List of tourist attractions in Monterey County, California

Tourism is an important part of the economy in the coastal regions of Monterey county, although agriculture is more dominant in the inland Salinas Valley.

[2] Ancient shell mounds in the Bay Area suggest human settlements were established about 4000 BCE.

The Monterey Bay provides many recreational opportunities for tourists, including scuba diving, surfing, swimming, fishing, and sailing.

It is home to several former and current U.S. military installations and facilities, including Fort Ord, a decommissioned Army base that housed soldiers going through basic training during World War II; the Defense Language Institute, which provides foreign language training in over a dozen languages for U.S. and foreign military, U.S. government, and law enforcement personnel; and the Naval Postgraduate School, which is operated by the Navy and which offers graduate degrees to U.S. military and Department of Defense personnel.

Several artists have called Monterey County home, including writer and Nobel prize laureate John Steinbeck (Salinas and Pacific Grove), writer Robert Louis Stevenson (Pacific Grove), surrealist painter Salvador Dalí (Monterey), and California poet Robinson Jeffers (Carmel-by-the-Sea).

The Monterey Aquarium is one of Monterey County's most visited attractions.
National Steinbeck Center in Steinbeck's hometown, Salinas
The reconstructed Mission San Antonio de Padua as it appeared in 2006. The baked brick Campanario is unique among the Missions.
Fisherman's Wharf and the Monterey Marina
Cannery Row Monterey
A view of Laguna Seca Raceway 's Turn 8, the "Corkscrew," a challenging curve with a downward gradient of up to 16%
A sunset over the Forest Theater in Carmel-by-the-Sea
Big Sur coastline along the Pacific Ocean in southern Monterey County
The Salinas Valley , an agricultural region in Monterey County that is home to Salinas, California , the birthplace of John Steinbeck and home of the National Steinbeck Center . Several of Steinbeck's novels were set in locations across Monterey County.