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Guide to Monterey, USA - California
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MontereyMonterey
California's first capital city, Monterey is an historic center for numerous achievements, including the drafting of the state's constitution, a 19th-century whaling town, and later home to the Western Hemisphere's largest collection of sardine-packing plants. There's much that has gone on here since its inception, and it still has a great deal of influence in California's governmental and economic affairs, but it has ceased its role as the most popular place to visit, live, or do business in on the United States' western coast. Though it has carried California throughout much of state's existence in the way of being part of the Union, its role in leading the advancement of region has gone to other more, allegedly, suitable parties. This shift, however, has allowed Monterey to focus its efforts on preservation and keeping its low-key image for as long a time as possible; via such terms it has done remarkably well. A city forever encapsulated in one of Steinbeck's most popular novels, Cannery Row, Monterey is one of the few major Californian hubs that still harks back to its roots in a myriad of settings and ways, factors which give it ample reason for remaining amongst the state's best traveler-cities. Tourists do make up a large percentage of the city's gross income, but we feel it'd surely still hang around, albeit not in such a vibrant manner. You can indeed visit the fabled the canning districts, but the warehouses have been all but entirely replaced by boutiques, restaurants, and souvenir shops, doling out what remaining memories of 19th- and 20th-century Monterey held. If the lack of a sardine stench has got you down, you can always head on over to the white sands of Pebble Beach, Carmel, and/or Big Sur for some cheer-me-up time with the West Coast sun.
When to go:
Centered almost directly between the northernmost and southernmost points of the California coastline, Monterey is situated near the southern tip of a spacious bay, making the city prone to the full effects of just about any storm to make its way to the area, as well as receiving a bounty of temperate weather that blankets nearly all regions from San Francisco to Long Beach. Unless you've been scouting the forecasts and sight a large patch of rain coming for Monterey, you can more or less rest assured that you'll be greeted with blue skies, cool - but not too cold - water, a broad, relatively smog-less views. Note: Summer is, of course, the most popular season for Monterey in the way of tourism.
Getting there and around:
Monterey Peninsula Airport, located just 3 miles outside of the city, is home to dozens of daily regional flights, and though Monterey is by no means a high-class resort town, you'll find that, more often than not, area hotels will offer free shuttle service to and from the airport. Take that, L.A. Some tourists like to go it alone when they visit a foreign land, but if you're fresh from non-US soil and aren't interested in lugging around a 1-to-2-ton four-wheel machine, you'll do well with the aid of the city's Waterfront Area Visitor Express. Every 12 minutes a free shuttle goes on a set course from the conglomerate of parking garages in downtown Monterey to the shore.
Attractions:
Despite Monterey's now meager rations of the state's annual air traffic, it might come both as a surprise and a delight that the city's only marine life center sees roughly 2 million visitors every 12 months. The Monterey Bay Aquarium is located on the edge of one of the world's largest underwater canyons, and it allows you both hands-on and hands-off access to more than 350,000 aquatic animals and plants.
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