Monterey walking tour & city guide

Old Monterey and the Path of History

The old town begins at the waterfront with the Custom House, California's oldest government building. From here the Path of History, a walking route of about 2 miles marked by round tiles set into the pavement, leads past adobe houses, the First Brick House, the Old Whaling Station with its whalebone sidewalk, California's First Theatre and Colton Hall, where delegates wrote the state's first constitution in 1849.

Alvarado Street, the main street of downtown, runs inland from the waterfront with cafés, bookshops and an evening farmers market on Tuesdays.

Old Fisherman's Wharf

The wooden wharf next to the Custom House is lined with seafood stands, candy shops and booths selling whale-watching trips. Sea lions often lounge on the rocks and pilings nearby, and the views across the marina take in the whole curve of the bay.

Cannery Row and the aquarium

Cannery Row, a mile along the shore, was the heart of the sardine industry until the fish disappeared in the middle of the 20th century. The old cannery buildings, linked by enclosed bridges over the street, now house shops, restaurants and hotels, and at the far end the Monterey Bay Aquarium fills a former cannery with kelp forests and sea otters.

A walk along the bay

Start at the Custom House, walk out along Old Fisherman's Wharf, then follow the paved shoreline Recreation Trail west past the Coast Guard pier, where sea lions gather, to Cannery Row. Walk the length of the Row to the aquarium and, if you have energy left, continue on to the rocky shore of Lovers Point in Pacific Grove. The walk from the wharf to the aquarium is about 2 kilometers and almost completely flat.

Visiting tips

Monterey is cool all year. Summer mornings are often foggy, and September and October usually bring the sunniest, warmest days. Book the aquarium ahead on weekends and holidays. Carmel-by-the-Sea and the 17-Mile Drive along the Pebble Beach coast are a short drive south, and Big Sur begins just beyond them.