With its gingerbread cottages going head to toe with grand mansions, the town of Carmel is a mix of old-style living and modern grandeur. Little wonder so many want to spend time in this part of the country. Its surrounding seascape is spectacular enough to have attracted both artists and writers through the years. Best of all, visitors to Carmel will find easy access to Monterey, Big Sur and other scenic villages along this lovely coastal region.

Aside from simply being a sight for the eyes, activity options in these coastal towns are ample in any season. Fall is the favorite time of year when weather is clearest and the colors at their brightest. Come in February to watch the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, the weeklong golf championship begun by Bing Crosby in the 1930s. March or April brings the famed Pebble Beach Food & Wine festival one of the world’s most prestigious, featuring 35 celebrity chefs and 200 wineries. July and August is for music-lovers. The Carmel Bach Festival which began as a three-day festival in 1935, has expanded to three weeks of concerts under the leadership of Managing Director Jesse Read. It includes concerts, recitals, master classes, lectures and many more educational programs for aspiring musicians. More music comes to life with the Monterey Jazz Festival each September held on the Monterey Fairgrounds site where the first festival was held in 1958. The early years brought in the likes of Dizzy Gillespie and Louis Armstrong and ever since the same caliber of talent has graced the nine stages used during the three-day celebration. August is when Pebble Beach celebrates the automobile at the Concours d’Elegance. The rarest and most expensive autos in the world are shown off on the eighteenth fairway of Pebble Beach Golf Links.

Even if you come during a time of quiet, Carmel and its environs have more than enough diversions for the most intrepid traveler. An absolute “must-see” for all who come to this area is the Monterey Bay Aquarium, located along Cannery Row, the street made famous through the writings of John Steinbeck. This is the aquarium by which all others are measured. Sitting on the border of one of the largest underwater canyons on earth, it is home to more than 350,000 animals and plants representing over 550 species of fishes found in Monterey Bay and other parts of the world.

No trip to Carmel would be complete with an excursion along the Pebble Beach 17 Mile Drive. Perhaps the most famous drive in the world, this 17-mile trip takes you from the centuries-old Lone Cypress, a gorgeous inspiration for artists and photographers through the years, all along the Pacific Coast, with its heavily forested areas and crashing waves. Save time to stop along the way to see the Cypress Point Lookout and Seal and Bird Rocks.