Take a spontaneous day trip to Carmel-By-The-Sea!

Carmel-By-The-Sea is one of the most beautiful and charming coastal towns in California. It is a 2 hour drive south of San Francisco and is perfect when you need a spontaneous trip on a weekend without having to plan much. Just get in the car and drive to this town and you would have elevated your weekend plans already! It is a dog-friendly town so you need not leave your pups behind. Isn’t that amazing?

Best time to visit

You can visit Carmel all year round. It can be somewhat cold in the winter months but we visited at the end of November and the weather was pleasant.

1 day itinerary in Carmel-By-The-Sea

Start the day with coffee/ tea and breakfast

We always love to start our day early to beat the traffic but we have also been to Carmel in the afternoon and it is just as relaxing. You can pick up coffee on the way or head to CarmelBelle for a nice breakfast with coffee. This place has Vegan friendly options as well.

Check out the cute shops in Carmel Downtown

The streets of Carmel Downtown are full of cute boutique stores and several art galleries. I love to read so we stopped by at the Pilgrims Way Community Bookstore and Secret Garden. The garden at the back was straight out of a fairytale. There isn’t a huge collection of books here but I love to support independent bookstores whenever possible, so I happily bought a small book. You can order from their website as well.

If you are into shopping, the Carmel Plaza is such a sophisticated shopping center with a lot of different lifestyle brands. The best part? It’s dog friendly as well.

Go hiking or take an afternoon stroll in nature

Mission Trails Park is a dog-friendly park where in some parts they can be off leash as well. There are many easy hiking trails that you can complete in less than an hour. This place was pretty quiet when we went later in the day and it was perfect to sit back and enjoy the forest setting around. It does take around 20 minutes from downtown Carmel but it’s a nice walk around the charming neighborhoods. You will love it!

After hiking, head for some good lunch in downtown Carmel. There are many vegan friendly restaurants here.

Relax at Carmel Beach

Head to the white sands of Carmel beach to spend your late afternoon before heading back home. Dogs are allowed to be off leash here so you will meet a lot of fur buddies.

Don’t forget to take a stroll or jog along the scenic pathway with Monterey Cypress trees lining both sides. Please leave no trace behind and pick up after your dog always. Take a walk along the gorgeous coastline with expansive views around.

Drive back on the stunningly scenic 17 mile drive

There are numerous spots on this drive to stop at. You will find amazing cliff views, cypress trees, lush green Golf courses and beautiful white sand beaches. Since you have already had a long day, you can pick just a few places. The following are the top ones that I recommend:

• Spanish Bay Beach
• The Restless Sea
• The Lone Cypress

We absolutely loved taking a spontaneous day trip to Carmel-by-the-Sea with our dog Manoa and hope you will love it as well. It’s such a family-friendly and dog-friendly town. Have a wonderful week!