Nothing tests a local’s patience like Car Week traffic. Ten days, hundreds of thousands of visitors, five towns that fill at once, and a road grid that was never built for it. The good news: if you know where to park, which streets close, and when to give up and take a shuttle, you can move through the whole week without losing your mind.
Start with the free ride. The Monterey Trolley runs a free downtown loop every summer, roughly 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., departing the downtown parking garages near Tyler Street and Del Monte Avenue every 10 to 15 minutes and connecting downtown, Fisherman’s Wharf, Cannery Row, and the Aquarium. Park once in a garage and let the trolley carry you around the waterfront instead of circling for a spot that is not there. Confirm the exact 2026 dates and hours on the city’s free trolley page before you rely on them.
For Pebble Beach on Concours Sunday, do not try to drive in. The move is to park in Carmel and take the shuttle. In recent years that has run from Carmel Plaza roughly every 15 to 30 minutes, around 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., at about 40 dollars for an all-day pass or 20 one way. Concours tickets themselves include parking and the shuttle inside the gates, where you are directed to a spot along 17-Mile Drive and picked up from wherever you land. Prices and times shift year to year, so verify the 2026 figures before the day.
Carmel runs its own free park-and-ride during the busy midweek stretch, shuttling from Larsen Field on Rio Road to Carmel Plaza roughly every 10 minutes. If you would rather park free and walk, Carmel keeps free lots at Vista Lobos, near Third and Junipero, and at the Sunset Center on Eighth. Downtown Monterey garages run an all-day rate that is cheaper than the aggravation of hunting for street parking.
Know the closures. During Car Week, expect Alvarado Street in downtown Monterey to close between Franklin and Del Monte for the evening events, Del Monte Avenue to narrow to one lane through the same stretch, and Lighthouse Avenue in Pacific Grove to close through downtown for the Little Car Show. Carmel Valley Road and 17-Mile Drive turn into parking lots from late morning on the big days. The cities post the official closures as the week approaches, and the City of Carmel and Monterey County’s traffic advisories are the places to confirm them.
The local’s rule holds all week: park once and stay on foot, run errands early, take the back roads over the hills instead of the coast highway, and treat Sunday and the Quail Friday as days to either commit fully or stay home. See the full slate on the Car Week hub, and our guide to getting around the Peninsula covers the year-round basics.
