Travel to Monterey

State Highway 1 (the Pacific Coast Highway) runs through Monterey, providing access southward from Santa Cruz (50 minutes) and northward through Big Sur.

From the San Francisco Bay Area, take US 101 south to Prunedale (in inland Monterey Bay). At Prunedale go west 5 miles on State Highway 156, then merge onto southbound Highway 1. Monterey is then 15 miles along Highway 1. If heading to Cannery Row or the Aquarium, look for a brown sign that advises which exit to take.

From the San Francisco Bay Area, internet map sites, mapping software, and GPS systems will advise you to take State Route 17 to Santa Cruz and then State Route 1 south. Although State Route 17 through the Santa Cruz Mountains is shorter than US 101, it is filled with sharp curves and corners, is often highly congested and accident-prone, and so may take longer than Highway 101. At uncongested times and in good weather, SR 17 can be enjoyable, but otherwise opt for State Routes 101 and 156.

Alternatively, for a more scenic but even slower route from San Francisco, you can take State Route 1 all the way along the coast.

From the south, take US 101 north to Salinas, then State Route 68 west to Monterey. Again, for a scenic but slower route, you can take State Route 1 along the coast.

Despite Monterey's popularity, all of the above routes will require you to traverse a two-lane road section at some point: SR 1 between Moss Landing and Watsonville, SR 156 between Prunedale and Watsonville, SR 68 between Salinas and Monterey, and SR 1 from Carmel all the way south to Morro Bay. Unfortunately, because