California agricultural city and John Steinbeck's hometown, set in the valley behind Monterey Bay.
Salinas is best known as the hometown of John Steinbeck, and the agricultural valley that surrounds it is the landscape he wrote about in East of Eden, Of Mice and Men, and The Grapes of Wrath. The National Steinbeck Center downtown is the main draw for literary travellers, housing manuscripts, personal effects, and the camper truck from Travels with Charley. A few blocks away, the John Steinbeck House — the Victorian where he was born in 1902 — is open for tours and runs a lunch restaurant. The John Steinbeck Library holds the most complete research archive in California.
The city sits at the northern end of the Salinas Valley, sometimes called the "Salad Bowl of the World" for its staggering agricultural output. Salinas itself is a working agricultural city — unpretentious and largely Latino — and it does not have the polished feel of its coastal neighbours. In July, the California Rodeo Salinas is one of the largest professional rodeos on the West Coast and worth timing a visit around.
What Salinas does have is location. Monterey and the coast are just 20 minutes west over the hills, Big Sur is an hour south, and Pinnacles National Park is an hour to the southeast. The former army base of Fort Ord, now a national monument, is a short drive west with 86 miles of trails through recovering coastal scrubland. If you are exploring this stretch of California and want affordable lodging away from the tourist markup, Salinas is a practical base.
Guide
Getting Around
Downtown Salinas is compact and walkable — the Steinbeck Center, Steinbeck House, library, and main restaurants are all within easy walking distance of each other. For Fort Ord and the Salinas Sports Complex, a car or bicycle is practical.
Monterey-Salinas Transit (MST) buses connect Salinas to Monterey and the surrounding peninsula, making it possible to stay in Salinas and day-trip to the coast without a car. The main bus routes run frequently enough to be useful. Taxis and rideshare services are available downtown.
Guide
Getting There
Salinas is served by the Salinas Intermodal Transportation Center on Railroad Avenue downtown, which is the hub for buses and the train.
Train: Amtrak's Coast Starlight (Seattle–Los Angeles) stops at Salinas, and the Pacific Surfliner runs limited service. The train station is convenient to downtown.
Bus: Greyhound serves Salinas with connections to San José, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Monterey-Salinas Transit (MST) buses connect Salinas to Monterey (about 45 minutes), Carmel, and other points on the Monterey Peninsula frequently throughout the day — this is the practical way to get between Salinas and the coast without a car.
Car: US-101 runs through Salinas. From San Francisco it is about 2 hours south; from Los Angeles about 5 hours north. Parking in downtown Salinas is free and easy.
