A Day in Monterey and Carmel

A trip from December 18, 2005 to December 18, 2005, travelling to Monterey, Pebble Beach, Carmel by the …

A day trip to Monterey and Carmel. I show family activities … More

A day trip to Monterey and Carmel. I show family activities that can be done on one day, assuming you arrive around 10am in Monterey. The trip starts with a short visit at Fisherman's Whart in Monterey (plan to spend one or two hours there). There you can visit the various gift shops and stores at the Wharf. Be sure to get a sampler of the clamshowder soup that is offered there from various restaurants. At the end of the wharf is Rappa's seafood restaurant. You can go there for an early lunch there if you like. If you're not that hungry at this point you can just get a light lunch, since you can get a full dinner later in Carmel in the evening. Rappas's has very good seafood choices that are typical for this region. After the lunch you head towards Cannery Row. You can park your car in a public parking garage (there are parking signs that show you how to get there). From the garage it is a short walk to the Aquarium. It is early afternoon now, so you should spend at least about 2-3 hours in the aquarium. After the aquarium - depending on the weather - you're either heading directly to Carmel using highway 1, or take the scenic drive around Pacific Grove and 17 Mile Drive, where you can also head towards Carmel. Please note that the 17 Mile Drive is optional, depending on where you are in your schedule. If you have an hour extra time and the weather is nice I highly recommend it. Assuming you arrive in Carmel around 5-7 pm, you can park somewhere in downtown (close to Ocean avenue). There you can walk around in downtown, visit some shops and galleries, and later on enjoy a nice diiner in one of the restaurants. This time of the year it's probably dark when you get there, so visiting the beach down at Ocean Avenue is not recommended. Instead, spend more time in downtown, and enjoy the christmas lights and decoration that make a visit here worthwhile.

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Sun 12/18/05 (day 1) - Monterey, Pebble Beach, Carmel By The Sea, Carmel-by-The-Sea

In 6246 trips

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Average Rating (156):

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This is one of the best designed aquariums going. A unique feature is the two-story tank, home to a kelp forest in w …

Thing to Do

886 Cannery Row
Monterey, CA 93940-1023
United States
+1 831 648 4800

Sun Dec 18 6:00am - Sun Dec 18 12:00pm

Notes

Plan 2-3 hours at least for a visit here. Depending on the weather you may want to make a choice between a longer visit here, or even skip the aquarium all together, and do instead a longer scenic drive along 17 Mile Drive later on. If you have younger kids - they really like the splash zone inside, and watching the sharks.

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Old Fisherman's Wharf

Average Rating (26):

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With many excellent restaurants, guided tours, and interesting shops, this landmark has something for everybody. Whe …

Thing to Do

Fisherman's Wharf and Olivier Street
Monterey, CA 93940
United States

Sun Dec 18 6:00am - Sun Dec 18 12:00pm

Notes

The trip starts with a short visit at Fisherman's Whart in Monterey (plan to spend one or two hours total there). There you can visit the various gift shops and stores at the Wharf. Be sure to get a sampler of the clamshowder soup that is offered there from various restaurants. Sometimes there is a little monkey before you enter the wharf that poses for a picture or likes to shake hands. The kids really like to watch him.

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Rappa's Seafood Restaurant

Average Rating (8):

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This legendary seafood restaurant is located at the end of Fisherman's Wharf and its origin goes back to the 1950s …

Restaurant

101 Fisherman's Wharf, #1
Monterey, CA 93940-2439
United States
+1 831 372 7562

Sun Dec 18 12:00pm - Sun Dec 18 1:00pm

Notes

Have good seafood choices that are typically for the region. On the weekends and around lunch time things can get busy here. So plan at least one hour for lunch.

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In 4354 trips

17-Mile Drive

Average Rating (42):

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One of the most scenic drives anywhere in the world, this stretch of highway runs between Pacific Grove and Carmel. …

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17 Mile Dr
Pebble Beach, CA 93953
United States
+1 831 373 3304

Sun Dec 18 12:00pm - Sun Dec 18 6:00pm

Notes

If the weather is good a scenic drive from Monterey to Carmel using 17 Mile Drive is a nice thing to do. If the weather is not good, spend more time in the aquarium and skip 17 Mile Drive alltogether. the drive from Monterey to Carmel using 17 Mile drive takes typically about 90 minutes (incl. stops to take pictures). Be sure to stop at "Lone Cypres" (see picture). This one is worth a stop. If you skip 17 Mile Drive you can go Highway 1 to Carmel. This is faster and saves time. On the trip you can stop for a coffee at Spanish Inn, or the Lodge at Pebble Peach if want to.

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One Ocean Avenue

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This gallery, whose owner has 20 years of experience, is as elegant as it is diverse. Whether it be the mouth-blown …

Thing to Do

Ocean Avenue and Mission Street
Carmel by the Sea, CA 93921
United States

Sun Dec 18 6:00pm - Mon Dec 19 12:00am

Notes

There are many art galleries downtown Carmel. All fo them are worth visiting, but given the time constraints you may want to focus on this one. Also, kids typically may not appreciate those galleries at all ;-) So maybe just walking up and down on Ocean Avenue, visiting some shops and galleries maybe the thing to do here.

