Weekend Guide To Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara is one of my favourite places in California and it’s a must-visit for a Southern California road trip! It’s a city that you could spend weeks or months exploring and discovering new parts of, but if you only have a day or two then check out this weekend guide to Santa Barbara. We’ll show you our recommendations on things to do in Santa Barbara on your first visit and what you can check out during 2020.

Santa Barbara is known for its Spanish architecture, stunning surf beaches and the Santa Ynez mountains that make up the backdrop of this upbeat city. Part of the University of California is located in Santa Barbara, and this city is also the home to many Hollywood celebrities. 

What To See:

Depending on what you like to do, you may want to take some of these suggestions and see different areas of Santa Barbara or just stick to a few things a slower, relaxing weekend by the coast. We hope you find this list helpful and that you enjoy your time in Santa Barbara as much

Related Posts: Places To Eat In Santa Barbara

Museums:

Santa Barbara has a wide selection of museums to visit and I’ve listed most of them below. Make sure to check the websites for up-to-date info on if they are open. Some need reservations ahead of time during 2020.

• Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History (also visit the Sea Center on Stearns Wharf)

• Santa Barbara Museum of Art

• El Presidio de Santa Barbara (Historic State Park for Spanish History)

• Casa Dolores (Mexican folk art)

• Susan Quinlan Doll & Teddy Bear Museum

• Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara

• Santa Barbara Maritime Museum

• MOXI Museum

Beaches:

Santa Barbara has sunny days the majority of the time, so going to the beach there is usually a good option! We have so many more beaches that we want to explore along the coast, but here’s a list of some popular ones in Santa Barbara.

• West Beach (& East Beach on the other side of the wharf)

• Leadbetter beach

• One Thousand Steps Beach

• Butterfly beach

Stearns Wharf:

We really enjoy walking along Stearns Wharf when visiting Santa Barbara, because the views are amazing! You can see the Channel Islands in the distance, Santa Barbara Harbour on one side and the beautiful mountains on the other side. There’s also a lot of little gift shops and restaurants at the end that are fun to check out and you can also see people fishing and boats coming in and out from here.

It definitely can get busy during the day on weekends, so we like to go early on weekends or evenings on weekdays!

State Street:

State Street is one of the main parts of Santa Barbara where there is a ton of restaurants and shops to see on and around this road. We like to stop into the different local stores and independent coffee shops around this area and you can find a list of places we like to eat at in Santa Barbara here.

Last time we went, I stopped into Tienda Ho (because it had incense burning outside the shop that drew me in) and this place was so fun to explore, it feels like a market in Morocco and has some beautiful handmade pieces as well as some great sales racks of clothing.

Funk Zone:

This a warehouse district of Santa Barbara that has great food options, bars and cool art/retail stores. It’s the vibrant, colourful part of the city and you could spend the whole day just exploring here. I like how close it is to the beach and the train station and rest of Santa Barbara.

On our recent trip, we went to Figueroa Mountain Brewing Company to have some beers and chips & guac, which we really enjoyed. There’s plenty of outdoor seating and a good selection of beer and Flying Embers kombucha.

Santa Barbara County Courthouse:

If you’ve never been to Santa Barbara, then it might sound weird to suggest going to a courthouse, but this beautiful Spanish colonial style building with a clock tower and gardens surrounding is definitely worth seeing! In fact, it’s quite an iconic part of Santa Barbara and we really enjoyed just strolling around in the morning with some coffee from nearby State St.

This is a popular place to have weddings on the grounds and we’ve even seen yoga classes on the grass, so it’s really a good place for locals and visitors to check out.

Old Mission Santa Barbara:

One of California’s 21 Spanish missions, known as the “Queen of Missions”, is located on top of a hill looking over Santa Barbara and the ocean, with a park across the street that is a great place for picnics. Whether you’re religious or not, this building is unique and in a beautiful location, and holds a lot of history. If you plan to go to the museum of natural history, this would definitely be worth checking out as it is really close by.

Parking In Santa Barbara:

This is one of the better cities in SoCal to find parking when you’re visiting for the day. You can actually park near a lot of the places mentioned above for free or for the first few hours free at least. Some places that we think are convenient are listed below.

• Stearns Wharf (First 90 minutes free)

• Main Harbor Parking Lot

• Downtown Parking Lot #12 (First 90 minutes free)

• Helena Avenue & State Street (First 90 minutes free)

• Side of the road parking near State Street & the courthouse are good options when it’s not busy

Thanks for reading and if you would like to see more, check out our Santa Barbara video on YouTube here.

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