Monterey Peninsula: Arrival, information and getting around
If you're coming from the south, Greyhound buses will drop you at the Exxon station on the Monterey waterfront, 1042 Del Monte Ave, while Amtrak requires you to change in the sprawling agricultural town of Salinas inland, and take a further 55-minute trip on the hourly local bus #21 into Monterey. Getting around the peninsula itself is surprisingly easy, on Monterey-Salinas Transit buses (tel 831/899-2555, ). The most useful routes from Monterey are #4 and #5 to Carmel, #21 to Salinas, #1 to Pacific Grove, and #22 along the Big Sur coast to Nepenthe (twice a day, summer only). There's also a free shuttle bus, the WAVE, from downtown to the Aquarium on Cannery Row.Another option is to rent a bike ($25-30 a day): good-quality mountain bikes are offered by Adventures by the Sea , 201 Alvarado Mall (tel 831/372-1807), and outside the Maritime Museum, Bay Bikes , 640 Wave St on Cannery Row (tel 831/659-5824).
The Monterey Visitors Center is at 401 Camino El Estero at Franklin Street (daily Mon-Sat 9am-6pm, winter closes at 5pm; Sun 9am-5pm, winter 10am-4pm; tel 831/649-1770); the less busy Chamber of Commerce tourist office is at 380 Alvarado St (Mon-Fri 8.30am-5pm; tel 831/648-5360, ); and, in Carmel, the Monterey County Visitors Center , 137 Crossroads Blvd (daily 9.30am-6pm; tel 1-888/221-1010, ), has information on the entire peninsula and will help with hotel reservations.
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