SBAnt

My best guess is they won't have as many tours of the various buildings, but they will be open. The individual courtrooms may be closed, but the bell-tower should be open. You can call to be sure.

We will be in Santa Barbara on Sunday, Oct. 4th. We are scheduled to port from 7 AM - 5PM. We would love to rent a car for the day and drive up to Solvang and maybe stop at a couple of wineries on the way back. Unfortunately all of the rental car companies either have abbreviated hours or are closed on Sundays. Any other suggestions on alternate transportation to Solvang? Is there a local car rental agency with better Sunday hours?

Just curious, why Solvang? It's 45 minutes to an hour each way depending on your driving style and the number of cars on the 154. If you're interested in wine tasting, the Urban Wine Trail is in the Funk Zone and has a lot of different wineries, a couple of breweries and quite a few restaurants.

That said, if you want to see Solvang, and not just wine taste, there are companies that do wine tours, including ones that leave from Santa Barbara. You can check the Visit Santa Barbara website for contact information for the 10+ companies that have wine tours that pick up from Santa Barbara.

SBAnt,

 

First off, my apologies for not doing some homework first.

It sounds like Santa Barbara is a tender port. How far is it to Goleta Cemetery? I know that's an odd question. I've just recently lost 2 close relatives and would like to visit their graves.

 

Thank you,

Vicki (riansgrammy)

It looks like it is 6.3 miles, roughly 11 minutes by car. Since it isn't in walking distance, you're probably best off taking a taxi or Uber there. Another option is renting a car if you plan to see more than just central Santa Barbara. My condolences for your loss.

Depending on the timing, Ventura is very doable against traffic. Can your family come see you in LA? It might be easier than driving 30 minutes each way to Ventura in your limited time in SB.

There's an Avis a few blocks from the train station that's the closest, a little less than a mile walking. IIRC, Enterprise will pick you up, so Avid might as well. Speaking of Enterprise, there's an Enterprise on Chapala, so you could reach out to them for availability and a pickup. Last one that a close is at the Feds Parker Doubletree, where there is a Hertz.

How far inland are you trying to go? There is a small amount of freeway construction going North, in Goleta, and always some traffic between SB and Carpinteria to the South.

It's probably a lot easier to take the Waterfront Shuttle than getting a pedicab. AFAIK, the pedicabs don't congregate by the tender dock.

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imaboo is correct, and it's not just 4 miles to the Mission, it's uphill pretty much the whole way there. Walking to the Courthouse is doable if you want to spend a lot of the day walking, but again, it's uphill a good amount. The Courthouse is located in between the Mission and the Sea Landing, but closer to the Mission than the Sea Landing. Definitely take a taxi or Uber, as Santa Barbara is the smallest city to boast an Uber presence.

Is there a nice beach to hang out at close to where the tender boats dock?

Ledbetter Beach is on the other side of the harbor so it's not very far as well as almost always having very small waves. There's Shoreline Cafe for lunch/snacks. Otherwise, you can walk about the same distance on Cabrillo, and the beach on the other side of the pier is nice too, although there are no cafes or food places if that is a factor.

Hello, I apologize if this question was answered, I tried to go through and check...

We will be arriving in Santa Barbara on Monday the 23rd (October) via the Grand Princess. We would love to go to the Botanical Gardens on Mission Canyon Rd. What is the best way to get there, car rental, taxi..I heard there were no trolleys during the week.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Wanda

The short answer is, it depends. Do you want to do anything else after the Botanical Gardens? If so, the car rental is probably going to be the cheaper option, assuming you're paying a huge amount for the rental. If you're only going from the Gardens to a restaurant on State Street, the taxi may be the cheaper option, as you can take a trolley back down State Street when you're done. If you want to explore more of the area, the car rental will give you the freedom to see the sights without waiting and paying for multiple taxis.

We are on the Sapphire Princess, and will be stopping in Santa Barbara twice, I was wondering how you get to the Urban Wine Trail from where you get off the ship. Thanks for your help. Fiona Herman

From the Sea Landing where the tenders dock, you will go right (in the direction of Stearns Wharf) on Cabrillo Blvd, then left on Anacapa (there's an El Torito on the corner you can look for)

Hello

I was wondering if anybody could tell me where the exact location is of the tender port in SB?

As you can see we are on the above cruise on 29th September with Princess.

Thank you in advance

Claire

The tenders dock at the Sea Landing. I posted a map earlier in the thread that shows the harbor area and that should give you a good idea of where on Cabrillo Blvd. you arrive.

We leave port at 8 p.m. so we'll probably take the last tender back which I would guess leaves around 7. We were thinking of an early dinner and then a walk for ice cream.

 

Susan

It's lucky that you have so much time in port. In that case, I'd say dinner and ice cream is very doable, although I'd recommend allowing yourself a little extra time in case a train is stopped at the station or leaving at just the wrong time.

SBAnt - Thanks for the ice cream info. We're planning on getting the ice cream at the end of the day, so we'll see how we feel by then. We may take the electric shuttle as you suggested. It also will depend on where we have dinner. We love to walk and after dinner and ice cream that may be just what we need to do.

