Attractions in Monterey, CA

Cannery Row Monterey Dining Whale Watching Steinbeck Center

Located on Central California’s scenic Coastal Highway 1, Monterey is a popular vacation destination that offers a blend of natural beauty, sun drenched beaches and a wide variety of fun things to do at local attractions, like the Monterey Bay Aquarium, art galleries, whale watching, scuba diving, charter fishing tours, museums, festivals, golf courses, wineries, restaurants, and outdoor events. When you visit the Monterey Bay area and stay at the Victorian Inn, you’ll find a wide variety of fun and exciting attractions, all just minutes away from our historic bed and breakfast style hotel. Enjoy our relaxing guestrooms and suites, featuring with wood burning fireplaces, our select hotel amenities, and complimentary deluxe continental breakfast, and take advantage of all the fun indoor and outdoor activities, tourist attractions, shopping, outdoor adventures, and restaurants you’ll find in historic Monterey, California.

Cannery Row in Monterey, California. Cannery Row is a popular waterfront street that was once the center of Monterey’s bustling sardine canning industry. Today the area has been transformed into a tourist attraction and pulls visitors to famous attractions like the Monterey Bay Aquarium, restaurants, hotels, gift shops, an IMAX theater, and several historical monuments.

Monterey Bay Aquarium. Located on Monterey’s famous Cannery Row, the exciting Monterey Bay Aquarium offers exhibits of live animals and fish, including sharks, an impressive kelp forest, live otters, weird jellyfish, and children’s activities, and is dedicated to marine education, research and preservation. Open daily, except Dec. 25 from 10am-6pm.  

Monterey Bay Coastal Recreational Trail. This beautifully maintained, 18-mile long waterfront recreation trail is a paved pathway that follows the coast and is perfect for a family fun day of bike riding, skating or walking along the coast. Several shops along the trail rent bicycles, 4-person surreys, in-line skates, and kayaks that will help you explore the Monterey area. [Top]

Monterey Bay Dining. With hundreds of restaurants, from family friendly cafes to romantic candlelit cafes overlooking the bay, the Monterey Bay area offers so much to love, both within the city of Monterey and in surrounding cities like Carmel. With local restaurants and cafes serving everything from burgers to fresh seafood, pasta to rich French cuisine, dining enthusiasts definitely have more than enough to choose from at the wide range of restaurants in the Monterey Bay area. Choose one of these restaurants located just steps away from the Victorian Inn.

Whale Watching. Enjoy a day of people watching, shopping, eat a bowl of award-winning clam chowder, search for colonies of sea lions and otters, hop a boat for a whale watching tour of the Monterey Bay, and stock up on souvenirs at this popular family friendly attraction.

Maritime Museum of Monterey. Experience an up-close view of Monterey’s rich and varied maritime history through an exhibition of more than 5,000 interesting artifacts, 50,000 photographs, 6,000 books, and the spectacular glass prisms of the original Fresnel lens from the Point Sur Lighthouse lamp.

Point Lobos State Reserve. See the Pacific Ocean up close and explore interesting tidal pools, view rambunctious sea lion colonies, walk through rare Monterey Cyprus tree groves, hike along ocean trials, picnic on the beach, and marvel at views of the Pacific Ocean. 
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Steinbeck Center. Learn more about the life and home of famous author, John Steinbeck at the National Steinbeck Center in Salinas. Visitors can explore the old Monterey County and get to know the famous author through interactive exhibits highlighting the Salinas Valley, Steinbeck’s life and his now-famous novels Open 10am - 5pm daily, except holidays.  [Top]