Monterey Car Week 2027. Eight venues on one peninsula, with a car and driver held for the week.
The collector car world's defining week runs to the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance on Sunday 15 August 2027. Everything that makes it wonderful also makes it the hardest week of the year to move around in.
The week
Monterey 2027 at a glance
- The ConcoursSunday 15 August 2027The 76th Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, on the 18th fairway at The Lodge.
- The week around itFrom the weekend beforeAuctions, the Carmel and Carmel Valley gatherings and historic racing each publish their own dates.
- WhereThe Monterey Peninsula, CaliforniaPebble Beach, Carmel by the Sea, Monterey and WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca inland.
- Closest airportMonterey Regional (MRY)Three miles from Monterey with two private terminals. It fills completely during Car Week.
Concours date as published by the organisers. Surrounding events announce individually, and we track them for clients who are going.
Why it needs planning
A week built on short, impossible journeys
Nothing on the Monterey Peninsula is far away. The Lodge at Pebble Beach, the auction rooms in Monterey, the lawns at Carmel and the paddock at Laguna Seca are all within half an hour of each other in February. In Car Week they are not. Highway 1 and Highway 68 carry everybody, 17 Mile Drive has gates and its own rules, and Carmel by the Sea has almost nowhere to leave a car. The journeys are short, frequent and unpredictable, which is precisely the pattern that punishes transfer by transfer booking.
Concours Sunday starts absurdly early. Cars roll onto the fairway at dawn, the best light and the best conversations are before breakfast, and the awards run into the late afternoon. Anyone attending properly is out of the hotel before six and back after five, and will make three or four unplanned moves in between. A car and driver held for the day, parked somewhere sensible and reachable by message, is the difference between seeing the week and queueing through it.
In the air, Monterey Regional is what everyone wants and it cannot take everyone. Its ramp is finite, its neighbours are noise sensitive, and in Car Week a great many aircraft drop their passengers and reposition to San Jose, Salinas or the Bay Area. San Jose is the sensible fallback at an hour and a half by road, San Francisco at two hours or more. The return slot wants arranging at the same time as the arrival, not on the Saturday.
Journey times
Around the peninsula
| Route | Typical time | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Monterey Regional (MRY) to Pebble Beach | 20 to 30 minutes | Six miles. Longer on Concours morning, when everyone moves at once |
| Monterey to Carmel by the Sea | 15 to 25 minutes | Parking in the village is the constraint, not the distance |
| Monterey to Laguna Seca | 20 to 30 minutes | Inland on Highway 68. Slow when the racing finishes |
| Carmel Valley to Pebble Beach | 30 to 45 minutes | One road in and out of the valley |
| San Jose (SJC) to the peninsula | 1 hour 30 to 2 hours | The usual fallback when Monterey has no room |
| San Francisco (SFO) to the peninsula | 2 hours to 2 hours 30 | The common arrival from London. Traffic south of the city sets the time |
Editorial ranges from mapping and local guidance. Road closures and shuttle routes for the week are published nearer the date.
What clients usually book
A car and a driver for the whole week
- One vehicle held from the Wednesday to the Sunday night, rather than a dozen separate transfers
- A driver reachable by message who can be at the gate in five minutes when the auction runs long
- Two cars for a party splitting between Laguna Seca and the Carmel lawns on the same morning
- A dawn start on Concours Sunday, agreed the night before, with coffee in the car
- An estate or people carrier when there are bidders' paddles, catalogues, coats and a case of wine to carry
- The flights at both ends, with the repositioning and the return slot arranged together
A typical plan
London to the 18th fairway
- 01
London
One of our own chauffeurs collects you and drives to Heathrow, Luton, Farnborough or Biggin Hill, depending on the aircraft.
- 02
California
Around eleven hours in the air to San Francisco, San Jose or Monterey, with the aircraft's onward movement planned in advance.
- 03
The peninsula
A car we have arranged locally, briefed on the gates, the closures and where it can wait near each venue.
- 04
The week
A driver on call from the first auction preview to the last award on Sunday, with one contact at Odyssey for all of it.
Book early
This is a twelve month week
Rooms at The Lodge, in Carmel and around Monterey are committed a year ahead. Aircraft parking is arranged months out. Drivers who know the peninsula are booked by the collectors who came last year. Tell us early.
Around the week
Related pages
Start planning
Tell us which days
Which days you will be on the peninsula, how many of you, where you are staying, and whether the aircraft is yours or ours to find. We come back with a plan for the flights, the cars and the return. Nothing is booked or charged online.
Prefer to talk? +44 2030 048300 or WhatsApp, at any hour.
Questions people ask
About Monterey Car Week travel
Are these your own cars in California?
Our own cars and chauffeurs are in London and Manchester, and a trusted global network covers everywhere else. In the United States we arrange cars through operators we know, to the same brief, with one contact at Odyssey throughout.
Can we land at Monterey?
Sometimes, and not on demand in Car Week. Ramp space is limited and many aircraft drop and reposition. We will tell you early if it is unrealistic for your aircraft and dates.
Is a car worth it when everything is so close?
That is exactly why it is worth it. The moves are short, frequent and unpredictable, and parking at the venues is the real constraint.
Can you arrange transport for a car we are buying?
No. Moving vehicles is a job for specialist transporters and we will work alongside the one you appoint. We move people.
Is the US Open at Pebble Beach part of this?
No. That is a separate week in June 2027 with its own arrangements. We are happy to plan both.
Are you an official partner of the Pebble Beach Concours?
No. We are an independent company arranging travel to and from the events of the week.
One contact, wherever you are