This Monterey, California Historic Cannery Row and John Steinbeck Walking Tour is a collaboration by Lynn Momboisse and Carmel Cares founder Dale Byrne.

Cannery Row in Monterey in California is a poem, a stink, a grating noise, a quality of light, a tone, a habit, a nostalgia, a dream.

So goes the opening line from John Steinbeck’s seminal novel, Cannery Row, about a bygone era and the characters that filled it.

On this walk we’ll trace the seam of Steinbeck’s Cannery Row. Along the way we’ll discover the real-life people he drew from in order to create his vivid characters.

We’ll hear about the marine biologist Ed Ricketts, the man who was perhaps the greatest influence on Steinbeck’s life, and the basis for one of the main characters in the book. We'll also pass by some of the real locations Steinbeck used as backdrops for his stories.

We’ll explore how Cannery Row went quickly from a quaint fishing village to the centre of a booming sardine industry filled with many canneries, and how that ultimately ended in economic collapse, fire and rusted ruins, only to be reborn into the commercial tourist hub it is today.

On this walking tour we will explore Cannery Row and the surrounding area which includes the Steinbeck Plaza, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Monterey Plaza Hotel, Monterey InterContinental Hotel and San Carlos Beach.

This tour is about 2 miles and begins at the Sardine Factory restaurant at Wave Street and Prescott Avenue and ends at the Steinbeck Plaza located at the crossroads of Cannery Row and Prescott Avenue in Monterey. If walked at a leisurely pace the tour should take about two hours. However, if you decide to do any shopping, wine tasting or dining the tour will take longer. We encourage you to take the time if you have it to explore the area and make new adventures.

There are two public bathrooms along this walk, one at San Carlos Beach and the other at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.