January 24, 2021

A weekend at the coast: Monterey, Carmel, and Big Sur

As a kid, I remember driving to places like Monterey, Morro Bay, and Pismo Beach with my parents and grandparents. Now that I’m an adult, I enjoy taking trips up to these places, as well as Carmel and Big Sur, because it allows me a chance to get away from the hustle and bustle of a city and just enjoy some fresh air. Of course, I wish I could visit this coastal area more often, but I try to make the drive when I can. I mean truly, Monterey, Carmel, and Big Sur are the gems of California, in my opinion!

A three day weekend is plenty of time to get up to Monterey, Carmel, and Big Sur, as these three locations are very close to one another. According to Google Maps, Monterey is only a 10-15 minute drive from Carmel-by-the-Sea (Carmel’s official name). A little further away (but honestly still so close) is Big Sur. Big Sur is approximately 40 minutes from Carmel and 45 minutes from Monterey. So as you can see, it is quite doable to spend roughly a day in each place if you visit during a three day weekend. Mind blown!

This is an especially easy trip to make if say you were visiting the San Francisco area for the weekend and wanted to spend one or two day(s) in either Monterey, Carmel, or Big Sur. In fact, last Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, I went up to the SF area to visit my friend Andee. We spent a day in San Francisco (I will likely do a different blog post on this since I actually lived in San Francisco for a year), and then the following day we made the one and a half/two hour drive to Carmel. Here are some photos from our trip!

Whether you have one day to spend in each place or perhaps you decide to visit one or two of these locations, I think it would be helpful to list some fun activities to do.

Monterey, CA

Top attractions in Monterey:

Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA

Top attractions in Carmel:

Big Sur, CA

Camping Spots:

Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park

Top attractions in Big Sur:

TAGS:Big Sur Carmel-by-the-Sea Central Coast Coastal Vacation Monterey

Amanda Brown

A bit about me... Born and raised in South Lake Tahoe, I always dreamed about what laid beyond my backyard. Sure, the smell of pine trees and sight of freshly fallen snow was always magical, but I yearned for more. So, after high school, I packed up my bags, left the mittens behind, and moved to sunny Santa Barbara for college. After graduation, I moved to San Francisco for a year, then to Malibu/Los Angeles to complete my Master's degree at Pepperdine. But now I'm back beaches! I am working as an Undergraduate Advisor at UC Santa Barbara. And as the saying goes- suns out, buns out, and holy quesadilla there are flying tortillas everywhere (something like that). So, you are probably wondering what the heck is this blog about?! Well let me tell ya... I'm still trying to figure that out myself haha. But, it is 2020 ... and it's about time I stopped talking about creating a blog and just did the damn thing. I thought writing about travel would be fun (and I am definitely going to do this, but in a realistic way, because lets face it, I am not showering in money). But I also thought it might be cool to just do a lifestyle blog and talk about whatever pops into my mind. Don't get me wrong, I am that basic chai tea, country music lovin', curl up and read a book, white girl. But I also have so many more passions/thoughts beyond this surface-level stuff. So get ready, grab your coffee (or wine), and check out my posts! Enjoy, Amanda