Santa Barbara

[JohnHall1965]

We are doing a 4 day coastal as part 2 of a back to back , we are stopping in Santa Barbara for the day . We are not huge wine drinkers so we are looking for ideas of what to do or see , any suggestions ?

[YesIAmAPyr8]

You could do a walk up State St and do some window shopping and stop in to any one of the restaurants and bars along State. There's a wide variety of food choices on and around State St. The City Hall and Sunken Gardens is nice to see, as well as the Santa Barbara Mission. A tour of the Santa Barbara "Riviera" along the Alameda Padre Serra is very scenic. You could take a whale watching excursion.

 

You may want to set up a day trip to Solvang, the Scandanavian village over the pass in the Santa Ynez Valley. It is a quaint little town with lots of shops and restaurants as well. Lake Cachuma is quite low right now due to the drought, so I don't think a fishing/boating excursion is such a good idea.

 

There are a variety of golf courses in and around Santa Barbara.

 

Also in Santa Ynez is the Chumash Casino, if you want to gamble. Adjacent to the Casino is a small airport where you can take a ride in a glider, as well. Down the road a bit in Buellton is an ostrich farm where you can hang with the big birds.

 

The Santa Ynez Valley is, in my opinion the vision of quintessential California scenery, just a road trip to see the area is worth it to me.

[SadieN]

There are several CA missions in the area--Santa Barbara, Santa Inez (Ynez), La Purisima.

 

Mission La Purisima, in Lompoc, has a very unusual in layout and how it's being used. It's now a living museum.

Nearby is Mission Santa Inez, in Solvang, is in a spectacular setting.

Mission Santa Barbara is very close to the cruise dock. It's the burial place of the woman 'Island of the Blue Dolphins' is based. This book is a decent personal history of how the Europeans treated the Chumash in the area.

 

http://californias-missions.org

Edited January 2, 2016 by SadieN

[notentirelynormal]

We will be going to the zoo. It isn't the biggest but my grandkids like it better than the LA zoo so we drive 30 minutes longer. It makes for a nice day and is a short distance from the pier.

[JohnHall1965]

Thank you all for the ideas it is appreciated !

[imaboo]

There is a lot of good info in this thread. :)

 

The Official Visiting Santa Barbara Thread

[jamiski]

We are doing a 4 day coastal as part 2 of a back to back , we are stopping in Santa Barbara for the day . We are not huge wine drinkers so we are looking for ideas of what to do or see , any suggestions ?

 

We took the Santa Barbara Hot Rod Limo 60 minute tour last April. We thought it was a really fun, unique tour. http://santabarbarahotrodlimo.com/tours/

[notentirelynormal]

We took the Santa Barbara Hot Rod Limo 60 minute tour last April. We thought it was a really fun, unique tour. http://santabarbarahotrodlimo.com/tours/

 

Would a 9 and 11 YO like it?

[jamiski]

Would a 9 and 11 YO like it?

 

 

We don't have kids so I can't say I'm an authority on the subject ;) but I think they would, especially if either of them are in to cars. It was a lot of fun, in my opinion a lot more fun than the trolley tour that is also very popular there. It's a small group and the driver had a ton of personality so I'm sure he'd try to get them involved.

 

 

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[Nedgrimley]

We stopped in Santa Barbara a couple of weeks ago. We also are not drinkers so spent time prior on the http://www.santabarbaraca.com website. LOTS of information , maps, itineraries at the site. We also found a couple of walking tours with accompanying podcast.

 

http://www.santabarbaraca.com/visitor-info/maps/red-tile-walking-tour-map/

 

Plenty to see and enjoy on a walking / eating tour ;)

 

That initially was our plan. However, a last minute we decided to rent a car and drive to Solvang instead. We rented from AVIS which is a nice 10 minute walk from the cruise drop off (tenders).

 

Once we had our car, and before leaving town, we toured the beautiful County Court House, climbed the stairs to the top of the clock tower (there is an elevator) and enjoyed the beautiful view. While we were at the courthouse, it was top of the hour and we were right next to the bells as we watched them chime the hour.

 

For less than the price of one cruise excursion the four of us drove along the coast highway then inland and enjoyed the day in Solvang with its shops, restaurants and bakeries. Stopped at the Hans Christian Andersen museum (a little underwhelming) got a photo in front of the little mermaid statue, ate famous aebelskivers and other bakery treats, dropped by the Mission and returned to Santa Barbara by the inland route for more beautiful scenery.

[Grant2000]

We are doing a 4 day coastal as part 2 of a back to back , we are stopping in Santa Barbara for the day . We are not huge wine drinkers so we are looking for ideas of what to do or see , any suggestions ?

 

Santa Barbara is a lovely city and very pedestrian friendly. This site will give you a good overview of its top attractions:

 

http://SantaBarbaraUSA.ca

 

Enjoy your cruise and your day in Santa Barbara!

[tv24]

With one day, I would definitely go to the Santa Barbara Mission. It's an uphill walk from the waterfront, and probably too far, so cab or Uber. You might be able to walk downhill back.

[idahospud]

We took the Santa Barbara Hot Rod Limo 60 minute tour last April. We thought it was a really fun, unique tour. http://santabarbarahotrodlimo.com/tours/

 

I second the hot rod limo! Kids would love it as the driver is fun, the car is cool, and music is great. It picks up at a restaurant just across the street from the pier.

[wheezedr]

Lots of good suggestions up above. DW grew up in SB son went there for college, so have spent many days there. Was recently there on a 4 day and just wandered State st. Easy to do on your own. As it is your first time in town, I would definitely not miss the county courthouse, beautiful building with great view from tower. If the missions are of interest the one in SB is perhaps the best preserved in the system, zoo is cute but small and was disappointed last time we went to the botanical gardens.

The drive to Santa Ynez valley is very pretty and Solvang makes a nice stop with 1-2 hours depending on your shopping and if you stop for a snack. Lots of good pastries but other sweets as well.

You could easily pick up the car. (Avis is the closest) swing up by the courthouse and then take the pass road, highway 154 to Solvang. For the trip back you might then go through Buelton (site of the movie Sideways) and then take 101 along the coast through the Gaviota pass. Would make for a fun and full day.

Good luck

[notentirelynormal]

I second the hot rod limo! Kids would love it as the driver is fun, the car is cool, and music is great. It picks up at a restaurant just across the street from the pier.

 

Well I had to deliberate over the timing with this. We have early bird admission to the zoo so can be there by 9:00. After a few hours the kids are usually done. They need the train ride, the climbing wall and feeding Michael, the giraffe. Our ship sails at 6:00 which probably means 5:00 is the all aboard since it is a tender port. So I booked the 3:00 trip. That should add a fun diversion to the day.