Things To Do
Mad Dogs & Englishmen Bike Shop, Montecito
One of the best ways to see Santa Barbara is to bike! The city has many bike paths along the beach, going from downtown Santa Barbara to Montecito where the wedding is. It is not hard to find bikes, but this shop is particularly fun.
Butterfly Beach
A good beach is not hard to find in Santa Barbara - everyone has their favorite, but Noelle's favorite is Butterfly Beach in Montecito. We definitely recommend making time for a (daily) stroll along or in the water. Beware! The water is very cold and Santa Barbara is known for its fog, so we wouldn't get your hopes up about laying out.
Ganna Walska Lotusland
Lotusland is one of the most beautiful and quirky botanical gardens in the US. Formerly the estate of Madame Ganna Walska, a quasi-famous opera singer in the early 1900s, this property features many unique gardens and educational guides. There are limited tours everyday, so its best to book a reservation far in advance.
The Funk Zone
The Funk Zone is located right in downtown Santa Barbara, and it has many great restaurants including our favorites, The Lark, and Loquita. There are also many breweries and local wine tasting rooms.
Yoga Soup
Should you find yourself needing a break from all the great food and wine, Yoga Soup is a wonderful place to exercise the body and soul. Noelle and The Brimbles have been taking classes with Eddie every year for 10+ years, and are struck by his creative and odd classes every single time. Come with an open mind... it's very playful and unstructured!
Au Bon Climat
Wine recommendations, because we are in wine country after all! We have many favorites, Au Bon Climat (ABC) being just one tasting room we find ourselves coming back to. The Funk Zone and Anacapa street have many local tasting rooms you can pop into casually. Besides ABC, Deep Sea Wines on the pier is fun. Wherever you go, you can try many great wines, so we encourage you to wander and taste many!
Vineyards - Santa Ynez Valley
Just on the other side of the mountains from Santa Barbara is the Santa Ynez Valley and Los Olivos, one of the 5 little wine towns in the area. It's about an hours drive over the mountain, and extremely beautiful. Los Olivos is a town almost solely comprised of local tasting rooms, so if you would like to try several different vineyards, this is the easiest way. If you would like to visit the actual vineyards, which we highly recommend, you can also do this too with a reservation. There are many truly wonderful vineyards, but our favorites include Beckman Vineyards near Los Olivos, and about 30 minutes further north, Presquil'le Vineyard and Bien Nacido Vineyards. This is a fairly rural area, so the distance between vineyards can vary. If you want to visit the actual vineyards, we recommend no more than three locations for a day (a couple of hours for each.) We also recommend a car service or designated driver, as it is a lot of driving in between and back to Santa Barbara.
More Recommendations
Noelle's dad, Ray Brimble, spends his free time writing a blog, so he of course had to write about our shared happy place, too. In his essay "My Santa Barbara" he gives further food and activities recommendations, as well some background history on Santa Barbara.