Historic Pacific Grove, California

Shopping Museum of Natural History Monarch Sanctuary Lighthouse

Beautiful and historic Pacific Grove is located on California’s spectacular Monterey Bay, near the city of Monterey, and offers visitors a friendly, small-town atmosphere and a wide range of fun indoor and outdoor activities and attractions, including an award-winning Natural History Museum, a beautifully maintained 18-hole golf course, a monarch butterfly sanctuary, beaches, and a historic lighthouse.

Shopping in Pacific Grove. With a historic downtown area featuring Victorian era architecture, Pacific Grove offers a relaxing shopping experience. The downtown area offers a wide range of boutiques, shops and cafes featuring apparel, antiques, souvenirs, and more. The citys American Tin Cannery Outlets, located just outside of the downtown area offers a wide range of shops and is the home of the first outlet mall in California.  [Top]

Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History. Located in downtown Pacific Grove, the Museum of Natural history is a great, kid friendly museum that offers a unique look at the natural history of the Monterey Bay area, through a wide range of exhibits featuring native plants, animals, geology, and indigenous peoples. The museum also offers a gift shop and Sandy the Whale - a life-sized bronze gray whale sculpture. Open Tues-Sat, 10am-5pm. Free admission. www.pgmuseum.org  [Top]

Pacific Grove Monarch Sanctuary. Each year, thousands of Monarch butterflies stop in Pacific Grove to spend the winter in Californias mild climate. The butterflies travel more than 2,000 miles south from Canada during their annual migration, creating winter home colonies in the sheltered pine and eucalyptus trees at Pacific Groves Monarch Sanctuary and other coastal areas of California. http://www.ci.pg.ca.us/monarchs/default.htm   [Top]

Point Pinos Lighthouse. Erected in 1855, the Point Pinos Lighthouse is the oldest, continuously operating lighthouse on the west coast. Originally lit using whale oil, the lighthouse featured Fresnel lenses, prisms and mechanisms manufactured in France in 1853. Open Thurs-Mon, 1pm-4pm. Admission is free, but a donation of up to $2 per person is requested.  [Top]