Santa Barbara Itinerary 3-day Memorial Day Weekend
 

My husband and I are temporary LA transplants from Boca Raton, Florida. We are interested in visiting Santa Barbara over Memorial Day Weekend and would be driving from the Marina Del Rey area. I've been reading many of the posts on this forum for the Santa Barbara area and Ive already started looking into many of your suggestions. My question would be any suggested 3-day itineraries, best routes to drive during this holiday weekend, best places to stay, visit, dine at, etc. Should we stay coastal, go inland, or both? Also, if you think that this is the worst possible weekend to be visiting that area and have other suggestions, I am all ears! By the way, we are in our 40's, we like beautiful scenery, beaches, art, wine and a little shopping. Oh, and we love the movie Sideways, seen it many times! In general, we are looking to relax and not hit a place that is completely overrun with tourists. Having just arrived in overcrowded LA has been enough of a shock to our systems!! Thanks in advance for all of your help and advice.

Hi redwolf. What is your hotel budget? There is a huge range in price for accomodations. If you have an idea, recommendations can be made.
SB is generally not overrun w/ tourists and moves at a slower pace than LA. With what you mentioned your interests are, I think you'll love SB!

I would certainly save this trip for a few days mid-week. Santa Barbara and the Santa Ynez Valley will be overrun over Memorial Day - I doubt that you could get reservations even now.

As for itinerary, I believe I would stay in SB as close to the beach as possible. Use one day to explore the pier, State Street, the Art Museum etc. On the second day, leave early, drive to Solvang, visit the Danish Village and the many wineries in the area. On the third day, do the Mission and if heading back that day take the drive (154) through Montecito and down to Lake Casitas -- Ojai is worth a stop as well. Good luck.

The drive through Montecito is 192. Sorry for the error. You will want 154 to get to Solvang, however.

Hi Redwolf,

Must agree w/other post here. To see SB and Santa Ynez Valley would be best during the week. You will absolutely love the area am sure.
BTW, the movie ~Sideways~ is going to be shown this coming Monday, 5/7, on Fox cable TV for anyone who has not seen it, such as me. Having just ret from this beautiful area a few weeks back, central coast wine country, am looking forward to viewing for the first time.
Enjoy and have a wonderful time.
Francie

redwolf... you'd better put your planning into high gear... most hotels will have three night minimums and may be quite booked already. That being said, if you give just a hint of your budget, you'll get lots of good suggestions for hotels and ther are MANY in the area!

Rstaurants... also more than you'll be able to try. I would suggest staying close to the beach and spending a day browsing around the beach and the downtown.

Solvang is really touristy and I'd skip it, but do drive north on the 154 to get to see Santa Ynez and Los Olivos.... lots of good wine tasing along the Foxen Wine Trail! The Hitching Post, Mattei's Tavern and the Los Olivos Cafe are favorites of many who post here.

Pull up some old posts ere about central coast wineries and we'll get into more details later!

We stayed three nights in Santa Barbara at the Fess Parker Doubletree resort. It was a good choice for us. Be sure to get an oceanview room.
:)>-

The Harbor View Inn is very nice, right across from the ocean and Stearns' Wharf. Pay a visit to Montecito, a charming place, we enoyed a nice lunch at the Biltmore Four Seasons there. :)

***kim*** ((f))