Travel Information

A guide for everything to see and do in Carmel-By-The-Sea!

Carmel-By-The-Sea, California

Carmel-By-The-Sea is a one square mile (2.5 square km) town on the Central Coast of California. Known for it's quaint and charming architecture and stunning coastline, Carmel feels like stepping into a fairy tale. Below are a few of our favorite quirky facts about the town where we'll be getting married!

Fun Facts

Dime Time

Inside of the La Playa Hotel, you can find a dimly lit bar called Bud's. Every day, at the bartender's discretion, a bell is rung. For the next 10 minutes, drinks are only 10 cents! You have to pay in exact change, so be sure to bring some dimes!

(Note: Tip the bartender well to increase your chances of a bell ring!)

No High Heels

Municipal code in Carmel-By-The-Sea makes it illegal to wear heels more than 2 inches in height! This law went into place in 1963 to protect heel wearers from uneven sidewalks caused by tree root growth. Though police no longer ticket for the offense, you can still visit City Hall and obtain a permit to wear any high heels you'd like!

House Names

In an effort to avoid their quaint village becoming "city-like," Carmel's founders rejected the idea of numbered houses. To this day, Carmel-By-The-Sea does not use numbered street addresses and instead uses either house names such as "Hansel Cottage" or descriptions, such as "Fifth House on the East Side of Torres Street."

Mr. Mayor

From 1986-1988, movie star Clint Eastwood was the mayor of Carmel-By-The-Sea. While his political career only lasted one term, Eastwood still lives in Carmel and has purchased and renovated some of Carmel's most beloved local hangouts. If you're lucky, a visit to his Mission Ranch restaurant might land you next to Eastwood sitting by the piano bar and enjoying a drink.

Frank Lloyd Wright

Renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright built only one oceanfront home during his career, and it sits on a cliff in Carmel-By-The-Sea. Named the Clinton Walker House, the home just sold in 2023 for $22 million USD. While tours of the home are only available for one day each June, you can walk by any time and enjoy the stunning architecture.

As we know our guests will be travelling from around the world, we are happy to help you in planning your travel to and from Carmel-By-The-Sea. We recommend flying into Monterey via direct or connecting flight and then Uber or Taxi into town (15 minute ride) as the town of Carmel is very walkable once you arrive. Should you prefer to rent a car and drive, or take a bus to Carmel, options for San Francisco and San Jose airports are also below. Please feel free to reach out to either of us for any questions you may have about the best method of travel from your home base.

Airports

SFO

San Francisco

Getting There

120 miles from Carmel

193 km from Carmel

2.5 hour drive time

MRY

Monterey

7 miles from Carmel

11 km from Carmel

15 minute drive time

SJC

San Jose

78 miles from Carmel

126 km from Carmel

2 hour drive time

Once you're on the ground...

from SFO

Airport Rental Cars

Bus to Monterey

from MRY

Uber / Lyft

Taxi

from SJC

Airport Rental Cars

Bus to Monterey

Where to stay in Carmel

Below are a few of our favorite places to stay in Carmel-By-The-Sea. We recommend staying in town in order to be walking distance from Friday and Sunday's events, however there are also accommodation options in Monterey which is a 15 minute drive from Carmel. We have a room block reserved at La Playa Hotel that you're able to book with a discount code which we can provide you upon request assuming rooms are still available.