tours in Monterey
Sardines, Steinbeck and the sea
In the 1930s and 1940s Monterey was one of the biggest sardine ports in the world, and the canneries on Ocean View Avenue ran day and night. John Steinbeck wrote about the street and the people who lived around it, and then the sardines disappeared almost overnight around 1950. This walk follows the waterfront from the old wharf, along the cannery street, out to the point where the bay meets the open ocean. About three hours with the aquarium visit cut short; a full day if you go in properly.
- Old Fisherman's Wharf · Thomas Larkin built the first landing here in 1845 for the Custom House trade. In March 1923, at the height of the sardine boom, a loaded steamer leaned on the timbers and part of the pier collapsed, dumping 10,000 cases of sardines into the harbour.
- Cannery Row · The street was called Ocean View Avenue until 1958, when the city renamed it after Steinbeck's 1945 novel Cannery Row. By then the sardines were gone and most of the canneries stood empty.
- Ed Ricketts' Lab · The modest wooden building at 800 Cannery Row was the laboratory of Ed Ricketts, the marine biologist who became 'Doc' in Steinbeck's novel. He died in 1948 when a train hit his car at the crossing just up the street.
- Monterey Bay Aquarium · Opened in 1984 on the site of the Hovden Cannery, the last cannery on the Row, which closed in 1973. Its kelp forest tank, about nine metres tall and open to the sky, was the first of its kind.
- Lovers Point · Pacific Grove began in 1875 as a Methodist summer retreat, and for decades the town was dry. The point is said to have been named Lovers of Jesus Point by those first Methodists.
- Point Pinos Lighthouse · First lit in 1855, it is the oldest lighthouse still operating on the West Coast of the United States. One of its keepers in the 19th century was a woman, Emily Fish, who kept the light for over twenty years.
The capital before California
Before San Francisco was more than a mission and a fort, Monterey was the capital of Alta California, first under Spain and then under Mexico. The United States took it in 1846, and California's first constitution was written here three years later. The old adobe buildings of that time are still scattered among the modern streets, linked by the Path of History. About two hours on foot in town, then a short drive to the mission in Carmel.
- Custom House · Built in the 1820s, it is the oldest government building in California. On 7 July 1846 Commodore John Sloat raised the American flag here and claimed California for the United States.
- Larkin House · Thomas Larkin, a New England merchant and later the only American consul to Mexican California, built it in the 1830s. Its mix of an adobe house with a two-storey wooden balcony became the 'Monterey Colonial' style copied all over the state.
- Colton Hall · Built by Walter Colton, a navy chaplain who became the town's alcalde, partly with the fines of local gamblers and the labour of prisoners. In the autumn of 1849 the delegates met upstairs and wrote California's first constitution.
- Stevenson House · In the autumn of 1879 Robert Louis Stevenson, ill and almost penniless, took a room here, then a lodging house. He had crossed from Scotland to court Fanny Osbourne, an American woman he married the following year.
- Royal Presidio Chapel · Built of stone in 1794 for the Spanish garrison, it is the oldest continuously working church in California and the only presidio chapel left in the state. It has also been the cathedral of the diocese of Monterey.
- Carmel Mission · Founded in 1770 and moved to Carmel a year later, it was the headquarters of Junípero Serra, who founded the chain of California missions. He is buried here, and Pope Francis declared him a saint in 2015.
Down the coast to Big Sur
South of Carmel, Highway 1 runs along the Big Sur coast, where the Santa Lucia mountains drop straight into the Pacific. The road was finished only in 1937, after eighteen years of work, and before that the coast was reached by horse trail. This is the start of the next leg toward San Luis Obispo, so drive it in the morning, when the light is behind you. Fuel up in Carmel; there are few stations on the coast and they are expensive, and the road is closed by landslides from time to time, so check before you leave.
- Lone Cypress · A Monterey cypress that has stood on its rock for more than 250 years, held up now by cables. The Pebble Beach Company uses it as its logo and has trademarked its image.
- Carmel Beach · Carmel-by-the-Sea has no street numbers on its houses, so residents collect their mail at the post office. Clint Eastwood was the town's mayor from 1986 to 1988.
- Point Lobos · One of only two places where the Monterey cypress grows wild; the other is at Pebble Beach, just to the north. The cove inside was used by Chinese fishermen and later Portuguese whalers in the 19th century.
