A California Honeymoon: Monterey (Days 7-10)

Cypress Grove Trail at Point Lobos State Nature Reserve

UPDATED: 1/22/2023

Note: Some links throughout our site are affiliate links, which means we may receive a small commission at no cost to you.

The most direct route from Napa to Monterey is about 2 1/2 hours, but in order to visit Dustin’s other childhood home in Oakdale, we took a route much longer, about 4 1/2 hours. Other than for personal reasons like ours, I wouldn’t particularly recommend this route - that part of the central valley isn’t really a tourist hot spot.

En route, we stopped at the second (of three) missions on our trip - San Juan Bautista. The mission was beautiful, as were the long corridor of archways out front. For more background on the California missions, check out our blog dedicated to the topic here.

Jellyfish on display at Monterey Bay Aquarium; so intriguing to watch, sprawling like a soundless, pulsing orchestra

Having spent most of the day in the car, it was fairly late by the time we arrived in Monterey and checked in to Monterey Plaza Hotel & Spa, located on Cannery Row. We got an upgrade to our room since they knew we were on our honeymoon. If you haven’t read John Steinbeck’s Cannery Row, you should before you go. Cannery Row was actually named from his book, not the other way around. The 1958 tale and will give you a sense of the (fictionalized) history of the area.

We spent a couple of days in and around Monterey. We visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which we arrived at early in the day before the crowds. It is one of my favorite aquariums I have been to. As is also the case outside the confines of the aquarium, the coastal area has a lot of seals, sea otters, and sea lions. We grabbed lunch at the cafe at the aquarium and were able to get a window seat to watch sea lions doing what they do best, which appears to be superbly lounging with occasional dips in the water.

The following day, we crammed quite a few things in with a total round-trip drive (with no stops) from Monterey to Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park coming in around 2 1/2 hours.

Carmel Mission Basilica - a beautiful mission with a rectangular layout and courtyard in the middle
Carmel-by-the-Sea - an adorable, expensive town (these days) where one of my grandmothers once lived for a time. The town looks like it popped straight out of a storybook (or the Cotswolds?). And when I say expensive, for example, we’re talking teeny cottages for a million or more. As of this writing, the most affordable option on Zillow is a 1 bed, 1 bath, 650 sq foot home for $950,000, complete with linoleum and formica. While we didn’t follow this recommended walking tour, we essentially developed our own. We got a bite to eat at a market and enjoyed it in a park for lunch.
Point Lobos State Natural Reserve - Replete with wind-swept rare Monterey cypress along the coast, this is a wonderful hiking spot. We hiked Cypress Grove Trail and Sand Hill Trail. The Monterey cypress only naturally grows here and one other spot nearby. These trees take on unique forms, molded in part by the coastal climate and winds.
Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park - Famous for a waterfall that falls onto the beach and into the ocean, the views here are magnificent with water that looks blue enough to be in the tropics. The 1/2 mile round trip hike on the Waterfall Overlook Trail is well worth your time.