While a chartered yacht is a comfortable way to tour the seas, it can only navigate city streets with the help of hundreds of unhappy pack goats. Tour the Pacific Coast Highway in terra firma style and comfort with today's Groupon: for $71, you get two adult passes for a bus tour of Monterey and Carmel from Tower Tours (a $142 value).

Tower Tours treats tourists to an all-day seaside escape, ferrying marine rubberneckers across the Pacific Coast Highway's scenic beachscapes and salt-sprayed hamlets. At the outset of the 11-hour tour, wanderlusters weigh anchor at Tower's base camp at Ghirardelli Square before rolling toward Monterey's seaside wharves and avenues. They'll then embark on an undersea ramble in the well-kept waterways of the Monterey Aquarium, which will be offered at an extra discounted price, or catch paperbacks falling from John Steinbeck–shaped piñatas during one of Cannery Row's lively street fairs.

From Monterey, tours continue along 17 Mile Drive, pausing for photo collecting against backdrops including Seal Rocks' craggy formations, the Lone Cypress' titular tree, and Pebble Beach's flocks of wild golfers. Buses roll into Carmel Plaza in time for guests to snatch early dinners or fleeting bargains from a host of upscale shops.

Tower Tours' coastal expeditions are orchestrated by the company’s on-board maestros, who compose memorable tours from the comfort of a charter bus. Limited rest breaks will be made in addition to scheduled stops, so excursionists are encouraged to equip accordingly. Tour operates on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays only.

Reviews

TripAdvisors give Tower Tours an average of three owl eyes. Citysearchers give Tower Tours a 3.5-star average, and 18 Yelpers give it a four-star average.

• Tower Tours offers visitors to San Francisco who don't have a whole lot of time, a great experience to see the most of the Bay Area in a comfortable luxury tour coach, and very well educated and knowledgeable tour guides. – Cassie J., Yelp, 7/29/10
• The driver/narrator was well versed in the city and funny at times. We were given a sufficient amount of time at each stop to have a wander and take photographs. – Jobias, TripAdvisor