The panoramic beauty, vibrant lifestyle, soothing sea beaches, fascinating sea activities, classic seafood dishes, variety of continental cuisines, stunning landscapes, and refreshing weather of Santa Barbara invite tourists all across the blue planet throughout the year. This article presents you with 20 stunning things to do in Santa Barbara. Thus, read this post, plan your next trip, and revitalize your life.
Santa Barbara, California, USA welcomes you for a refreshing and memorable vacation that you and your companions will never forget in life. Visiting Santa Barabara ensures a perfect blend of the soothing experience of nature and vibrant vivid colors of modern lifestyle and almost everything that you can imagine.
- Walking Down the Santa Barbara Downtown
For outdoor dining and purchasing fresh and different cuisines you must walk down the popular Santa Barbara Downtown. Just stop at the Menchaca Chocolates and relish the variety of delicious chocolate flavors.
- Enjoying the Horseback Riding
Walking along the stunning sea beaches on horseback would fill your heart with immense joy. Horseback riding at the sea beach in Santa Barbara has always been one of the most must-do checklists.
- Visit the Botanical Garden
Opened in 1926 over 78 acre land takes 4 to 5 hours adventuring around the captivating peace and natural beauty of the botanical garden and ends with a splendid view from the high point overlooking the city. This grand garden houses an extensive array of plant species.
- See the Old Mission Museum Church
This is a historical ancient church built in 1786 and has been serving as a spiritual center ever since its establishment by the Spanish and continues to entertain pioneer Catholic services. You will learn new historical terms as well as get some iconic photographs for a great memory in future.
- Funk Zone Dining
Its truly a funky area adorned with murals and filled with wine tasting cottages and classic restaurants, in fact, lavish restaurants. Here, you can enjoy the local food taste as well as any of the continental food items of your choice. According to tourists, every person who visits Santa Barbara must go to the Funk Zone for a wonderful dining session.
- Never miss the famous Museum of Art
SBMA stands for Santa Barbara Museum Art has always been on the top of the visiting places located in Santa Barbara Downtown. This magnificent museum houses Asian, American and European ancient to modern incredible art collections spanning 4000 years. You can visit this splendid spot between 10:00 to 19:00 except Monday as it remains closed every Monday.
- Learn New Things at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History
This admirable museum will take you on a journey of the opulent natural history of the surroundings. You’ll grasp how much the locality has developed in the last several millions of years and explore how energizing the land truly is.
- Be a Part of the Stunning Whale Watching
When you plan to visit Santa Barbara, do enlist to enjoy the fun of watching live whale activities. The Santha Barbara Channel is an ideal site for all types of marine life to live, but especially giant Whales. However, you can have the best experience of Blue Whales, Humpback Whales, Dolphins and many other aquatic celebrities altogether between November and April.
- Don’t skip the Cruise Tour on Santa Barbara Harbor
Enjoying the Cruise Tour around Santa Barbara will let you enthrall the real charm of visiting this gorgeous foreign land. Moreover, strolling over the soothing beach has its own classic fun. The serene natural beauty, vibrant ships, trees, panoramic glimpses of coastal waters will truly leave you spellbound.
- Spend some Quality Time at Courthouse Sunken Garden
Courthouse Sunken Garden is one of the few hot visiting sights in Santa Barbara. It receives huge crowds all across the planet throughout the year. Besides the stunning flower garden you must pay a visit to the grand courthouse building built in 1926. Tourists love walking up to the top of the clock tower in quest of a spectacular panoramic view.
- Explore a Thrilling Experience with Ynez Mountains
The exquisite blend of geographical and biological diversity of Southern California is the real beauty of Santa Barbara that attracts hundreds of tourists from every corner of the world. The captivating beauty of Santa Ynez Mountains is located just at a distance of 40 minutes from Santa Barbara downtown and you must not miss to explore it at any cost. You can have the best experience with the 4 miles hiking long trails in the Santa Ynez Mountains.
- Visiting the Santana Barbara Zoo
Visiting the famous Santa Barbara zoo lets you enjoy a memorable time span among more than 140 different species living in specially designed natural habitats for each animal group. Dining with your loved ones amidst the peaceful surrounding has a splendid joy of its kind.
- Climb up the County Courthouse bell tower
The County Courthouse Bell Tower is popularly known as a top tourist center of attraction. Basically, it is a Spanish-Colonial style architecture serving as a government building where authorized court professionals with clipboards and swift steps totter past on the tiled floors.
- Enjoying the Urban Wine Trail
In order to make your trip more vivacious, plan to reach the famous ‘Napa Valley’ to enjoy the Urban Wine Trail with your friends or colleagues. This trip will let you enjoy some of the best wine tasting experiences. You can also opt for a Wine Tasting Card to get some {min 10%} discount.
- Watch the Weekly Arts and Crafts Show
Regardless of the month, season, or weather you can enjoy the fascinating Arts and Crafts shows between 10:00 AM and 6:00 PM every Sunday on the waterfront. You can witness the unparalleled excellence of local artists and artisans with their exceptional arts and contemporary masterwork pieces. However, this show is also organized on a Saturday if it falls on a weekend or holiday.
- Shoot Images at the Moreton Bay Fig Tree
This truly unbelievable 120-year-old fig tree is believed to be the largest of its kind in the U.S.A. brought from Australia in 1877. Clicking some photographs near or under this huge tree will be a treasure memory for you for years to come.
- Sunset Viewing and Photography
Beautiful Beaches, Long palm trees, Ships and boats floating on the water, clear blue sky etc, presents a panoramic view. Therefore, sunset viewing and clicking some stunning photographs in the evening is highly in vogue at Santa Barbara.
- Walking along the State Street for Amazing Shopping
You must save a little time for local shopping for souvenirs and spending some time window shopping. For this purpose, nothing can serve you better than Santa Barbara State Street. So, be ready to enjoy the local market in the new place for a remarkable session.
- Boating at Channel Island National Park
Most of the tourists wish to enjoy the boating session at Channel Island National Park. Beautiful beaches, natural forest, peace, diving, local food taste, swimming and whatever you want can be enjoyed at the park. Thus, do head to the channel Island National Park for a great adventurous memory.
- Visit the Butterfly Beach
Butterfly Beach is a highly demanding spot among Santa Barbara locals. The beach’s immaculate shoreline is perfect for swimming, surfing and sunbathing, and its excellent east-west orientation reflects for some truly splendid sunrises as well as sunsets scenario.
Concluding Notion!
Visiting Santa Barbara would be the finest idea to celebrate your next vacation thrillingly and memorably. However, it is suggested to book your flights, hotels, and rental cars fairly in advance to save pick-hour charges and unnecessary complications that occur at the last moment. Experts advise you to try to plan your tour in association with colleagues, family, or close friends to relish the real joy of visiting a beautiful location full of fun.