5 Stars Plus!!!!! Tom was informative, interesting, knowledgeable, and entertaining on our tour. He made the information personal and within a few minutes we felt like we were old friends sharing information (with Tom being the expert of course). We happened to be the only ones on our tour so he was able to personalize it for us and answer all of our questions. As a former History teacher I thought I knew about California history - but he had great inside information that brought the time period to life and gave us the "back story" to some of our state's most important milestones. Thanks again, Tom! Hope to join you on the Cannery Row tour soon!!!!! read more

Requested Thom who other reviews suggest focuses a lot on history. We got Shirley. Shirley is lovely and friendly and clearly has a passion for the area but I didn't feel like we got what we were looking for. Shirley talks a good deal about current life in Monterey. About how this person collects cars and that person recently renovated their home. About how this garden has rosemary in it. What history gets discussed is mostly read to us from plaques erected by the city. If you are Looking for a slice of modern life this would work very well, but we were hoping for more history and interesting stories about who did what where. read more

For some, too many personal stories by guide when others wanted more facts and history.

Thom's enthusiasm for Monterey (and California) history and architecture comes through clearly in his walking tour. Most of the tour is easy walking, there's only one serious staircase at Colton Hall. Happy to recommend. read more

It was a 10! Shirley was so knowledgable and enthusiastic. Promptly met us, and even went overtime to show us some extra things since it was just us two. Really happy. read more

I have taken this Cannery Row tour twice--once with Thom 8 years ago, and once with Shirley this past week. If you want to talk about the history and detailed information regarding the area and Cannery Row from a true historian, request Thom. If you would like to talk about local plants, weather, personal anecdotes, tourist advice, and a bit of history/lore sprinkled in, request Shirley. read more

I took Thom's Monterey Walking Tour today and thoroughly enjoyed it. He was personable and knew the history of everything we saw. He also was concerned that we stayed safe and was careful that we didn't interfere with the people around us going about their business. I highly recommend his tour. read more

Went on the 1/15 Saturday, 1:30pm Cannery Row walking tour. Met at the Wave Street Trolley stop, between Prescott & Hoffman, at the parking garage benches, first floor, next to elevators. The parking was convenient and the least expensive at $10 in the area. Nice there are conveniently located restrooms next to the candy store near the meeting place. Had a group of 5 people with Thom Diggins, the guide, easy to find, he had a yellow Monterey Walking Tour sign next to him. He was very friendly, informative, loved the visuals of his pictures and was flexible with the group on walking pace and questions and time to take pictures. Enjoyed his references to the Cannery Row novel by Steinbeck. Plenty of bathroom breaks along the walk, walk wasn't strenuous, fairly flat, some stairs, lots of stops and places to pick up snacks and drinks. Walk was right on time at 2 hours. Found him through Meet up. I contacted him a week before and he was very responsive. $20 cash for the tour. read more

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I'm a local. Been here all my life and I learned a lot. You can tell Thom loves history and wants to take you back to the days that made California. For the locals, pick an "Indian summer" day for a beautiful walk around Monterey. For the visitor get ready to have old Monterey come alive! read more

Thom's tour of Monterey was superb, as it was a fun two hours of interesting facts and sights of the history of Monterey. We live here and thought we knew the history, but Thom showed us so much that we're motivated to do more research and also to take his Cannery Row Tour. Thom is professional, funny, courteous, and spot on, as he's a true professional. We highly recommended his tours. Mike Kennedy and Cyndy Davis, Monterey read more

A great morning walking with Thom taking the Cannery Tour. Such history there and he is knowledgeable about the entire area! Looking forward to another tour! Thanks, Thom read more

Enjoyed an easygoing walk with Shirley through Cannery Row. Scheduled late the night before, Shirley me us promptly at the appointed location. She led us enthusiastically through the area and explained its history and the people who shaped it. Also offered suggestions on how to finish our day. This was our first walking tour and would do it again. read more