 

Susan

What time is your ship leaving port? That may limit your evening activities a lot given the tendering.

Thanks SBAnt for the ice cream recommendation. Is it within walking distance of the downtown area?

 

Susan

It is walkable, although edge of the main downtown area is a good 8-10 blocks away. I'd recommend taking the electric shuttle up State Street, then walking back since it will be downhill. If you want to walk to McConnells, you can get off the downtown shuttle at the highest (Victoria St) stop then walk the remaining way. This does presume that you can walk a few miles comfortably, as you'll then have to turn around and walk the same distance back to State Street to get back to Downtown. If you are really a distance walker, you could walk up the whole way from the tender landing, but you're looking at a pretty good distance, uphill the whole way to McConnells then downhill the whole way back. Or, save McConnells for when you come back to SB for a longer stay and focus on the downtown area. If you're into wine and beer tasting, btw, we have a revitalizing effort going in our "Funk Zone" and a couple of new tasting rooms have opened recently. The Funk Zone is down by the waterfront and just a few blocks from State Street so very walkable.

Thanks Fabby50 - the restaurant sounds great and we're very happy that we can walk. Still looking for ice cream recommendations.

 

Thanks,

Susan

The best ice cream and yogurt in town is at McConnells, located at the corner of Mission and De La Vina. There's an ice cream shop on Stearns Wharf that also happens to have a great view from benches outside. There is also Spoon at State and Victoria streets, which serves gelato. If you prefer frozen yogurt, Yogurtland at 621 State St. is really good and has lots of topping choices. Still, if I could only have one, I'd choose McConnells.

Can you tell me how far of a walk it is from where we tender in from the cruise ship to the Avis Car Rental Office at 34 E. Montecito St in Santa Barbara. We will be there in September and have a car rental set up. Thanks for the info.:)

It's not a far walk at all, maybe 1/4 to 1/2 mile. That address is very close to State Street, which runs right into Stearns Wharf (the big pier you'll see on your way to the Tender Landing in the Harbor). I posted a link to a map earlier in this thread that shows the Waterfront area you'll walk along for most of the way if that helps.

We will be in SB in mid-March and we are also interested in whale watching. What is the best company for this and what types of whales can we expect to see at that time of year?

As far as I know, the main company for whale watching is Condor Whale Watching, which operates the Condor Express. I believe they run a morning and and an afternoon trip some days, so check online. As for the types of whales, you should ask them what is seasonal and what they've seen lately, as they go out every day and really know their stuff.

Well, unfortunately, that's hard to say this far out. April is usually quite nice, but there can be a bit of early "June gloom" in the mornings to keep the temperature down for at least part of the day. We're quite spoiled in that we see sunshine at least 300 days a year, and the early fog can burn off by 10, so I'd plan on either light pants or shorts, wear a sweatshirt/sweater and plan on carrying it by the afternoon. FWIW, I wear shorts most of the year thanks to the balmy climate, so I have more pairs of shorts than jeans.

The short answer is no, there's not enough time in port. If you had a car waiting for you and drove like the wind you may be able to get a 4-5 hours at the Reagan Library, but I'd still advise against it. Traffic isn't close to as bad as the 405 at rush hour, but the limiting factor is distance in this case. From Santa Barbara to the Reagan Library is about 70 minutes without traffic and speeding the whole way.

Especially because you'd like to take your time with photos, I would recommend the hop-on, hop-off trolley that isn't through the ship. Also, right across the street from the Mission is a rose garden which may provide some nice photos as well as a nice picnic spot.

Without knowing exactly what kind of wine you like, the best I can offer is this link:

Urban Wine Trail

I hope that helps.

Glad to help. Also, you asked about restaurants--there are a number of restaurants in the harbor area and on Stearns Wharf. I like Eladios at the corner of State and Cabrillo and DW loves their granola and yogurt. Sambos is also good, and has free WiFi (big thanks to Princess Patches for that information). There are so many good restaurants in town, it's hard to recommend just a couple, but those two are both very close to the Sea Landing.

The trolley tour through the cruise line picks up right in front of the Sea Landing where the tenders drop off passengers. If you're looking for the Electric Shuttle that runs along Cabrillo Blvd., it also picks up right by the Sea Landing. If you are taking the Trolley Tour independently of the cruise line, it picks up at Stearns Wharf, which is about 1/8 of a mile away from the Sea Landing.

Hi Pat,

If it's anything like most years, October is quite sunny and warm. The trolley is a good tour, and it offers a nice way to learn about the rich history of the area. If they don't explain it when you're driving around, ask the guide about Canon Perdido, Quarantina, Salsipuedes, and Indio Muerto Street's naming origins.

I'm glad to hear you found Santa Barbara as great as I do. The homeless in California are a problem for the same reason we have tourism, the weather is almost always nice. As a result, our homeless don't move out of the area. I'm always saddened that the city isn't better able to move the homeless out of the tourism areas and into shelters more effectively, but you can only try to help people so much. It's a problem for many SoCal cities, and one that all of us wish would be solved because of the effect on our city's image.