My husband and I will be vacationing in Santa Barbara and surrounding area for a week during the month of April. If anyone has helpful info on the following subjects, I would love to hear. Also, any words of wisdom on traffic or LAX would be appreciated. We are from the midwest. By the way,we'll be staying at the Hotel Oceana in Santa Barbara for 4 days and then the Hilton Checkers in LA for 3 days. I've read the restaurant at Checkers is outstanding. How difficult is it to get reservations or seating w/o reservations at good restaurants in these areas?


Santa Barbara and LA - Best seafood, Italian, California, Continental or Japanese restaurants

Santa Ynez Valley
- best winery to visit
- best restaurant for lunch or dinner
- any other interesting places to visit

Santa Barbara
- best short cruise
- most interesting time spent

LA - must sees for the non-touristy type (Getty Museum, etc?)

Some LA advice:

Traffic rules are the same as for any large city: Avoid freeways and major thoroughfares (Wilshire, Olympic, Sepulveda, Santa Monica, etc.) during rush hour times, which are essentially 6AM-9AM and 4PM-8PM. Note that you will see lots of cars on the freeway at all hours; the off-rush hour traffic simply moves at top speed.

You are staying in a Downtown LA boutique hotel. There is quite a bit to see and do in Downtown until nightfall, after which the area basically goes dead (unless something's going on at Staples Center). There are some architectural gems (the Biltmore is one of the most beautiful hotels in the western US), the Museum of Contemporary Art is nearby, and the fun to be found on the Westside is a leisurely drive down Wilshire (or, if you're in a hurry, down the Santa Monica Freeway).

If the weather's good, hit the Getty (face it, you're gonna be there for the architecture and the views, not the art-- although Long Beach artist Bill Viola has a brilliant video installation going on there). Check out the Hollywood/Highland entertainment complex. Shop till you drop on Rodeo-- you know you want to. A walk down the Venice Boardwalk always gives me a good laugh or two. Olvera Street, just off of Downtown, is the oldest area in LA, and proudly keeps LA's Mexican history alive.

Thanks, rjw_lgb_ca.....your input gives us many options/tips for LA and is much appreciated.

I was recently in Santa Barbara and stayed at the Oceana. Nice hotel and a great location! I would suggest going to the Four Seasons in Montecito for a drink on the deck at sunset - Beautiful!I also went for a great hike not far from the city. I spent a couple days in the wine country. If you go to the town of Los Olivos - there are a bunch of tasting rooms in a row. Andrew Murray and Longoria were my favorite of the bunch. You should definitely go to Melville - it is a little out of the way but worth it.

There are so many great vineyards in Santa Ynez. You can get information about their wine trails online, just have to do a search for Santa Ynez vineyards...

For the setting, Gainey and Fess Parker wineries are gorgeous and great places for a picnic lunch. Foley is another favorite and is located next to a miniature horse farm in Los Olivos (a cute town).

Further north towards Santa Maria you'll find Byron, Cambria, Zaca Mesa and some other well known vineyards, with great wine. One of my very favorites, however, is Sanford, which is also towards Santa Maria and just west of Hwy. 101. Try their Pinot Noir, and be sure to check out the beautiful surroundings. Their resident labrador is also entertaining!

You were also inquiring about restaurants in the LA area. There are a huge number of good restos of every stripe you list.

For eclectic cuisine, for example, Yamashiro in Hollywood is renowned, but you also might check out Ciudad (Downtown) for their pan-American menu. Campanile, in the Miracle Mile district, is incredible.

Italian? My favorites are way down in Long Beach: Christy's in Belmont Shore and L'Opera in Downtown Long Beach; both have outstanding wine lists and delicious food. Having said that, in Santa Monica I. Cugini is an excellent choice as well. Cicada in Downtown is highly-regarded.

Seafood? I split between Ocean Avenue Seafood in Santa Monica and Pine Avenue Fish House in Long Beach. Both excellent. Water Grill, in Downtown, is great as well (I haven't eaten there recently, but it always gets good Zagat scores).

Continental: Café Pinot in Downtown (in the LA Central Library!) is very, very highly regarded. L'Orangérie in West Hollywood always gets high Zagat ratings.

Japanese-Fusion: Matsuhisa on Restaurant Row (Beverly Hills, basically) is world-famous. Yabu, just north of Matsuhisa by Beverly Center, is also phenomenal.

Anyone else...?

Nice things to visit downtown near Checkers that are not too touristy are the new cathedral (very modern design, people usually either love it or hate it) and the main public library. Both have great architecture. You can also quickly check out the new Disney concert hall under construction scheduled to open this fall. It's gotten a lot of publicity locally. If you like art museums, there's a contemporary art museum right downtown with a cute little courtyard restaurant where you can have lunch. Concerts, operas, and plays are always going on at the Music Center, which is located downtown. The restaurant at Checkers is good. Two other good downtown restaurants are the Water Grill for seafood and the Pinot restaurant right near the library. There are quite a few good restaurants here, since this is an area where a lot of business lunches take place. After dark, I'd be cautious about walking around downtown. It's pretty deserted. Use your car. You probably don't need to make reservations way ahead for any of these downtown restaurants.

The Getty Museum is fabulous. Also nice is the Huntington Library and Gardens in Pasadena, not far from downtown. But if you can do only one, the Getty!

Santa Barbara is absolutely delightful. I usually go with my kids, though, so my focus is on the attractions with kid appeal like the natural history museum and botanical garden. (Actually you might enjoy both depending on your interests....) So I can't really advise you on what to do, but I am sure you will love it.

LAX is always a zoo. Just get out of it as quickly as you can!

Thanks to all of my traveling friends who have replied with great information! I've also gotten helpful tidbits from a few other So. CA postings. Since we are leaving in less than a week, I'm getting very excited.