Go the full Monterey . . . .

By KEVIN JONES

Head north for an hour or so from Big Sur and you'll find - after a couple of hundred twists and turns on the craggy Highway One - the lovely Monterey Peninsula.

Like Santa Barbara to the south, the Monterey Peninsula is prime Californian real estate. It is the self-appointed epicentre of American golf (Augusta, Georgia might disagree) and the laid-back land of the seriously moneyed West Coast hippy.

Monterey itself, the first capital of California, is artsy, crafty (perhaps a bit too rich to qualify as bohemian) and very musical.

The Monterey Jazz Festival is challenged probably only by the Newport Jazz Festival as America's premier annual musical happening. Not content with this, Monterey also has a kick-ass blues festival.

They certainly don't mind the dolce vita down Monterey way. The city also boasts the Cherries Jubilee, the Great Monterey Squid Festival and, to wash it all down, the Monterey Wine Festival.

Known for some of the most challenging and beautiful golf courses in the world, there are 23 places to practise your strokes on the Monterey Peninsula. These range from the public and affordable to the private, exclusive and stinking rich. Places like Cypress Point, Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill are renown all over the golfing world.

The Monterey Peninsula is also famous for one of the most scenic drives you can do just about anywhere in the States: the 17-Mile Drive that takes you from Monterey, through Pacific Grove and Pebble Beach to Carmel-by-the-Sea..

Now if you read someone's brochure or website, you expect a little hyperbole, but this extract from Monterey.com is actually right on the money.

"Discover nature’s treasures on the magnificent 17-Mile Drive at Pebble Beach. As you wend your way deep into the majesty of the 5,000-acre Del Monte Forest, You will quickly feel the magic of this legendary scenic tour. Home to the Lone Cypress, Seal and Bird Rocks, Fanshell Beach, Point Joe, and the colliding currents of The Restless Sea, you’ll travel this showcase with a sense of awe for what nature has created."

On your way around the peninsula, you'll see one of the most famous sites in the West: the aforementioned Lone Cypress. The tree itself isn't particularly noteworthy, but it is at the centre of a truly memorable vista.

This one is a must for your California holiday snaps album, like the Hollywood sign is in L.A. or the Golden Gate is in San Francisco.

At the end of your 17-Mile Drive, you'll find the delightful town of Carmel-by-the-Sea, famous for its artists' enclaves - and for the fact that movie tough guy Clint Eastwood was its Mayor for several years.

Carmel may lack the festivals of Monterey but it has a charm of its own.

It is a very European-style town that lets its understated charms gently draw you in. Being very much an artists' community, it is extremely conservation-minded and much of its tourist pitch is towards "great outdoors" holidaymakers rather than party animals and ragers who are looking for a wild time in an urban setting.

As the northern gateway to the Big Sur National Park, Carmel can easily be overlooked by tourists heading south, but that is a shame because, like Big Sur itself, its charms are often tucked away and you have to spend a little time and effort to get the best out of it.

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