Stand next to a hundred million dollars of cars, skip the gridlock, and find the rare stuff. The free car shows, the schedule by day, the backroads, and where to actually eat. Written on the ground in Monterey.
Most of the best of Car Week is free and open to the public, no ticket at the gate. These are the gatherings, cruises, and car shows worth showing up for. Days and times shift year to year, so confirm before you drive out.
Two marquees are worth paying for if you splurge on one thing. The Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion at Laguna Seca, Aug 12 to 15, vintage racing you hear before you see. And the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, Sunday Aug 16, the lawn everyone else is filming.
The quick version of the week, so you can plan which days to come out. The free events above map onto these days; the two paid marquees close out the weekend. For the full breakdown, see the day-by-day Car Week schedule, and if it's your first year, start with the first-timer's guide.
You do not need a paddock pass to stand next to incredible cars. These are the free streets and stretches locals actually use. There's more in the full where to watch guide, including the Tour d'Elegance drive-by.
The single thing that ruins Car Week for most people, solved. These are the routes locals actually drive. Go deeper in the backroads and driving routes guide and the full parking and traffic guide.
Park once and walk. Pacific Grove and downtown Carmel are both walkable once you are in, and street parking fills fast on event mornings, so arrive early or plan to walk a few blocks. When a hundred thousand people pack into a handful of small coastal towns, driving between events during peak hours costs you more time than it saves.
Where locals actually go, from a fast morning coffee to a sit-down splurge. See the full where to eat guide, or a taste of the eat map in the free printable guide.
Fast, excellent coffee and pastries to fuel an early spotting run before the crowds.
Right on the free-action street in PG. Easy, good, and steps from the cars.
Breakfast through splurge, all the places locals actually eat, in the free printable guide below.
Coastal fog can make 55 degrees feel cold, and highs in the 70s feel warmer in the sun, so pack sunscreen and a sweatshirt. Cell data also crawls around Pebble and Carmel Valley when crowds are thick, so download offline maps and save the printable guide to your phone before you go.
Monterey Car Week 2026 runs August 7 to 16, 2026, across the Monterey Peninsula. It builds through the week and peaks with the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance on Sunday, August 16.
Yes. Most of the best Car Week events are free and open to the public with no ticket, including the Monterey Kick-Off Cruise, The Little Car Show in Pacific Grove, Legends of the Autobahn, Concours d'LeMons, Exotics on Broadway, and the Pebble Beach Tour d'Elegance drive-by.
Skip Highway 1, which is the main choke point. For Pacific Grove and Monterey use Highway 68 (Holman Highway); for Seaside and Sand City drop down Canyon Del Rey (218); for Carmel take Laureles Grade to Carmel Valley Road and come in from the east. To reach Pebble Beach, use the Pacific Grove (Country Club) or Morse Drive gates instead of the Highway 1 gate.
No ticket is required to enjoy most of Car Week. The marquee events, the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion at Laguna Seca and the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, are paid, but the free car shows, cruises, and street gatherings across Pacific Grove, Carmel, Monterey, and Seaside cost nothing.
Lighthouse Avenue in Pacific Grove, Ocean Avenue in Carmel, and downtown Monterey are the best free spotting streets. Line up along Ocean Avenue before 11am on Thursday to catch the Pebble Beach Tour d'Elegance drive by under its own power.
Shot on the ground across the Peninsula during Car Week. Join the list for the Vault launch and the full Car Week series.
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