Things To Do

East Beach

Arroyo Burro Beach County Park

Santa Barbara Court House

Beautiful old courthouse with Spanish architecture and lovely gardens

Old Mission Santa Barbara

Old Spanish mission founded in 1786 founded by the Franciscan order.

Shoreline Beach Cafe

Cute cafe on the beach with a relaxed feel.

Boathouse at Hendry's Beach

Santa Ynez Valley

The Santa Ynez Valley is small valley with a few towns that are well known for small vineyard wine making. It is the setting of the film "Sideways". It is a very pretty and relaxing place. Our favorite towns are Solvang - a transplanted Danish village with a Hans Christian Andersen museum, Los Alamos - small western town with an old hotel, saloon, etc. just a few restaurants on a quaint main street. Los Olivos has great shopping and is a bit more upscale than Solvang and Los Alamos. All have wine tasting.

Chumash Painted Cave State Historic Park

This is a special spot about 25 mins outside of Santa Barbara in the mountains. It is about half way to the Santa Ynez Valley. (Solvang, Los Olivos, Los Alamos) A quiet, peaceful spot where you just pull over and walk a few feet up to the cave. Bring a flashlight or your iphone light.

Los Alamos

Probably our favorite spot in Santa Ynez. Go back in time to a western town. Los Alamos Motel with wine tasting, fire pit and free smores.

Solvang

A Danish town with great shopping, food, wine and tons of lodging. Wine tasting, pastries, and the Hans Christian Anderson museum is a treat.

Los Olivos

Cute village tons of wine stores for boutique vineyards, olive oil tasting, a great gift store with the most amazing, huge wind chimes (J Woeste). This is a more upscale wine-tasting town.

State Street

Lots of shopping, cafes, and artwork. Really pretty just to stroll down and browse