Guides · Monterey-Carmel
Monterey-Carmel
48 places · 8 areas · a free route, then $4.99 for the whole city · offline map 3.6 MB
The free route
Free in the app, permanently, before you pay anything. 8 stops, 1 day, about 1.1 km, planned by the app's own engine.
Day 1 · ~1.1 km
1
Monterey Bay Aquarium
886 Cannery Row; 1984 aquarium on the Hovden Cannery site, with a living kelp forest
Start at the 28-foot Kelp Forest, then watch the sea otters and stand in front of the great Open Sea window with its tunas, sharks and turtles. Check the daily feeding schedule when you arrive.
2
Pacific Biological Laboratories
800 Cannery Row; Ed Ricketts's lab, Doc's lab in Steinbeck's novel, open on monthly city tours
Stand before the building at 800 Cannery Row, the lab of Ed Ricketts that Steinbeck turned into Doc's Western Biological. If a city tour is running, go inside.
3
Wing Chong Building
Cannery Row; 1918 Chinese grocery that became Lee Chong's in Steinbeck's Cannery Row
Look for the old Wing Chong sign still visible on the facade.
4
Cannery Workers Shacks
Bruce Ariss Way off Cannery Row; three cabins of Filipino, Japanese and Spanish cannery workers
Look at the three small cabins, and use the city's phone tour for their stories and old photographs.
5
Steinbeck Plaza
Cannery Row at Prescott Ave; small plaza with Steinbeck's bust overlooking the bay
Stop at the foot of Prescott Avenue by Carol W. Brown's bust of Steinbeck, read the plaque with the opening of his novel, and look out over the bay where the sardine boats once worked.
6
Cannery Row Monument
Cannery Row near Bruce Ariss Way; bronze of Steinbeck, Ricketts and the Row's real characters
Walk round the bronze and find each figure: Steinbeck perched on top, Ed Ricketts at the base, a Chinese fisherman, the madam Flora Woods and the four businessmen who revived the Row.
7
McAbee Beach
Cannery Row; small beach where Chinese fishermen settled after the 1906 fire
Read the marker at the small beach, then look out at the water where whalers, tourists and Chinese fishing families each took their turn.
8
Monterey Bay Coastal Recreation Trail
shoreline path from the wharves past Cannery Row to Pacific Grove, on the old rail line
Walk or rent a bike and follow the paved path from Fisherman's Wharf past Cannery Row and the aquarium to Pacific Grove, watching for otters and seals offshore.
More of the top sights
A few of the 48 places in the full guide. Each one has its own written guide in the app: what to do, what to notice, the history, and why it hits.
Carmel Mission Basilica
3080 Rio Rd; 1771 Mission San Carlos Borromeo, Junípero Serra's grave, closed Monday and Tuesday
Carmel Beach
foot of Ocean Ave; white-sand beach under cypress bluffs, dogs allowed off leash under voice control
Old Fisherman's Wharf
1870 harbor wharf off Custom House Plaza, sea lions and harbor views
Custom House
Custom House Plaza; 1820s Mexican customs house where the US flag was raised in July 1846
Areas
Old Monterey · Custom House Plaza · Presidio and Breakwater · Cannery Row · Pacific Grove Shore · Carmel Village · Carmel Beach · Carmel Mission
Illustrations are drawn for the app. Place descriptions are written by hand and checked against a primary source; facts draw on Wikidata (CC0) and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Maps © OpenStreetMap contributors.