Free cancellationFull refund up to 24 hours before
Instant confirmationYour booking is confirmed right away
TicketMobile or paper ticket accepted
LanguagesEnglish
Private tourOnly your group will participate
Overview
Walk through the real Monterey behind John Steinbeck's novels. From Cannery Row and Ed Ricketts's lab to Fisherman's Wharf and the bay's wild shoreline, this self-guided tour blends literary history, sardine-boom drama, marine science, and colorful local characters in the landscapes that shaped Steinbeck's most memorable stories. Solve puzzles, explore the city, and find hidden gems at your own pace. Try a new type of experience with your smartphone, the perfect mix between a walking tour, sightseeing, and a scavenger hunt.
What's included
Full flexibility: start at any hour, take a break at any time and resume later
Next-gen mobile app guides you through each step of your adventure
Explore the surroundings with a truly unique, immersive, GPS-enabled experience
Interactive self-guided tour lets you move at your own pace
A physical tour guide (not included)
What to expect
10m
Explore Old Fisherman's Wharf, where Monterey's harbor history stretches from the Spanish colonial era to the 20th-century sardine boom. Learn how fishing, labor, and trade shaped the waterfront, then capture a photo that still reflects the bay's working past.
20m
Explore San Carlos Beach through the historical and ecological lens that shaped John Steinbeck's Monterey. Learn how the shoreline, Ed Ricketts's marine science, and the working waterfront of the 1930s and 1940s informed Steinbeck's realism, then complete a close-looking photo challenge focused on natural detail.
10m
Explore Monterey's Cannery Row through its real history: the sardine boom, the collapse of the canning industry, and the streetscape that inspired John Steinbeck's 1945 novel. Find surviving industrial features, historic buildings, and markers that reveal the working waterfront behind today's famous promenade.
20m
Start at Steinbeck Plaza, where Monterey honors John Steinbeck and the working port city that shaped his writing. Explore the plaza, learn key dates from Steinbeck's life and books, and connect local history to Cannery Row, labor, migration, and the rise and fall of the sardine era.
10m
Visit Pacific Biological Laboratories, the former workplace of marine biologist Ed Ricketts and a key site in Monterey's scientific and literary history. Learn how this modest Cannery Row lab, established in 1928, influenced marine ecology, Steinbeck's writing, and the 1940 Sea of Cortez expedition.
20m
Explore the Monterey Bay Aquarium exterior, built inside the 1916 Hovden Cannery. Trace Monterey's timeline from the sardine boom and Steinbeck's Cannery Row to the aquarium's 1984 opening and the rise of modern marine conservation.
10m
Visit Hopkins Marine Station, founded in 1892, one of the oldest marine laboratories on the Pacific coast. This stop highlights Monterey Bay's scientific history and its connection to the same coastal world that shaped Ed Ricketts and John Steinbeck.
20m
Explore Lovers Point Park, where Monterey Bay's dramatic shoreline connects the worlds of John Steinbeck and marine biologist Ed Ricketts. This checkpoint combines a short run challenge with the ecological history of Pacific Grove, highlighting key facts from the 1930s and 1940s that shaped modern marine observation and Steinbeck's way of seeing the coast.
Meeting and pickup
Meeting point
Use Google Maps or other map services to arrive at this location. When you arrive, please follow the instructions inside the indicated mobile app closely.
End point
Reach this checkpoint to complete the tour.
Additional information
Public transportation options are available nearby
Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Requires installing a mobile app (instructions in confirmation email)
Not recommended for visually impaired people
Not recommended for people with impaired mobility
Not recommended for seniors over 80
Cancellation policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
