Top 5 Extra Side Trips From Monterey Car Week

If you are traveling to the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and Monterey Car Week, you might be asking what else is there to do? Especially if you are flying into Los Angeles or San Francisco and wish to make the most of your time in California, here are our top five excursions you might enjoy adding on to your trip.

Hearst Castle at San Simeon – 1

The cliff hugging picturesque drive along the California coast from the Monterey Peninsula to William Randolph Hearst’s San Simeon playground takes about 2.5 hours, an easy day trip. Hearst and his architect Julia Morgan began building this luxurious compound in 1919, an amalgamation of European art, antiquities and architecture collected by the media mogul. Hearst Castle really is quite unlike any other museum or house tour. Reserve your tickets in advance, tours fill up quick, at HearstCastle.org.

Fantasy Junction – 2

Barely 30 minutes from from San Francisco International Airport you can easily indulge your automotive needs and maybe add to your stable with a visit to Fantasy Junction. Since 1976 these guys have been dealing in the best of collector cars and vintage race cars. There is always a spectacular inventory of premiere european delicacies: Alfas, Ferraris, Porsche and numerous others. Pay attention to your GPS or use the WAZE app for real time traffic updates and work arounds. Open Monday through Saturday 9:30 to 5:50.

Keller Estate & Francis Ford Coppola Wineries in Sonoma – 3

From Monterey, Sonoma is a fairly quick 3 hours, though I would suggest spending the night. Obviously there are dozens of fantastic wineries but these two can feed your automotive interests as well.

Keller Estate is the winery owned by noted car collector, Arturo Keller and his family, winner of numerous Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance awards. While visiting and sampling their noted wines, you may spot one of his beautiful cars on display. Lovers of art and architecture will enjoy spending time at Keller Estate. Don’t forget to look for the sculpture of Juan Manuel Fangio.

Less than an hour north on The Redwood Highway 101 after the charming town of Healdsburg you’ll find the Francis Ford Coppola Winery. Of course the wine is great but you’ll throughly enjoy the Movie Gallery.  Tickle your memories and walk through movie making history, punctuated by the original car from Tucker: The Man and His Dream.

Mullin Automotive Museum – 4

For anyone on an extended trip or flying in and out of Los Angeles, the Mullin Automotive Museum is an absolute jewel. Oxnard is barely 1.5 hours out of LA, an easy drive, just be prepared to be blown away by Peter Mullin‘s stunning collection of cars housed in a museum built to replicate the floor of the Paris Automobile Show in the early days. The museum is open on Saturdays and by appointment, though not the weekend of the Pebble Beach Concours, where you’ll always find at least one of the glamorous Mullin cars.

Petersen Automotive Museum – 5

If you are in LA only a fool would leave without visiting the Petersen Automotive Museum. Newly reopened in December 2015 after an extensive and much needed remodel, this is a must see. The cars are outstanding, the building exquisite and the galleries provide a wonderful glimpse into many areas of automotive history. The Petersen is the one kid-friendly spot on our list. They have an entire interactive area for kids based on the Disney/Pixar movie Cars. Open daily from 10AM -6PM, you can always fit this in, it is barely a half hour from LAX.