California Welcome Center Salinas

Still is a delight coming into this visitor’s center. It is indeed a great place to find information mainly about Monterey County, but also includes other parts of California as well as Oregon, Nevada and more! The lady who works there whom I just met today, Cathy is a wonderful person to talk with. You can tell that she loves being there and is always willing to help in any way she can with any questions you may have. Being the kind-​hearted person that she is, Cathy also takes care of the ducks at the nearby pond.
It is really worth it to come to this visitor’s center not only if you are tourist but also if you are a local. I am a local and often come to Salinas. I plan to come back here again for sure as this place has a great selection of coupons for local restaurants, stores and more. Also, there are a lot of unique gift items such as books and framed photos of the areas.
Pros:
— get resource of info. on events and places in the Monterey County and beyond
— very friendly and informative staff
— overall a fascinating place!
Cons:
–NOTHING!

A beautiful stop-​off for California locals and visitors alike. Grab some maps to get great ideas for road trips or short weekend vacations throughout the state. I’ve lived and traveled here the majority of my life and still feel like I’ve only touched 1% of the state!
This location is pristine, with clean restrooms and interesting books/​posters related to CA history and geology. Staff was warm and friendly, and there are free raisins.
Next time I’m bored, I’ll swing by to discover something new.

Be sure you see Inez Carlos for the best tips on where to go and how to get there! We stopped at several tourist info centers and this was by far the best spot!

This center is beautiful and chock full of great information. We stayed in salinas while visiting surrounding areas. We were in need of info on sites and things to do. Even though it was close to closing time, Inez took the time to talk we us and provide wonderful information. We took her up the next day by kayaking with the seals and otters… what a fabulous experience. And, today, we are taking her suggestion by dining at the Steinbeck house. Thank you Inez and the Salinas Center… where all the staff were so pleasant and welcoming.

Great stop for visitors to the area — free maps, brochures for local attractions, wi-​fi, dog walk area, and most of all CLEAN RESTROOMS! The wonderful volunteers had a biscuit for my dog, a box of organic raisins for me and shared the secrets of the area: the Salinas Valley has the best wine tasting in California and is the largest wine grape producing region in the state. They were right — we went on the River Road Wine Trail and it was most excellent — even our dog was welcome. Plus, the area is full of sites that John Steinbeck wrote about in his novels and is home to the Steinbeck Center Museum and the house he was born in… it is a charming restaurant now. We come here often, but really did not know much about the area until stopping by the California Welcome Center, the expert staff went out of their way to make our experience fantastic — this place is a must if you are visiting the Monterey Bay region!