Santa Barbara and California Itinerary
 

I'm planning a trip in October to see the following:

-Fly to LAX and drive to Santa Barbara
-Spend 3 days in Santa Barbara and the wine country
-Drive north to Julia Pfeiffer and Big Sur, and stay 2 days in Carmel
-Drive to and stay in San Francisco for 2 days

I have 2 questions. Is it realistic to stay in Santa Barbara and drive back and forth to wine country, or should I stay 1-2 days in Santa Barbara and 1-2 days in wine country? How long is the coastal drive from Santa Barbara to Big Sur?

We like to stay at upscale hotels, so any recommendations in Santa Barbara and wine country would be appreciated. Also, what wineries are recommended?

henry,

santa barbara is about a 30 / 40 min drive from the real 'wine country' around santa ynez / solvang / beullton & los olivos. and much farther from paso robles (about another hour and 20 mins)

i would suggest maybe one night in santa barbara if you want to see the city / pier etc... (we did it in a day trip from Santa ynez and that was fine).

otherwise, i would set up shop near solvang for three nights and do two days vinyarding and one day in santa barbara.

as for vineyards, my favorite is BlackJack Ranch - they have a great syrah called maximus...

we also really liked Curtis (great place for a picnic from the los olivos grocery - owned by firestone - really good rose), Sunstone (beautiful property, organic wines), Foxen (intersting spot - you'll see) and Lafond (owned by santa barbara winery with a really big syrah as well)... you can also taste the Au Bon Climate Pinot and Chardonnay at a tasting room in Solvang but i find it overrated and over priced.

while they are known for pinots, i think the area does rhone variatales the best...

upscale hotels in that area aren't plentiful in the four seasons sense, but i guess thats kind of the idea. try fess parker maybe? i don't really know...

have a great time

The Harbor View Inn is very nice in Santa Barbara, right across the street from Stearn's Wharf, we loved the Los Olivos wine area, don't miss Gainey and Arthur Earl for some great Syrah. :)

After our meal at the Los Olivos Cafe, we looked around the Fess Parker Inn & Spa and looks amaizng, they also have a branch of the Wine Cask at the Inn now, one of the finest restaurants in Santa Barbara. I would love to stay here sometime! ***kim*** ((*))

Hi Henry,

I would do a night in Santa Barbara and then stay in wine country for the rest. I like the Santa Ynez Valley better than SB.

Not a hotel, but a nice inn, Ballard Inn, breakfast included and dinner by res. Very nice.

My favorite winemaker by far is Richard Longoria, tasting room in Los Olivos.

Have fun!

The wine/wineries around Solvang/Los Olivos are nowhere near as good as those around Paso Robles. I would ordinarily not point this out, but since you state that you're driving north anyway (on to Big Sur/Carmel/SFO), I wanted to suggest you stop in Paso Robles for your wine tasting (maybe steal one of the nights from your time budgeted for Santa Barbara or Carmel). If you choose to do so, I'd be happy to recommend the best wineries (my parents retired to that area, so I'm lucky enough to be able to visit regularly).

I would skip the Fess Parker Inn - we didn't have a great experience with them in December. Trip report at: http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35098599

Thank you all for the advice. We'll definitely look into Santa Ynez Valley and Paso Robles.

If you're on your way north anyways, the Dolphin Bay Hotel in Pismo Bch. is worth a short detour (we stay there whenever we're in Santa Barbara County). It is a most beautiful hotel right on the cliffs overlookeing the ocean (make sure to spend extra for the ocean front room.) Rooms at this hotel make most other 5 star hotel rooms look like the Motel 6!

http://www.thedolphinbay.com/

That's what makes this forum so interesting-everyone has different faves. We love Santa Barbara, Henry, so we DID make it our base for a couple of nights while we visited Santa Ynez/Solvang/Los Olivos areas a la "Sideways" movie. But we did more sightseeing than wine tasting. Great time, loved the whole area! It was late spring. Will return. We want to visit Paso Robles for wine tasting on a separate trip.

Then drove north on Highway 1 to Cambria area, spent one night there as we wanted to tour Hearst Castle the next morning. Then on a spectacular afternoon, drove north along the Big Sur coast (was a 20 out of 10 drive that day) stopping to picnic, to longtime favorite Carmel where we stayed the night, had dinner in Monterey. But next visit we would rather to stay in nearby charming Pacific Grove.

I like the Mosby vineyard - it's small but they have great wine and their bottles have labels designed by an artist - very cool.

I don't know if you really have time to do both Santa Ynez & Paso Robles, but maybe. One night in SB followed by a full day of driving, first through Santa Ynez Valley and late in the day onward to Paso Robles. Then 2 nights in Paso Robles.

Either that or 2 nights SB, 2 nights Paso Robles, and just one night in Carmel. Depends on how much you'd like to make wineries the focus of your trip.

I love Santa Barbara and would drive to the wine country and stay at the beach, but that is just me. Upscale, well try Bacara Resort on a beautiful piece of beach just 10 ish miles N. of Santa Barbara. 42,000 sf Spa!! Especially if you are only staying one night, its the nicest place Ive ever, ever been. Spectacular on all points. (Thats where Oprah had her special ball where she gave her girlfriends the diamond earrings).

If Bacara is too Xpensive, I have stayed at Fess Parkers Doubletree many times, love their steakhouse, their "spa" I have never noticed, maybe in the closet with their gym.

Pool area "OK" at Doubletree but have been told Four Seasons is awesome as well.

You will have a great time no matter where you go in that area!

Wineries that make some of the best wine in Paso Robles, in my opinion:

- Eberle
- Robert Hall
- Cass
- Castoro
- Adalaida

A couple of these are off the beaten path, but the drives to them are gorgeous.

McPhee's Grill in Templeton (just south of Paso Robles) has great dinner. Enjoy!

Thanks again for the advice. Looks like I have more to see than time will allow. I'll do some research on all of the recommendations and come up with a plan.