Monterey Carmel
This exclusive town, originally an artists colony, is just a few miles south of Monterey and has excellent shops and restaurants. The town has a refreshingly calm atmosphere that results, in part, from strict zoning laws than ban neon, traffic lights and many olher things that typically go with urban development. (The town also seems to have banned empty parking spaces: Expect to spend some time searching for one.) Carmel received a lot of press in the mid 1980s when Clint Eastwood was its mayor.
Visit the Carmel Mission {Mission San Carlos Borromeo Del Rio Carmelo, to be exact), built in 1793. Father Junipero Serra, the priest who built the string of missions along the California coast, is buried there and Pope John XXIII elevated the mission to the rank of "minor basilica" in 1960. It now contains a museum that covers the history of the California missions. Also worth a stop in Carmel is medieval-looking Tor House, the hand-built home of noted poet Robinson Jeffers (tours available by advance reservation).
If beautiful white-sand beaches are a passion, sample lovely Carmel Beach City Park (overcrowded on summer days but perfect for an evening stroll) or Carmel River State Beach (where locals go to get away from tourists).
Better yet, head 4 mi/6 km south to Point Lobos Stale Reserve. The beaches there, like those in Big Sur, are dramatically beautiful. Plan to spend a day at Point Lobos, but be sure to go early—only 450 people are allowed in at a time, and if it has reached that capacity, you may have to wait for someone to leave before you can enter. Its walking trails capture the best of the entire region, passing

rocky ocean cliffs. Take along binoculars to look for otters, sea lions and whales. China Cove's beach is one of the few places along the northern coast that is (relatively) free of dangerous riptides, and Whalers Cove is one of the safest places for scuba diving. If you go into the water, don't disturb even a rock in the tidal pools—this is a delicately balanced (and protected) ecosystem.
Just inland from Carmel proper is expansive Carmel Valley, an upscale resort and residential area particularly famous for its golf and tennis resorts. In and near Carmel Valley are a number of Monterey Wine Country wineries, which are gaining distinction in the industry.
From July to August, Carmel hosts the Carme! Bach Festival, concerts and events honoring the great composer and his contemporaries. 80 mi/130 km south of San Francisco.