Are you looking for the most charming walking tour of Carmel, California? I have got exactly what you need and then some!
This is my last installment of the trilogy dedicated to attractions in Monterey Bay, California area. The previously posted stories are: Monterey family vacation itinerary and Things to Do in Carmel Valley and Carmel by the Sea. This final article provides you all the details you need to know about the self-guided walking tour of Carmel highlighting its fairytale cottages and secret alleys – one of the must see attractions in Northern California – and a MAP to go with it.
Walking Tour of Carmel: Should I choose guided or self-guided one?
Carmel-by-the-Sea is a cute small town on the Pacific Coast of California. It has very unique architecture, lots of shops and art galleries. The best way to explore all these attractions is through a walking tour of Carmel. A couple of companies offer paid walking tours of Carmel. A guided walking tour of Carmel will cost you $20+ per person. But why waste lots of money if you can do an easy and no less charming self-guided walking tour of Carmel with all the necessary pointers provided below for only $7.50 for the entire family or group of friends?
History of Carmel: Storybook Cottages
A couple of word of introduction about Carmel and its history. Carmel by the Sea has a a unique, whimsical, fairy tale-like architecture. It all started in 1920s when a gentlemen named Hugh Comstock, came to visit Carmel, where he met a rag doll maker, Mayotta Browne. They fell in love and got married and stayed to live in Carmel.
Mayotta’s business was very successful, she made many dolls but the problem was where to keep them all as they overflowed their house. Mayotta asked her husband to build a house for her dolls. Hugh was not an architect or a builder but had a talent for tinkering with things.
He built her a small cottage that he called “Gretel”, which was inspired by illustrations from a storybook “Hansel and Gretel”. Then, a year later he built another cottage and called it, not surprisingly, “Hansel”. You will be able to see Hansel and Gretel houses on this self-guided walking tour of Carmel.
Residents of Carmel and nearby areas noticed Comstock’s beautiful fairy tale creations and flocked to him with requests to build for them too. The rest is history. Comstock built about a dozen houses and later more people got inspired by his architectural designs, so you can see many more houses in Carmel now in the same style.
Walking Tour of Carmel: Secret Alleys
Another specific feature of Carmel has nothing to do with Comstock. There are a number of beautiful secret alleys that are not typically marked on Google maps or any maps for that matter. Most of these alleys don’t even have a name. If you don’t know where they are you will definitely miss them. I am not sure of their origin but my feeling is that they came to be when creative people of Carmel decided to find ways to use spaces in between buildings with an artistic purpose. You will be able to see several secret alley on my walking tour of Carmel. They are clearly marked on the map of Carmel that I will provide you.
Walking Tour of Carmel: Artists Colony
It feels like there are a lot of creative people living in town: Carmel-by-the-Sea is an artists colony of sorts. On this walking tour of Carmel you will pass by different galleries in downtown. I guess Carmel’s storybook charm attracts artistic souls like a magnet.
One of the most famous galleries in town is that of a famous Californian painter, the late Thomas Kinkade. He was the famous creator of pastoral and idealized scenes that now hang in about 1 out of every 20 American homes. And those bucolic cottages that you see in his paintings were inspired by Carmel architecture! You may or may not be a fan of his style but it is definitely interesting to visit his gallery because his paintings echo very well with Carmel’s fairytale feel.
Why this walking tour of Carmel is perfect for you
The walking tour of Carmel that I created is unique because it combines many elements: the storybook cottages, the secret alleys and a couple of other points of interest. I spent hours researching the town’s layout and mapping them. Then I traveled to Carmel and checked every attraction myself so that there are no surprises.
Each stop has a location on the map and a brief description. My walking tour of Carmel map does not highlight all the storybook cottages and all the alleys in town but it will cover a good couple of hours of leisurely walking. To make the most of your tour just stroll, look around, may be stop for a coffee, a truffle or a cake in one of the multitudes of cafes and shops downtown and most importantly – enjoy yourself!
My walking tour of Carmel is easy. It can be done with kids and/or elderly too. Most of the route is stroller accessible and ADA accessible. The best part of my Carmel self-guided walking tour is that you can stop at any time and continue whenever you feel like it since you are not tied to a tour group.
All the above is in addition to a ton of money you will be saving compared to a guided walking tour of Carmel.
Additional Tips for Walking Tour of Carmel:
1.Carmel by the Sea is located, well, by the sea :-), the Pacific Ocean to be exact. So the weather can be cool, foggy and windy even in summer. Bring layers with you.
2. Wear comfortable shoes. This walking tour of Carmel will take you at least 1,5 hours.
3. Carmel can get crowded, especially on weekends, and parking may be hard to find. My suggestion is to arrive early in the morning or if you arrive later, park further from downtown and walk to Stop #1 on the Carmel tour map.
4. Instead of waiting in line in overcrowded restaurants in Carmel during lunch or dinner time, I suggest having a picnic on the gorgeous Carmel beach.
How to obtain your Walking Tour of Carmel map
- Click “Add to cart” button under the Carmel map image below and pay $7.50 via PayPal (your cart contents will appear under the “Add to cart” button right on this page, not on a separate page)
- In comments section in PayPal, write “Map”
- The Walking Tour of Carmel map, created in Google Maps, will be sent to you via a link (to the e-mail address indicated in PayPal) within 24 hours of payment.
If for whatever reason the payment button below malfunctions you can PayPal $7.50 to me at tasorokina@yahoo.com and indicate “Map” in comments and I will e-mail you the map of the walking tour of Carmel within 24 hours.
Thank you for your purchase and I hope you will enjoy your walking tour of Carmel!
WALKING TOUR OF CARMEL MAP
Price: $7.50
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Where to Stay in Carmel
If you would like to stay in Carmel for more than a day (which will incidentally save your parking problem), check out current hotel deals below:
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