The Peninsula is a great home base, and some of the best days out start by leaving it. Within an easy drive you can hit redwoods, another coast, wine country, and one of the great literary landscapes in America. Here are the day trips locals actually take.
South is the obvious one: Big Sur unspools down Highway 1 into cliffs and redwoods, a full day on its own. North, Santa Cruz offers a different, funkier coast with a boardwalk and surf culture about forty-five minutes up the shore. Inland, Carmel Valley trades fog for sun and wine, a short drive that feels like a different climate, and the tasting rooms make an easy afternoon.
For history and a different California, Salinas and the Salinas Valley sit just over the hill, John Steinbeck’s country, with the National Steinbeck Center downtown and the farm fields that feed the nation stretching out around it. The Pinnacles, with their crags and condors, are a longer haul but a rewarding one for hikers who want something wilder.
Fuel up before the longer drives, check Highway 1 for closures if you are heading south, and pack layers since inland and coast run very different temperatures. See what is on around the region on our events calendar, and our Carmel Valley wine guide covers the closest trip. For regional ideas, See Monterey helps.
