"Exploring the Beauty of Santa Barbara: A Visitor's Guide"
- Amy Harris
- Feb 22, 2024
- 3 min read
Updated: Apr 2
California is one of the most beautiful states to visit. I love the North and South coasts and pretty much everything in between. Santa Barbara and the surrounding areas are breathtaking and there is so much to do and see.
My sweet husband planned a surprise trip for my birthday in October, and we enjoyed every minute.
We stayed at The Ritz-Carlton Bacara, Santa Barbara, it was absolutely amazing, possibly one of my favorite resorts I've stayed at. The resort is beautiful, the staff is friendly and very attentive, our room was perfect with a fireplace and balcony, the gym and walking path around the resort are great, the spa is amazing, and the sweeping views of the ocean throughout the resort are breathtaking. You could come here, never leave the property and be blissfully content. The Ritz-Carlton is a two hour drive from LAX or you can fly directly into Santa Barbara airport.
Santa Barbara is located less than 100 miles from Los Angeles on the central coast of California at the base of the Santa Ynez Mountains. It is often called the, "American Riviera." It got it's nickname because many of it's earliest visitors compared it to the French Riviera, which is a stretch of Mediterranean coastline in the South of France. The two are definitely uniquely different, but similar in that they both offer small-city vibes and are popular for wine enthusiasts, beach lovers, artists, and they cater to luxury travelers.
Santa Barbara and the surrounding area now rival Northern Cali regions for wine production. The Santa Ynez Valleys are home to rolling vineyards and their tasting rooms. But you don't have to leave downtown Santa Barbara to enjoy some of the area's best wines. Santa Barbara's Urban Wine Trail has more than two-dozen tasting rooms.
We stopped in Grassini Family Vineyard located just off of State St. and enjoyed some beautiful wines on one of their three patios. I'd love to visit their Santa Ynez Vineyard sometime. We also loved the popcorn they paired it with from the Santa Barbara Popcorn Company! The Honey Dijon was surprisingly so good with the wine.
You could spend days working your way through Santa Barbara and surrounding areas. There are so many things to see, it was impossible for us to take it all in, but we tried several places and learned about others we will check out next time!
We headed over to Montecito to have lunch and look around. Montecito is a luxury chic seaside town that is frequented by many celebrities including Oprah Winfrey, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Ellen DeGeneres, Prince Harry, and many more. It's also home to some of the most beautiful stretches of coastline, is an outdoor lover's paradise and is known for it's premium luxury shopping and innovative restaurants. Coast Village Road is where you will find most everything you are looking for.
We discovered the very lively and busy Honor Bar and loved the fun atmosphere so we decided to wait around for open seats at the bar to grab lunch.
Honor Market which has some unique gifts and home décor and I was happy to discover they were offering a complimentary Duck Horn wine tasting. They also sell pizza which smelled amazing. Cute store!
The Funk Zone, is an eclectic area spanning several blocks across from the ocean and downtown Santa Barbara. It's a fun artistic area for tastings, restaurants and shopping. Over the years many artists have created studios here, it is one of Santa Barbara's most vibrant unique neighborhoods and definitely worth checking out when you're in town. You'll want to check out all of the murals throughout the neighborhood and you could spend multiple days tasting your way through the 16 different wineries located within the Funk Zone. There are also several breweries and even a distillery.
Comments