Red tile, blue water, and the city in between
Long reads on Santa Barbara: the old Presidio quarter, the beaches and harbor, the neighborhoods, where to stay, the wine valleys and the day trips beyond the mountains.
Seven sections
Old TownEl Presidio, State Street, the Courthouse and the streets the city rebuilt in Spanish style after 1925.The CoastBeaches, the harbor, Stearns Wharf, tide pools and the long Pacific light.Neighborhoods & TownsThe Funk Zone, the Mesa, the Riviera, Montecito, Summerland, Carpinteria and Goleta.Where to StayWhich part of town suits which trip, and the long-standing places to stay in each.Wine & TableThe Urban Wine Trail, the Santa Ynez Valley, markets and the city's food traditions.Out of TownSolvang, Ojai, the Channel Islands, the mountains and the coast road.Seasons & PracticalWhen to come, how to get here, getting around and what each month brings.
Queen of the Missions
On its rise above the city, Mission Santa Barbara has faced the sea for two centuries. Here is what to look for, from the twin towers to the cemetery and the old waterworks.
Stearns Wharf, end to end
California's oldest working wharf has burned, rotted and been rebuilt more than once. Walk its planks out from State Street and, at the end, the whole town turns around to face you.
Where to watch the sun go down
On a coast that faces south, watching the sun go down into the sea takes a little geography. These are the places where it works, and the months when it works best.
Old Town
El Presidio de Santa Bárbara, then and now
Spain's last fort in Alta California nearly vanished under a growing town. Two adobes survived, and the rest has been rebuilt on the original foundations, one room at a time.
Up the Courthouse clock tower
The Santa Barbara County Courthouse is a working court, a public garden and the best free view in town. Start in the Mural Room, then climb El Mirador and look down.
The Red Tile walk, stop by stop
A dozen blocks, two centuries of building and one consistent idea: white walls, deep shade and red tile. Here is the classic downtown loop, and what to look at in each place.
The earthquake that made Santa Barbara Spanish
Before 1925 downtown Santa Barbara looked like most small American cities. One summer morning shook it down, and a handful of determined people decided what would rise in its place.
The Coast
A morning at the harbor
Breakwater, boats, sea lions and the Saturday catch: Santa Barbara's small working harbor is also the best place in town to spend a slow morning on foot.
Every beach, compared
From the calm water at Leadbetter to the wide sand of Carpinteria, the beaches of the Santa Barbara coast are not interchangeable. Here is what each one does best.
Where to find tide pools
The reefs of the Santa Barbara coast come out of the sea only a few times a month. Know the tide, watch the swell, and look closely at what lives in the cracks.
Whales in the channel
Gray whales pass the beaches in winter and spring, and the largest animals on Earth feed in the channel all summer. On some days you can watch them from a bluff.
Neighborhoods & Towns
The Funk Zone, block by block
Between the railroad and the beach, a few blocks of old fish sheds and warehouses turned into tasting rooms, studios and painted walls. Here is how to walk them, and what they used to be.
Life on the Mesa
West of the harbor the land rises into a flat-topped plateau of bungalows, cliffs and cypress. The Mesa is where Santa Barbara lives, walks the dog and watches the sun drop into the channel.
Montecito without the gossip
Behind the hedges east of Santa Barbara lies a community of old estates, two small villages, great gardens and a beach that faces the sunset, and a town still marked by one terrible winter night.
Lotusland, by reservation
An opera singer spent four decades turning a Montecito estate into a garden of cacti, cycads, blue foliage and theatre. Seeing it takes planning, and the planning is worth it.
Where to Stay
Where to stay in Santa Barbara: the short answer
The town is small, but where you sleep decides what kind of trip you have: sand at the door, the Courthouse down the block, or a quiet road under the oaks.
Staying on the waterfront
Along Cabrillo Boulevard the sand is across the street, the harbor is a stroll away and the mornings start with pelicans. Here is what the postcard leaves out.
Staying downtown, on foot
Downtown trades the sea at your door for everything else within a few blocks: the Courthouse, the arcades, the theaters and a morning walk up to the Mission.
Hotels with a history
Santa Barbara was a resort before it was much of a city. Its hotels burned, fell in the earthquake, closed and came back, and a few have taken guests for more than a century.
Wine & Table
The Urban Wine Trail, one block at a time
The vineyards are an hour over the mountains, but the wine has come to town. A walk from the railroad depot through the Funk Zone to the old Presidio, glass in hand and no car keys.
The valley that runs the wrong way
Most California mountains run north to south. Here they turn and open to the sea, and the fog that pours through them explains every bottle from the Santa Ynez Valley.
Buying dinner off the boat
Early on Saturday, the commercial fleet at Santa Barbara Harbor sells its catch on the dock: crabs still moving, prawns from deep water, and sea urchin the rest of the world pays a premium for.
A taco crawl down Milpas Street and beyond
Santa Barbara's best food is often served on a paper plate. A guide to the city's taquería tradition, from fresh tortillas on the Eastside to the Fiesta stalls of August.
Out of Town
Solvang, a Danish village in oak country
An hour over the mountains from Santa Barbara, windmills turn above the oak hills. Solvang began as a Danish farm colony in 1911 and became a storybook town on purpose.
Ojai, and the minute the mountains turn pink
Over the hills from Carpinteria, a small valley town keeps an old ritual. At sunset the cliffs above it glow pink, and half of Ojai stops to watch.
The islands across the channel
On clear days they float on the horizon behind every Santa Barbara view. A guide to reaching the five islands of the national park, and what you find when the boat leaves.
A day on the wild coast west of Goleta
Past Goleta, the houses stop. For thirty miles the coast is ranches, railroad, oak-filled canyons and beaches. A day spent following it west, from El Capitán to Gaviota Pass.
Seasons & Practical
When to come to Santa Barbara
June is grey, September is gold, and a clear day in February can be the best of the year. A plain guide to the city's seasons, crowds and festival weeks.
Santa Barbara without a car
The old town, the waterfront and the Funk Zone sit within an easy walk of one another. Here is how to cover them, and the rest of the coast, on foot, by bike and by bus.
Old Spanish Days: Fiesta week in Santa Barbara
Every August since 1924, Santa Barbara puts on its Spanish past: horses on the boulevard, dancers in the plaza, and confetti from eggshells that stays in your hair for days.
Santa Barbara in winter
The crowds leave, the rains come in a few great storms, and the air afterwards is so clear the islands look close enough to swim to. The case for the city's quiet season.