Santa Barbara - What to do

We are stopping in Santa Barbara for the day, we are not really interested in doing a formal tour thru the ship or on land but want to walk around and see some of the sights.

Are there sights to see easily from the port?

Any recommendations?

Any recommendations for restaurants?

Santa Barbara is very pretty.

Do a forum search. Many of the threads are not showing but will pop up under the search function.

We are stopping in Santa Barbara for the day, we are not really interested in doing a formal tour thru the ship or on land but want to walk around and see some of the sights.

 

Are there sights to see easily from the port?

 

Any recommendations?

 

Any recommendations for restaurants?

Sterns Warf is about a mile walk south from the tender dock . The last Sambo's Restaurant would be on your left on the way down.

Small electric busses that will take you directly to the downtown area and major shopping. Used to be free but not sure anymore. There are also double decker tour busses that leave from there. A trip up to the Santa Barbara Mission might be worth while.

The Warf is fun and I would also include the mission if you can. Very pretty and historical. I also love the zoo. Quaint, small and easy to get around. SB is one of the best places I ever lived!

thank you everyone... I am looking forward to seeing the area

Some people like the ambiance of the shore. It is beautiful. If it's a weekend there will be lots of artists and such set up. Think of White Rock only upscale with less business on the shore itself. My kids love the zoo. It's small and can be done in half a day. We drive up from Ventura County even though the LA zoo is closer. The drive is about the equivalent time of driving from the North Shore to the border. Sixty miles/one hour for us. From the pier it is a short taxi ride or long walk (I think around a mile).

thank you everyone... I am looking forward to seeing the area

I lived there for 3 years as a kid. Wonderful town; go visit the botanical gardens up in mission canyon, and the mission along the way...

We are stopping in Santa Barbara for the day, we are not really interested in doing a formal tour thru the ship or on land but want to walk around and see some of the sights.

 

Are there sights to see easily from the port?

 

Any recommendations?

 

Any recommendations for restaurants?

The Zoo is just the right size. Ask at the trolley stop which ones goes to the Zoo..easy trip

The Zoo is just the right size. Ask at the trolley stop which ones goes to the Zoo..easy trip

I live 65 miles away and I take my grandkids there when we have them. The funny thing is - we go to different areas and they remember us. One girl even remembered the kids names. Then another person says: "weren't you here a just last week" LOL. That to me is the beauty of the place. It is very tranquil, pleasant and personable. Very enjoyable with a nice selection of animals, nicely laid out.

Thanks for these ideas. Can someone tell me where exactly the tenders drop people off from the cruise ships? (I will be on Grand Princess if that matters). Can you give me a street or name of the location so I can google it.

I plan to be on my own at this port so renting a car for one person or trying to do a private exursion is too costly. Will we be dropped off miles from where anything is or can you easily get around?

I also understand there is a Sunday Art Show - does this run at the end of April 2015? Or is it just a summer event. How far is this Art Walk in relation to where we are tendered in?

Thanks so much for any help you can offer!

We spent a weekend there last year and loved it! We spent most of our time exploring the shops on and close to State Street. We had dinners at Brophy Brothers (awesome seafood!) and at Tupelo Hill Cafe (trendy Southern). On Sunday we went to the art festival by the water. (Sorry, I don't know their schedule.)

We stayed in Santa Barbara for three nights last month. It is very easy to get around the city, so we rented e-bikes and rode around the city one day (take a drive to the Biltmore - awesome ocean views), went to the arts/crafts fair (on Sunday), went to the Mission, State Street, etc., pretty much all the main sights. We had a rental car, so we also took a day trip to Los Olivos wineries, but time may not allow you, so if you are an oenophile, you can do the Urban Wine Trail in downtown Santa Barbara, which are a number of wine tasting rooms. Check out: http://www.urbanwinetrailsb.com/ Most of them are open daily until 5 or 6 pm.

We "yelp-ed" some restaurants and had some really great dinners at:

Milk and Honey (tapas - California/fusion)

La Playa Azul Cafe (Mexican)

There is a neat Lebanese restaurant right around the corner form La Playa Azul, (cannot remember the name), but the outdoor area had fire pits in the center of the table and there was a guitarist - very cool atmosphere.