- Bixby Bridge · Finished in 1932, the concrete arch spans a canyon about 80 metres deep and was among the tallest single-span concrete bridges in the world when it opened. Before it, travellers went inland on a road that was often cut in winter.
- Point Sur Lighthouse · Lit in 1889 on top of a volcanic rock about 110 metres high, joined to the shore by a sandbar. It can be visited only on guided tours, which start from the gate on the highway.
- Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park · Named after the Pfeiffer family, among the first settlers on the Big Sur coast in 1869. Its trails climb through redwoods growing near the southern edge of their range.
Getting to Monterey and getting around
- Monterey Regional Airport · Ten minutes from downtown; useful if someone joins or leaves the road trip here
- Monterey Transit Plaza · MST buses leave from here; in summer a free trolley runs along the waterfront to the aquarium
- Salinas Amtrak Station · The nearest train, half an hour inland on the Coast Starlight line
Cheap eats in Monterey
Monterey's lunch is clam chowder, thick and creamy, served in a hollowed-out sourdough loaf on the wharf, where the restaurants hand out free tastes to pull you in. The bay also gives calamari, rock cod and Dungeness crab in winter, and the farms of the Salinas Valley inland grow much of America's lettuce and artichokes. Prices are Californian; a sit-down lunch with a tip easily reaches $25 a head.
- Old Fisherman's Grotto · Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl on the wharf, about $12-16
- LouLou's Griddle in the Middle · Big breakfasts out on the working wharf, about $14-20
- Paris Bakery · Croissants and sandwiches downtown, about $5-12
- Carmel Bakery · Pastries and coffee on Ocean Avenue before the Big Sur drive, about $5-10
- Phil's Fish Market · Cioppino and fish and chips at Moss Landing, about $18-30
- Old Monterey Farmers Market · Tuesday street food stalls, a plate about $10-15
Museums in Monterey
- Museum of Monterey · Sardine fleet, whaling and the Spanish town, by the Custom House
- National Steinbeck Center · Steinbeck's life and books in Salinas, including the camper truck from Travels with Charley
- Monterey Museum of Art · California painting and photography, including the Monterey photographers
- Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History · Birds and butterflies of the coast; small and free
- Tor House · The stone house the poet Robinson Jeffers built by hand; guided tours on set days
Nature and day trips near Monterey
- Point Lobos · Short cliff trails with sea otters, seals and cypress
- Asilomar State Beach · Dunes and tide pools on the Pacific Grove shore
- Garrapata State Park · Quiet Big Sur coast trails without the crowds of Point Lobos
- Elkhorn Slough · Sea otters and birds in a tidal estuary
- Jacks Peak · Pine forest above the bay with views over Monterey and Carmel
Things to do in Monterey with kids
- Monterey Bay Aquarium · Otters, penguins and a touch pool; a whole day
- Dennis the Menace Park · A big free playground with a real steam locomotive to climb
- Monarch Grove Sanctuary · Thousands of butterflies in winter; volunteers lend binoculars
- Whale-watching from the wharf · Boats leave year-round; humpbacks in summer, grey whales in winter
- Asilomar tide pools · Crabs and anemones at low tide; check the tide table
Where to eat in Monterey
- The Sardine Factory · Classic Cannery Row dining room since 1968; book
- Monterey's Fish House · Popular seafood place away from the waterfront; arrive early
- Passionfish · Sustainable seafood in Pacific Grove; book ahead
- Montrio Bistro · Californian cooking in a 1910 firehouse downtown
- Rosine's · Family diner known for enormous cakes
- Old Fisherman's Grotto · Seafood dinner over the harbour
Frequently asked questions about Monterey
What is there to see in Monterey?
The top sights in Monterey are Monterey Bay Aquarium, Cannery Row and Old Fisherman's Wharf. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.
How many days do you need in Monterey?
Three to four days are enough to see the best of Monterey without rushing, including at least one walking tour.
Is there a free walking tour in Monterey?
Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Monterey, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: Sardines, Steinbeck and the sea.
How do you get to Monterey and get around?
The main ways are Monterey Regional Airport, Monterey Transit Plaza and Salinas Amtrak Station. Full details are in the transport section on this page.
Where to stay in Monterey, and for how much?
sleepntrip shows only rooms in Monterey that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.
Looking for a hotel in Monterey for your dates?
Only rooms that meet nine conditions, up to $80 a night.