Buildings around the old Spanish plaza opposite the mission anchor this small historical park. Cavernous stables hint at San Juan Bautista in its 1860s heyday as a stagecoach stop. The 1858 Plaza Hotel, which started life as a single-story adobe building, now houses a little historical museum. Next door to the hotel, the Castro-Breen Adobe once belonged to Mexican general and governor José Castro. In 1848 it was bought by the Breen family, survivors of the Donner Party disaster.
San Juan Bautista State Historic Park
Central Coast
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
25.67 MILES
Monterey is practically synonymous with its world-class aquarium overlooking Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, which protects dense kelp forests and…
27.96 MILES
The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk has been an Americana classic like few others for over a century. Now as in 1907 when the amusement park first opened, the…
13.34 MILES
This museum will interest almost anyone, even if you don't know anything about Salinas’ Nobel Prize–winning native son, John Steinbeck (1902–68), a…
Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo
29.8 MILES
Carmel's strikingly beautiful mission is an oasis of solemnity with flowering gardens and a thick-walled basilica filled with Spanish Colonial art and…
25.99 MILES
Find out what's currently open at Monterey State Historic Park, grab a free map and buy tickets for guided walking tours inside this 1847 adobe building,…
28.48 MILES
A kitschy, old-fashioned tourist trap, Santa Cruz's Mystery Spot has scarcely changed since it opened in 1940. On a steeply sloping hillside, compasses…
26 MILES
Old Monterey is home to an extraordinary assemblage of 19th-century brick and adobe buildings administered as a state park and linked by a 2-mile self…
29.81 MILES
Great for sunsets, this sandy beach fronted by a natural sandstone bridge is a family favorite and tops for wildlife viewing. Scan the bay for whales,…
Nearby Central Coast attractions
0.07 MILES
Founded in 1797, this mission claims the largest church among California’s original 21 missions. Unknowingly built directly atop the San Andreas Fault,…
6.1 MILES
Containing the Fremont Peak Astronomical Observatory, this park offers excellent views of Monterey Bay and the Pacific Ocean from its four-mile network of…
3. Fremont Peak Astronomical Observatory
6.15 MILES
Equipped with a 30in telescope, Fremont Peak's astronomical observatory is usually open to the public on many Saturday nights between April and October,…
4. Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve
11.14 MILES
Rent a kayak from outfitters on Hwy 1 and paddle past harbor seals into Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, or take a guided weekend hike…
12.14 MILES
Unusual Gilroy Gardens is a nonprofit family-oriented theme park focused on food and plants rather than Disney-esque cartoon characters. You’ve got to…
12.99 MILES
Heading east from Gilroy on Hwy 152 toward I-5, Casa de Fruta is a commercialized farm stand with an old-fashioned carousel and choo-choo train rides for…
13.34 MILES
This museum will interest almost anyone, even if you don't know anything about Salinas’ Nobel Prize–winning native son, John Steinbeck (1902–68), a…
13.48 MILES
Steinbeck was born and spent much of his boyhood in this house, four blocks west of the museum. It’s now a twee lunch cafe, which we’re not sure he’d…