KathyM

Reposting to the California Forum - Sorry! My daughter recently relocated to California and we are slowly exploring. On our next trip we are thinking of heading up to the Santa Barbara area. We stayed in Santa Barbara once before, and enjoyed the city, but this time we are thinking of branching out to the surrounding wineries. Does anyone have suggestions for a nice (but not too expensive) place to stay? (Say under $150 on a weekend night in July) And recommendations for the best wineries to visit? Before you ask, I like chardonnays, my daughter and husband prefer reds - pinots, zinfandels, cabernets...

Jean

During the summer months in the popular tourist destinations, most hotels have a 2-night minimum on weekends.

Here are a few websites to get you started on identifying wineries that might interest you:

http://www.santabarbara.com/winecountry/

http://www.winecountrygetaways.com/s...-wineries.html

http://travel.latimes.com/articles/l...e=destinations

Here's a link to an article from the L.A. Times earlier this year on affordable lodging in Santa Barbara:

http://travel.latimes.com/articles/la-tr-sbhotels13

KathyM

Thanks for the info, I will check out all the suggestions. We don't necessarily have to stay right in Santa Barbara. Someplace outside of Santa Barbara and convenient to the wineries might work well and be less expensive (?)

boom_boom

There are several hotels/motels in Bulleton that are a lot closer to the wineries than SB. I think there is a Best Western, Super 8 and a Marriott.
Visit Foxen, Fess Parker and Firestone. Check out a couple of generic tasting rooms in Santa Yenz and Los Olivos for a chance to sample several different wineries at one stop.
The Hitching Post is a good place to eat. For a typical toursit experience try Pea Soup Anderson's Restaurant. Also a wide selection of motels and eating places a few miles down the road in Solvang. Enjoy.

KathyM

How much are the fires restricting tourism in the Santa Barbara area? Wondering if it's best to put a trip to the Santa Barbara area off to another time

mlgb

At the moment the Santa Barbara fire (called the Gap fire) is not threatening tourism in Santa Barbara County.

However there is an air quality warning in effect for Santa Barbara County.

You can check the latest conditions at the Inciweb site, and I would advise doing this before setting out. Fire conditions along the Santa Barbara coasdt can change very quickly if the fire gets into a canyon that funnels toward the coast.

http://165.221.39.44/incident/news/article/1384/7005/

mlgb

Here's a local news station for Santa Barbara

www.keyt.com