Getting Around, Carmel Travel, Transport and Car Rental
(Carmel - Carmel-by-the-Sea, Monterey County, California - CA, USA)
The streets around Carmel can be a little hilly at times, although this does not deter many of the local Californians, who chose to simply travel by bicycle. However, for tourists, bus transport is often a favored travel option, particularly for those heading to Carmel Valley or exploring the Monterey Peninsula.
Ocean Avenue is the most prominent thoroughfare in downtown Carmel and leads towards the beachfront. Just outside of town, Highway 1 (Cabrillo Highway) allows those who have chosen a rental car as their preferred mode of transport to travel around with ease, northwards to Santa Cruz and Sunnyvale, and southwards to
Big Sur and San Luis Obispo, amongst other more distant destinations.
Airports / Arriving by Air
There really are a number of large and busy airports close to Carmel, each of which offers their own set of airlines, destinations are ground transport.
Monterey Regional Airport (MRY) is the closest of these, being just 7 miles / 11 km to the northeast, being reached along the Monterey-Salinas Highway. The other significant airports are as follows, all of which can be reached by taking the Monte Verde Street, Ocean Avenue, CA-1, CA-156 and US-101:
Car Rental
It is quite simple to travel to Carmel and the Monterey Peninsula by car, since Highway 1 is close by, connecting many wonderful places of interest. Tourists choose to hire a car during their stay, traveling northwards through Watsonville, Santa Cruz,
San Jose and Fremont, before finally reaching
San Francisco. Those using
a car as the chosen mode of transport will find that the famous Californian city of San Francisco is actually only just over two hours from Carmel and very easy to reach. Further afield and to the south, Highway 1 also connects
Santa Barbara and
Los Angeles, although this drive is likely to take upwards of five hours.
Closer to home are a number of very appealing beaches, but being just that too far away to reach on foot, a rental car will really come into its own in this instances. Street parking in Carmel is generally easy to come by and tends to be free for at least periods of two hours. A large car park is located at the Carmel Plaza, next to Ocean Avenue, while most hotels also do try to provide parking spaces for their guests, if possible.
Buses and Coaches
A number of local buses travel around the Monterey area and also into Carmel Valley, although you should not expect to be able to rely solely upon bus transport to reach your chosen destination. Worth noting, the
Monterey-Salinas Transit bus links Big Sur, to the south. A further bus service is provided for those wishing to visit some of the neighboring vineyards and wineries, transporting passengers into Carmel Valley on an hourly basis. Unlimited day passes provide excellent value for money for those planning to use this popular 'wine route'. And of course, since you are not driving, then you can quite happily sample some of the Californian wines!
Trains
Limited rail transport is on offer close to Carmel, with the Coast Starlight train being operated by Amtrak and traveling through Salinas, to the northeast. The Salinas train station can be reached onboard timetabled Amtrak buses, with the Coast Starlight route heading as far north as Seattle, and southwards to Los Angeles.
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