Really enjoyed the Monterey downtown walking tour with Shirley. Not only is she personable but super knowledgeable, a very positive person and just a pleasure to be with! She was eager to share her knowledge with us in a very easy to digest form. Even recommended a delicious, wonderful late lunch location. Highly recommend! read more

I purchased the Monterey Walking Tour with Thom through a Living Social (or Groupon...can't remember) deal. We already had a trip to the Monterey area planned and thought this would be a fun addition. We had a great time on the tour. I never realized the depth of history that Monterey had! Thom was very knowledgeable and the tour was a good pace. There was another group there with a couple of young kids, and between them and my preggers self, we were all walking at a comfortable pace. We covered quite a bit of ground, and saw some fun historic sites. Afterwards my husband and I had a question about a future stop during our weekend in Monterey, and Thom happily walked us over and gave us details on logistics about how to get there later. I would definitely recommend this tour to friends staying (or even passing through) the Monterey area. read more

I'm local and was interested in learning more about the history of Monterey. Thom, the guide, made this very easy and entertaining too! Had a great time walking around the historical buildings and sights near downtown, while listening to Thom's exciting facts and tidbits. It is nice that I now know about the roots of this beautiful city! I recommend this tour for just about everyone... tourists, locals, and I think it would be a great experience for someone new to the area. Thanks again Thom for a fun morning walk! read more

What a great tour!! Thom has an amazing amount of knowledge on the area and California history and really makes it come alive. At many of the stops along the way we were shown photos of the exact place we were standing maybe 100 years ago or so. This really brought the facts "home". I have driven past so many of these places every day and never knew all of the wonderful stories and history of the area. I recommend this for anyone who wants to get to know more about this beautiful place and how it came to be. read more

I loved the Cannery Row walking tour. I had just finished re-reading Steinbeck's classic and the tour brought the story to life!!! Thom, the guide, was informative and answered all questions! This tour is great for locals and visitors - I'm looking forward to the Historic Monterey Tour next! An excellent way to spend 2 hours, and well worth the cost!!! read more

Great tour. Learned a lot about the area. Tour guide informative, patient, and charming. Go!!! read more

My wife and I took our first trip out to Monterey in January of 2014. I am a history nerd and dragged my wife along on this walking tour, but she ended up loving it as much as I did! Thom is knowledgeable, funny, and an all-around neat guy. My wife and I ended up being the only ones on the tour that day and we learned so much! We told all of our friends about it and would highly recommend it to anyone! There is so much history about Monterey that you do not learn about in a classroom, whether it be high school or college, but Thom fills you in! read more

Excellent tour guide, Thom. Knowledgeable, interesting and a very pleasant man. He provided the history of Cannery Row, prominent residents of yore, all about the buildings and their history. He offers a wealth of stories, humor and anecdotes about the time of Steinbeck's book. Very enjoyable tour that I highly recommend. Kathleen S. read more

Shirley was awesome ! Her love of history was evident in her enthusiasm. We had a great time with her.

We had a great experience. Loved the tour that Tom gave us. Would do it again. Definitely will recommend. Thnx Tom you're great!

Wonderful 2 hours learning about California and the roll Monterey played in it. Thom really knows the history and fills in so much more detail than you will get on any of the historic plaques around Old Town. Two of the individuals in our group are CA natives who couldn't believe how much information he shared. Well worth our time! read more

Thom was an absolutely wonderful tour guide. This is not a tour where he is going to just talk at you, but more of an ongoing conversation as you walk. Our questions were answered succinctly and honestly. Even saw him in downtown the next day and he stopped to chat for a bit! Thanks Thom! read more

Susan & Ken E. We were the only two on the tour and it was awesome!!!! Thom was the greatest. He provided information about Monterey's history that you would not get from a self guided tour. Answered all our questions and even suggested good places to eat. If your down this way, we would highly recommend this tour. read more

