Santa Barbara Advice Needed

[KCmike]

My wife and I are taking some much needed alone time together this November. We have a week to experience both Santa Barbara and Disneyland for Christmas. In Santa Barbara we will spend at least two nights. After seeing some video on the Bacara Resort it looks like a great place to get some relaxation and great views. What else would you recommend for this area? Should we stay two or three days? Thursday and Friday will be Disneyland for sure but unsure about Santa Barbara.

Our original thought was to drive back up to Monterey and possibly hit the Walt Disney Family Museum but its just too far of a drive for this go around.

Thanks for taking the time to read.

 

[ILUVALASKA]

Walk the pier, kayak, rent bikes, stroll State St., and be sure to visit the Mission and the zoo.

 

[Butterfly123]

Make sure you do the Red Tile Walking Tour. You can google it for a map. It starts at the County Courthouse, which is simply amazing. There are fantastic murals and architecture. You can go up to the top of the Clocktower for some breathtaking views. This building alone takes some time to see. I know your photography...you will get some awesome pictures there.

 

[cedricandsophie]

The wine country outside Santa Barbara is excellent. Highly recommend a drive up there. We have been to a wedding at Bacara. Didn't stay there but the location is fabulous.

 

[KCmike]

Make sure you do the Red Tile Walking Tour. You can google it for a map. It starts at the County Courthouse, which is simply amazing. There are fantastic murals and architecture. You can go up to the top of the Clocktower for some breathtaking views. This building alone takes some time to see. I know your photography...you will get some awesome pictures there.

Thanks Butterfly123! Those are great tips. Thanks also for the kind comments on recognizing my pictures.

 

[KCmike]

The wine country outside Santa Barbara is excellent. Highly recommend a drive up there. We have been to a wedding at Bacara. Didn't stay there but the location is fabulous.

Walk the pier, kayak, rent bikes, stroll State St., and be sure to visit the Mission and the zoo.

Thanks for the great advice!

 

[usnuzuloose]

If you have a car you can drive up to Solvang. Little shops and bakery's , food, food, food.

 

[ncc1701]

The Fess Parker winery is about a 30 minute drive from Santa Barbara.We stopped on our trip 5 years
ago.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

There is a trolley that takes you around. Go to the Visitors Center on Garden Street to get the tickets. If you stay on the trolley it will take around 90 minutes, but you can get off at various spots, and hop back on.

I did a segment on Santa Barbara and Solvang, and another one on Kurt Russell's Wine Saloon in Los Alamos, which is in northern Santa Barbara County. You could spend one day visiting Solvang, then going to Los Alamos, and visiting the 1880 Union Hotel and Wine Saloon.

Santa Barbara Solvang segment: http://www.disunplugged.com/2014/02/13/dis-unplugged-podcast-021314-disneyland-show/

1880 Union Hotel/Kurt Russell's Wine Saloon: http://www.disunplugged.com/2014/04/10/dis-unplugged-podcast-041014-disneyland-show/

Another nice destination is the La Purísima Mission.

 

[ncc1701]

There is a trolley that takes you around. Go to the Visitors Center on Garden Street to get the tickets. If you stay on the trolley it will take around 90 minutes, but you can get off at various spots, and hop on.

We used that trolley too. It went up to the Mission and also had a stop in Montecito along with stops on State Street and I believe the area near the zoo.Worth the money as we could check out the sights without worrying about the traffic.

 

[Disneykatz]

Also the natural history museum is just past the mission.

 

[Judy from Boise]

I second the zoo, it is also landscaped like a botanical garden with breathtaking native plants.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

Just got back from a 3-night stay in Santa Barbara. It's about a 6-hour drive for us, so 3 nights was perfect. If you are coming from a shorter distance, I think 2 nights could be fine.

The first night we checked out State Street and Stearns Wharf. Plenty of restaurant choices available. We ended up picking a steak and seafood place on State Street. My sea bass was excellent.

We managed to visit the Santa Barbara mission, the natural history museum, the courthouse, and the presidio all in one day. We also managed to start that day off with breakfast by the beach and a walk along the beach and still fit in other eating and shopping throughout the day.