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Grill On Ocean Avenue (The)

Average Rating (10):

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The decor of this upscale restaurant in downtown Carmel is sophisticated yet comfortable. The airy dining area …

Restaurant

Ocean Ave
Carmel-by-The-Sea, CA 93923
United States
+1 831 624 2569

Sun Dec 18 7:00pm - Sun Dec 18 9:00pm

Notes

Finish your day with a nice dinner at this place. If you only had a light lunch in Monterey you're probably hugnry by now. They have good food choices also for the kids.

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Monterey, CA 93940-1023
United States
This is one of the best designed aquariums going. A unique feature is the two-story tank, home to a kelp forest in which swim sunfish, sharks, and the occasional diver tasked with squeegeeing
Notes:
Plan 2-3 hours at least for a visit here. Depending on the weather you may want to make a choice between a longer visit here, or even skip the aquarium all together, and do instead a longer scenic drive along 17 Mile Drive later on. If you have younger kids - they really like the splash zone inside, and watching the sharks.

Posted 3 years ago.

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Deb (View Deb's trips)

Last summer we took our kids (7 & 13) to Monterey for a week. It was one of our best vacations ever. The aquarium was nice but we enjoyed looking at the tide pools even more. My TV/Computer addicted children weren't interested in anything but being near those tide pools. We also took a whale watching tour that was awsome. We plan to go back as soon as we can!

BR3WIN-DODG3R (View BR3WIN-DODG3R's trips)

last summer my wife and two children (11-12) camped for four days at big-sur and set aside one day for monterey which included the aquarium, very nice lunch at cannery row, and a little shopping... the trip from big-sur through carmel was nothing short of spectacular (as is the longish trip from morro bay to big-sur)... after checking out on a thursday, we made a trip to salinas and spent a night in a hotel for the annual 3-day gilroy garlic festival (less crowded on friday)... that had to be one of the most fantastic vacations we've ever been on... yes we would do it again & again...

SarahM (View SarahM's trips)

Last summer was the second trip to the Monterey/Carmel area. The aquarium is the best we've ever visited (and we've been to quite a few). Yeah, the area is touristy, but hey, that's what you're there to be: a tourist. Carmel is amazingly beautiful and serene. What a great little town to wonder the streets and browse the stores. Take a jacket and your camera! It can be pricey, but what a great place to get lost!

My trip to the Monterey Peninsula was extrodinary. I had the opportunity to spend a couple of nights in Big Sur at the Post Ranch Inn. It is one of those places that you must experience in your life the Inn was very magical and the food at the Sierra Mar restaurant is incredible, we had dinner both nights there. We are planning to return again next year for our birthdays.

Ben (View Ben's trips)

One of the most memorable trip. Why? because we went twice on this are. 1st with my wife and then second with my two kids and they enjoy both the beauty of aquarium and beach areas.

I like on this are since they have the drive to protect the environment until next generation.

While learning Russian at the Presidio Of Monterey I had the priviledge of living so close to the Aquarium. I used to spend hours down there just watching the activities in the two-story tank; I went to Carmel's Hoggs Breath Inn and actually met the man, Clint; I think he's sold it since. At the bottom of the long hill going off post, I've forgotten the street name, there was a bar. The LA Rams had a few players that owned it. The mall was nice, good concerts at Laguna-Seca. I got to see the last of the Steinbeck homes, one of the houses which John Steinbeck helped build. Unfortunately the only reason I saw it was because it burned to the ground. There's a small shop just off post, the exit you take to go to McDonald's. They make the best sausage hoagie in all of the land. Going back to how I started this, the Aquarium. Boy I spent alot of time there, weekends. Spend lot's of time in the area; the more time you spend there, the more you will enjoy the area. Oh yeah,... Denny's, can't forget Denny's. 24 hours and two locations..., well at least there was when I was there in 89-90.

e (View e's trips)

actually did monterey over a weekend...beautiful place.

Scott (View Scott's trips)

I spent 5 years in Monterey while I served in the 1st Bn. 9th Inf. Regt. 7th Infantry Div. at Ft. Ord. It was then and still is a very beautiful area. If I wasn't spending time at the aquarium with my buddies, we were spening a lot of time either across the street at the little shopping mall across from the aquarium or watching the waves tumble over the rocks at Big Sur. We also spent some time up in Santa Cruz doing some surfing. While there, we also got to see some of "Star Trek IV" being filmed in Monterey and "The Lost Boys" being filmed in Santa Cruz.

SilverFox (View SilverFox's trips)

My wife and I work for the same wine broker located on the East Coast.This summer we both spent a week in California with our son and daughter visiting a number of the vineyards that our company does business with ( a tough job but somebody's got to do it ! ) Monterey was a stopping point to give our kids a break from the continual occurrence of watching us pressing palms,holding a cluster of grapes on the vine and sipping various vintages.
Monterey was a nice stop for what it had to offer. We had the good fortune of finding a great restaurant(if you like seafood)by the name of Monterey's Fish House located on Del Monte Ave. As delicious fare makes for great memories, this certainly did the trick !

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