This tour was a wonderful surprise and was an excellent way to kick off our visit to Monterey. The UPSIDE: You get a historical and informative perspective of the area and get to appreciate it more. It's an outdoor walking tour so you get to enjoy the fresh air, exercise and learn quite a few new interesting things. The tour group is small and the tour guide is passionate about what he does and just wants to share Monterey's history and his knowledge with you. DOWNSIDE: I am not even sure if this is a downside, but the tour was suppose to be an hour long and ran over an extra hour. We weren't prepared for that so, I had to leave the tour and feed my meter and somehow find where we left off. But the tour guide knows so much and wants to share all his knowledge so I can't really fault him except that I was so hungry and really wasn't ready for the tour extension which delayed the rest of our itinerary. read more

This is a terrific tour. Tim the tour guide is so knowledgeable, friendly and well researched in the history of Cannery Row. Tim made this tour fantastic. The amount of history I was able to soak up in such a short period of time was just amazing. The tour had a little to moderate amount of walking, not strenuous at all. Tim keeps the tour going at a good pace and it is just filled with the so much history and fun. This is a great tour if you are in the area. Highly recommended! read more

We took this tour with my two children and my mother. It was very fun and informative. It included so many great stories about the Monterey area and it's history. I would recommend this for anyone visiting or that lives here. read more

After reading reviews on TripAdvisor and Yelp, we purchased a certificate for this wonderful tour. Our spring break vacation in Monterey was shadowed due to the pouring rain. But Thom was kind, professional and a wonderful trooper for giving us this exciting and educating tour under the rain. It is very obvious that he has a love for the area and he knows a lot about Monterey's history. He transfers this information in an engaging and humorous way to his tourists. We are a family of 3 with a 6 yr old girl. The 2 hr walking tour was the best thing we did on our vacation. We learnt a lot, we laughed a lot and certainly we walked a lot :) Thank you Thom for this great experience and for lending us that large umbrella! read more

This is an excellent tour. The tour guide was of course friendly and easy to be with. Her knowledge of the every day and the unusual facts was exemplary. It was a fun and fascinating tour. I had a great time and learned some new things. I really felt I had an in-depth View of Monterey. And my tour guide Shirley, when I expressed my interest in movies and a little bit more history , gave me information about several websites to check out. Above and beyond the normal. A really fun afternoon! read more

Excellent intro to Monterey! Interesting stories well told, a nice walk all over town. I'd do it again and I've already referred friends and family. read more

This is a must, MUST do tour, if you're ever in Monterey!!! Thom keeps the tour entertaining and FUN!!! Plus, you learn lots about the history of Monterey and you get a good exercises outta it. read more

We took this tour with our dog Diva and we learned so much! We have lived here all our lives and it was really fun to learn so many interesting facts Thom told us about the area. We highly recommend taking the tour and broadening your knowledge! Once we were done we had a lovely lunch out on the pier and it was a really fun date day :) read more

The walking tour was GREAT! Thom knows so much about the history of Monterey! Thom is very professional, kind, and knowledgeable. Thanks for a great Sunday morning, Thom! read more

Great tour! I really enjoyed tracing the history of Monterey. Thom Diggins, the tour guide, was very knowledgeable and informative. Definitely recommend this tour. read more

Tom was friendly, down to earth and fun to hang out with for an afternoon. I loved hearing about Monterey and felt much more comfortable and alive walking around after that. We were all left stricken by the message he left us with. I won't ruin the chance for him to build up to it, but suffice it to say that its worth hearing and is a game-changer for me with regard to the story of our country. read more

What a great experience. We highly recommend the historic Monterey tour, Thom is a very knowledgeable and personable tour guide. We can't wait to do the Cannery Row tour! read more

This tour is so much fun. You get a great insight into Monterey's history, fresh air and exercise all at once. Really enjoyed it and my kids did, too. read more

My family and I went on the Historic Monterey Walking tour today. Thom, the guide, was well informed and made the history of Monterey come to life. He did an excellent job of pointing out landmarks that I have walked by and never noticed. I am looking forward to taking other walking tours, and revisiting some of the buildings that we saw. Great tour. read more

Really enjoyed our tour with Thom. His local experience as a long term resident of Monterey combined with his knowledge of the history of Monterey made for very informative and interesting tour. Highly recommended for anyone anyone interested understanding the important role of Monterey in California's history. read more