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This energy has trickled into the agricultural heart of Santa Barbara County. With the success of Oscar-winning movie Sideways (2004), winemaking is booming in the bucolic Santa Ynez Valley, where a hundred or so wineries now vie for your attention. Many of the newest winemakers are implementing their passion for the vine in earth-conscious ways, using organic practices and biodynamic farming techniques while enthusiastically sharing their knowledge in the tasting room. And they’re producing top-notch pinots, Syrahs and Chardonnays in the meantime.

Mother Nature returns the love with hiking, biking, surfing, kayaking, scuba diving and camping opportunities galore. There’s even an Outdoor Visitor Center to help you plan your adventure. But if all you want to do is relax, sunny beaches still await your arrival.

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HIGHLIGHTS

Enjoying panoramic views of the city from the 85ft tower of the Santa Barbara County Courthouse in downtown Santa Barbara

Pedaling past vineyards, farms and rolling countryside in the scenic Santa Rita Hills

Window shopping, wine tasting and patio dining in Los Olivos

Hiking Rattlesnake Canyon Trail in the southern foothills of the Santa Ynez Mountains Click here

Pretending to understand Einstein’s written description of the theory of relativity at the Karpeles Museum in Santa Barbara

Exploring the Foxen Canyon Wine Trail and tasting California’s best pinot noirs and Syrahs

Watching for migrating whales from Cavern Point on Santa Cruz Island in Channel Islands National Park

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FAST FACTS

Population Santa Barbara County 399,347

Average temps Jan 45/64°F, Jul 59/75°F

Santa Barbara to LA 95 miles

Santa Barbara to Solvang 35 miles (via Hwy 154)

Santa Barbara to Ojai 30 miles

Santa Barbara to Ventura 27 miles

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HISTORY

The Chumash people thrived in the Santa Barbara area for thousands of years before the arrival of the Spanish, setting up elaborate trade routes between the mainland and the Channel Islands, which they reached via sturdily constructed canoes known as tomols. In 1542 explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo sailed into the channel, claimed the area for Spain then sailed off to winter – and eventually die – on one of the nearby islands.

The Chumash had little reason for concern until the permanent return of the Spanish in the mid-1700s, when missionaries and padres arrived to establish missions and to convert the Chumash to Christianity – a systematic process that was occurring up and down the coast. The Spaniards used the converted Chumash to construct the missions and presidios and provide subsequent labor. Conversion saw these Native Americans change their diet and their clothing; many of them contracted fatal European diseases.

The Spanish weren’t the last of the settlers. Easterners began arriving en masse with the 1849 gold rush, and by the late 1890s the city was an established vacation spot for the wealthy. After a massive earthquake in 1925, tough laws were passed requiring the town to be rebuilt in the now-familiar faux-Mediterranean style of white stuccos and red tile.

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SANTA BARBARA

ORIENTATION

Santa Barbara’s coast faces south, not west, an important fact to remember when navigating town. Downtown Santa Barbara is laid out in a square grid – its main artery is State St, which runs north–south. State St divides the east side from the west side. Lower State St (south of Ortega St) has a large concentration of bars, while Upper State St (north of Ortega St) has most of the pretty shops and museums. Cabrillo Blvd hugs the coastline and turns into Coast Village Rd as it enters the eastern suburb of Montecito. Just south of Hwy 101, east of State St, the burgeoning Funk Zone lures the curious with its eclectic mix of rough-and-tumble indie shops – a refreshing poke in the eye to the conformist Spanish Mission–style designs prominent downtown. The southern foothills of the Santa Ynez mountains, just