Pebble Beach

Famed as the site of the Pebble Beach Country Club and Resort and Spyglass Hill golf courses, and home to the yearly AT&T Celebrity Golf Tournament (where huge crowds await Bill Murray's schtick), Pebble Beach has what may be one of the finest stretches of coast on the Monterey Peninsula. Craggy shorelines, crashing surf and cypress groves mark the spot where Portola landed in 1769 on his first fruitless expedition to find Monterey. Pebble Beach has long been the enclave of the very top tier of country club society.

Carmel

Carmel takes quality-of-life matters very seriously, which is why you will see no neon signs, telephone poles or street numbers on houses, and may be scolded by a perfect stranger if you are seen eating in the street. Affluent Carmel preserves its idyllic gracefulness with a stern propriety one might associate with Martha's Vineyard. Known far and wide for exclusive gift shops, award-winning restaurants and secluded resort hotels, the town has been a popular tourist destination for more than a century. The city fathers remain adamantly opposed to the intrusions of the late 20th century (to say nothing of the 21st), which has inevitably brought them into conflict with the interests of development-minded area businessmen. It was just this that swept Mayor Clint Eastwood into office (his intent on loosening the stricture over business permits of the sort needed for his now-closed Hog's Breath Inn restaurant). Mr. Eastwood has served his term and stepped away from Carmel politics, although he remains a Carmel resident.

The 1771 Mission San Carlos Borromeo del Rio Carmelo, or more succinctly, Carmel Mission, is Carmel's biggest single attraction. A handsomely preserved piece of Spanish colonial history, the mission's bell tower was not the one that starred in Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo. That was a bit of movie magic Hitch added when he found that the actual tower was not up to his cinematic standards.

Carmel Valley

If possible, Carmel Valley is even more laid-back than Carmel. Perhaps it is the rustic isolation. Carved from the original rancheros in the area, it still looks very much as it did when Spanish dons owned the rolling green hills. Driving along Carmel Valley Road, though, one will find more than cattle and horses grazing picturesquely if precariously on the hillsides. Golf courses such as the Rancho Canada Golf Club offer a somewhat more affordable alternative to courses along the Pacific.

Shoppers will find much to delight them in Carmel Valley with the upscale Barnyard on the border between Carmel and Carmel Valley, as well as the tiny but chic shops that dot the area. Elegant vinyards, such as Durney Vineyards at the Heller Estate also appear throughout the Valley.

The ranchero tradition has not died out entirely here. If you want to explore the area in a more up-close-and-personal way, the expert guides at Holman Ranch can arrange tours on horseback to suit your expertise level, horse-sense and your schedule.