The visit to the mission was interesting to me since I grew up in California, and studying the missions was part of the elementary school curriculum but I had never actually visited a mission before. The natural history museum was fun. Those two places are in close proximity to each other. The courthouse and the amazing views from atop it were very neat. The presidio I would skip.

We spent much of our second full day in Solvang. That really was just a lot of eating and shopping, but it was a very fun day. If you like wine (we don't drink), there looked to be quite a number of wine tasting venues there as well. There are so many bakeries with yummy treats and a lot of amusing little stores. We walked around the mission in Solvang just to take a look from the outside, but there is a tour you can take. There is a also a Solvang history museum which was closed the day we visited. I think Solvang was around a 40 minute drive from Santa Barbara, but it's worth at least a half-day visit.

 

[KCmike]

Thank you so much everyone for the valuable insight and trip reviews. Longtimedisneylurker may I ask where you stayed? Was it close to the ocean?

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

Thank you so much everyone for the valuable insight and trip reviews. Longtimedisneylurker may I ask where you stayed? Was it close to the ocean?

From reading your posts, I'm pretty sure you won't want to stay where we stayed. Lol. We picked a motel that wasn't close to the ocean or really any of the touristy spots because we weren't comfortable going beyond a certain price point. We decided that we were happy to spend our time driving and touring about and wouldn't spend that much time in our room taking in the view, and that left us a nice amount of money to spend on food and shopping without feeling guilty. This was just a short getaway for my husband and me while the boys are at scout camp. We will be taking the boys to Disneyland again sometime in August so that's where the other chunk of our summer vacation money will be going.

The motel was the Best Western Plus Pepper Tree Inn. It was very clean with a surprisingly comfortable bed and decent bathroom fixtures, and the staff was very friendly and helpful. A little noisier than I like but typical for a motor inn. They had some nice touches for a motel: attractive grounds, nice swimming pool, better in-room amenities than a typical motel. It suited our purposes well. My recollection though is that you enjoy a bit more of a resort experience and a nice view when on this type of vacation, and this is definitely not it!

 

[KCmike]

From reading your posts, I'm pretty sure you won't want to stay where we stayed. Lol. We picked a motel that wasn't close to the ocean or really any of the touristy spots because we weren't comfortable going beyond a certain price point. We decided that we were happy to spend our time driving and touring about and wouldn't spend that much time in our room taking in the view, and that left us a nice amount of money to spend on food and shopping without feeling guilty. This was just a short getaway for my husband and me while the boys are at scout camp. We will be taking the boys to Disneyland again sometime in August so that's where the other chunk of our summer vacation money will be going.

The motel was the Best Western Plus Pepper Tree Inn. It was very clean with a surprisingly comfortable bed and decent bathroom fixtures, and the staff was very friendly and helpful. A little noisier than I like but typical for a motor inn. They had some nice touches for a motel: attractive grounds, nice swimming pool, better in-room amenities than a typical motel. It suited our purposes well. My recollection though is that you enjoy a bit more of a resort experience and a nice view when on this type of vacation, and this is definitely not it!

Your on the correct path here. For Santa Barbara we would probably splurge a little but if my wife gets her wish of heading back to Monterey they we would try to find a little motor inn like you did. I will definitely check it out though. We head back down to Disneyland we will definitely be staying at either the Fairfield Inn or the Best Western Park Place Inn. I'm so torn on the itinerary of this week long trip. You will all think we're crazy but with no kids in tow we want to knock out a lot on our bucket list. Santa Barbara is on mine, Monterey is on my wife's because we didn't hit Carmel by the Sea and all the shops around there, and both of us have always wanted to visit the Walt Disney Family Museum and this might be our last chance without the kids to get it all done. We have talked about one last Great American Road Trip next July when Disneyland celebrates their Diamond Jubilee 60th Anniversary but have warned the kids that they have to come up with the money for park tickets and all the incidentals. Room, board, and gas would be on Mom and Pop. So is it to crazy to think if we fly in on a Monday morning that we could enjoy Santa Barbara for one day/night, and then up to Monterey for two days and then Disneyland for two? Like usual I try to bite off more than I can chew I'm afraid.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

So is it to crazy to think if we fly in on a Monday morning that we could enjoy Santa Barbara for one day/night, and then up to Monterey for two days and then Disneyland for two? Like usual I try to bite off more than I can chew I'm afraid.

