Custom House Plaza

Monterey, California, USA

Description

Custom House Plaza is a large pedestrian-only area with a big fountain in the middle. Here you are surrounded by gorgeous historical buidlings, including the Maritime Museum and the Pacific House Museum. A few steps to the north is Fisherman's Wharf and a few steps to the south is Alvarado St, the main strip of Downtown Monterey.
This is a fun place to hang out with kids, because of the wide open spaces. There is a little wooden boat that toddlers love. Grab a gelato icecream at Pino's Italian Cafe and let the kids run wild for a while. They can admire the posterboard people from the 19th century on the balcony of the Pacific House Museum. Or the huge anchor outside the Maritime Museum. Older kids will enjoy visiting the museums. Because this area is lacking in shade, it's nicer in winter than on hot late summer/fall days.

Photo Gallery

The fountain and Pacific House Museum.	The Custom House and the bike path that runs in front of it.	Little children's make-believe boat in front of the Maritime Museum.
Bike path between Custom House Plaza and Fisherman's Wharf.	Posterboard 19th century settlers on the Pacific House Museum balcony!	Custom House Plaza and its wide open spaces!
The Monterey Maritime and History Museum, in Custom House Plaza.

Directions

This is an interactive map, you can zoom and move it.

On the satellite version of the map, this looks like a parking lot! But there must have been a fancy car show in the plaza the day the photo was taken! Usually the area is a pedestrian-only area with a fountain in the middle.
In the map it looks like Lighthouse Ave goes straight through the plaza, but actually it's an underground tunnel.
Custom House Plaza is between the northern end of Alvarado St where it dead ends and Fisherman's Wharf. You can park along the road on Alvarado St or you can park in the Fisherman's Wharf parking lot.