Travel Tips
Unique things to do in Monterey County
4 min read
An Outdoorsy Itinerary in Monterey County (With a Little Wine on the Side)
Monterey is best known for the aquarium and 17-Mile Drive, but the county's real character shows up when you get outside of the hustle and bustle. This is a weekend built for people who want their itinerary to include a trailhead, a tide pool, and a wine glass in the same forty-eight hours. Here is a two-day route through some of the most unique things to do in Monterey, with a few stops for local seafood and Santa Lucia Highlands wine along the way.
Saturday Morning: Asilomar State Beach
Skip the crowds at 17-Mile Drive and Big Sur and start the weekend at Asilomar State Beach instead, just steps away from a unique historic hotel and conference center that’s also worth exploring. The mile-long stretch of coastline runs along dunes, tide pools, and rocky outcroppings, and it rarely feels as packed as the more famous stops nearby. Walk the boardwalk trail through the restored dune habitat, then head down to the tide pools near the north end of the beach at low tide to spot anemones, hermit crabs, and the occasional sea star. If you time it right, sunset over the dunes is one of the better views in the county, and you will likely have most of it to yourself.
Saturday Midday: A Taste of Monterey
From Asilomar, head into town and stop by A Taste of Monterey, perched above the wharf with a view of the bay. It is the easiest way to sample wine from across Monterey County, including pours from the Santa Lucia Highlands appellation, without driving inland. Work through a flight, then pick up a bottle to take with you for later in the day. If you want to plan a full day of tasting rooms before or after this trip, Santa Lucia Highlands' tasting room guide is a good place to start mapping the route.
Take the bottle with you and enjoy it at a local restaurant that has a corkage policy, or take it back to your balcony. Either way, pair it with something simple: local cheese like Schoch Family Farm, a delicious loaf of Ad Astra bread, and veggies from local farms.
Saturday Afternoon: Point Lobos
One of our favorite unique things to do in the Monterey area is a short drive south. Point Lobos State Natural Reserve offers a different kind of coastline than Asilomar: cypress groves, granite headlands, and coves where you can often spot otters and harbor seals from the trail. Cypress Grove Trail and Sea Lion Point are both short enough to fit into an afternoon, and both deliver views that do a lot of the work for you. Arrive early or late in the day if you can, since the reserve does cap visitors once the parking lots fill.
Saturday Dinner: Monterey's Fish House
End the day at Monterey's Fish House, a local favorite for fresh, simply prepared seafood from the Monterey Bay, just a few minutes from downtown. Order whatever is featuring the day's catch, and pair it with a Santa Lucia Highlands Chardonnay or Pinot Noir. Both varieties are shaped by the cool ocean air that moves through the appellation each afternoon, which gives them the kind of bright acidity that holds up well against seafood.
Sunday Morning: Fort Ord National Monument
Start day two inland at Fort Ord National Monument, a stretch of oak woodland and grassland trails that feels worlds away from the coast, even though it is only a short drive from it. The trails here are open to hikers and mountain bikers, with rolling terrain and enough shade to make a warm morning comfortable. It is also a good reminder that Monterey County's outdoor options extend well past the coastline.
Sunday Midday: River Road Wine Trail
From Fort Ord, it is a quick drive to River Road and the Santa Lucia Highlands, where a handful of tasting rooms sit along a stretch of rural road with vineyard views on both sides. Unlike the more polished tasting rooms in Carmel-by-the-Sea and Carmel Valley, River Road wineries like Rustiqué, Odonata and Wrath have a working-winery feel to them, since many of these wineries sit right alongside the vineyards that supply them. CRU Winery hosts vineyard hikes followed up with a refreshing sip of Santa Lucia Highlands Chardonnay or their crisp Albarino. Plan to visit two or three stops for the afternoon and let the pace stay unhurried. Our wine trails map is a helpful starting point for mapping out which wineries are open and pouring that day.
Sunday Lunch or Dinner: Passionfish
Close out the weekend at Passionfish in Pacific Grove, known for sourcing seafood responsibly and building a wine list around small, local producers. It is a fitting last stop for a weekend built around Monterey's coastline and its wine country, and another good chance to order a local wine alongside the day's catch.
Plan Your Own Route
If this itinerary has you thinking about a longer wine country weekend, the Monterey Pour Pass is worth a look. It gives you tastings at wineries across the region for one price, so you can build out your own version of this trip. Whether you follow this route exactly or use it as a starting point, Monterey rewards visitors who get outside of the car and off the main road, and the wine tastes better for it.
For lodging, both See Monterey and Visit Carmel are useful starting points, with options ranging from beachfront hotels to smaller inns closer to Carmel Valley and River Road.
Choose your wine trail
Same grapes, completely different vibes. Pick a route and we’ll drop you straight onto the map.