Lol. To me that sounds a bit ambitious and rushed. Where would you be flying into? Are you coming into LAX or an airport near Anaheim then driving to Santa Barbara? So that would be at least an 1 and 45 minutes to 2 hours drive, more if there is any significant traffic, and there always seems to be. Santa Barbara to Monterey is almost 4 hours. Monterey to Anaheim is at least 5 1/2 hours of driving.

What is your goal in visiting Santa Barbara, just to have been there or do you have particular sites you want to see or restaurants you want to try? If you made it to Santa Barbara by lunch, then you could certainly manage to fit in a couple of attractions, a nice dinner somewhere, and maybe even a walk along a beach. Can you fly out, pick up a rental car, and make the drive to Santa Barbara by lunch? I don't have experience with all of those steps, so I don't know.

In the morning, you could head out toward Monterey. If you like pastries, then a stop in Solvang early along your route would be fun. While most of the stores don't open until 10 AM, the bakeries open early and parking was abundant when we were there early in the morning. There are some other restaurant choices as well if you need a full hot breakfast. Then you can complete the drive to the Monterey/Carmel area.

I know you want to see the Walt Disney Family Museum (and it is excellent, by the way), but that really would be too much. You keep wanting to head further away from Disneyland but still end with Disneyland.

I think the problem is that you need more time or less stuff to do. Any chance, I can't believe I'm going to say this, you might want to, gasp, skip Disneyland this time? I think you could make a really lovely trip out of San Francisco to Santa Barbara. You could make time for the Walt Disney Family Museum, other San Francisco sights, Monterey, Carmel, and Santa Barbara. Missing out on Disneyland this time might also give you more motivation to make that Disneyland diamond anniversary trip work out.

 

[KCmike]

I know I know I'm way overloaded on my first itinerary. I am one of those who think "this might be the last time I ever get to go...." people. So....I tend to go commando whenever I can and then think back after the fact and say to myself why didn't I spend more time here or some there. I need to sit down this weekend and plan out our priorities. Our flight is into LAX on monday morning. We fly out Saturday afternoon. This much is known. Now the hard part, I mean fun part.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

I know I know I'm way overloaded on my first itinerary. I am one of those who think "this might be the last time I ever get to go...." people. So....I tend to go commando whenever I can and then think back after the fact and say to myself why didn't I spend more time here or some there. I need to sit down this weekend and plan out our priorities. Our flight is into LAX on monday morning. We fly out Saturday afternoon. This much is known. Now the hard part, I mean fun part.

Lol. On our first trip to Disneyland 10 years ago, we had 3-day hoppers and I was convinced that this Disneyland thing would be a once-in-a-lifetime or at the least a very rare event so I was determined to cram as much in as we could. Of course, here we are now, and I'm planning our 37th and 38th trips

I never learn though. There we were in Santa Barbara earlier this week, DH and I, and I keep talking and thinking about how this will probably be the one time we ever do this so let's make sure we don't miss this and don't miss that. Of course by the end of the trip, I'm saying stuff like "maybe next time" and "wonder if we could slip a night in on the way to Disney sometime".

So LAX. In on Monday. Out on Saturday. You're not going to make it to San Francisco and the Disney museum. One night in Santa Barbara is definitely feasible, especially if you have other priorities; I just think 2 nights and taking some time to explore the surrounding area might be more relaxing. Did you say you have been to Monterey before and not Santa Barbara? I kind of wonder if you might do best by driving all the way from LAX straight to Monterey on your arrival day. Enjoy the Monterey area Monday evening and however long you want to on Tuesday and then drive back down to Santa Barbara for a late check-in. Then stay Tuesday and Wednesday nights in Santa Barbara and drive from there to Anaheim to finish up with Disney. Have fun with the planning! If there's any other way I can help, let me know.