I am going to Santa Barbara beginning of mar. Would like to be able to go to the beach and stay near the town, also want to drive to Solvang from there. Can anyone recommend a good hotel that is convenient to all these places. It seems the Best western has it wrapped up with quite a few hotels. But I am looking for some suggestions. Also want to go to a winery, can any one suggest a nice one. What about a forest hiking trail?

There are lots of hotels within a block or two of the beach in Santa Barbara. A good search engine to compare hotel rates, reviews, popularity and ranking is at http://hotels.discover-santa-barbara.com/.

There are at least 10 wineries in the city of Santa Barbara. Six of them are within 2 blocks of the beach centered around Anacapa and Yanonali. Santa Barbara Winery has really good wine and the the lowest tasting fee in the county: $5.00.

Driving to Solvang from Santa Barbara takes less than 45 minutes and is a beautiful drive over the Santa Ynez Mountains. There are more than 100 wineries in the Santa Ynez Valley. In Solvang, walk down Copenhagen Drive to find at least 4 wineries.

There are many hiking trails around Santa Barbara. One very popular trail is the hike to Inspiration Point. For more information about this and other front country trails, visit http://santabarbarahikes.com/hikes/f...rationpt.shtml

March is a beautiful time to visit Santa Barbara County. Have a great time!

Try the Santa Barbara Hotel Group. We stayed at the Colonial house about a year ago. You can walk to some nice restaurants. We really enjoyed the stay and will stay there again if in the area.

thank you for all your help. We decided to stay at the Lavender hotel seemed to be in a good location to everything we wanted to do. Reviews were also good sounded very nice.

We have stayed at The Harbor View Inn which is very nice and right across from Stearn's Wharf. Go out to the Los Olivos Wine Contry, Gainey Vineyards and Andrew Murray are a couple of our favorites, this is a wonderful area to try some amazing Syrah. A meal at Los Olivos Cafe would be nice, also. Have fun! ***kim***

What a great trip you have planned! When you drive from Santa Barbara to Solvang, be sure to take Highway 154 - its also called San Marcos Pass - the views are some of the best in the world - literally.

This will also be the beginning of wildflower season - we are already seeing bright swaths of neon-yellow mustard flowering alongside the road. It will be a great time of year to visit.

Also - when you are on the Pass, turn off at Stagecoach Road. This little winding road was actually a stage route, and it still leads to Cold Spring Tavern - an old stagecoach stop. It is located in a magical little bend in the road - the food is great, and the ambiance - well, it can't be matched.

For pics and information and history about Santa Barbara and the surrounding areas, visit my blog: cartas.typepad.com

Wishing you a wonderful vacation in Santa Barbara!

Take San Marcos pass unless you are nervous about driving twisting, winding mountainside roads or don't like crossing huge, high bridges.

OMG I learned to drive on San Marcos Pass. I was terrified.

Santa Barbara is a wonderful city to visit and play in. There is so much to do, I love it! The wineries in Santa Ynez are well worth the drive up the Pass. A bit intimidating at times, the drive isn't that bad! Actually quite beautiful! I was just in Santa Barbara and we went wine tasting and it was so much fun! We stayed in town though at the Sandman Inn (www.thesandmaninn.com). So affordable and very quaint. I really enjoyed myself there!