We (just husband and I) were thinking we wanted to go to the Willamette Valley in Oregon, but we’ve decided Santa Barbara looks pretty nice, and there seems to be a lot to do, and we can fly directly there. So, we are reconsidering…
We are pretty active - we like to bicycle (30ish miles or so is our good range) and hike, plus we think we want to do a kayaking tour out at the nearby National Park/island while there.
Question -
Any cycling suggestions that can be done without a rack on our rental car? (Looking for paths or quiet roads).
Suggested hikes?
Suggestions for kayaking?
Other fun activities?
Other nearby places suggested?
We considered staying in Solvang for a day or two, and that’s still on the table, but we’re not sure about that.
If you have suggested places to stay, that would be great too. We tend to like to have a kitchen, so a VRBO type place would be great, but could also do a hotel. We aren’t Ritz people, but we want something fairly nice, and in a nice location.
We may stay in 2 places, but we may opt for just one.
TIA
Be aware of the UCSB calendar. September 19, 2026 is UCSB dorm move in day (and off campus students may move in a few days earlier or later), so consider the effect on airline tickets, traffic, and lodging availability.
We stayed at this little inn for one night last October - very nice staff and excellent location. We booked a small standard queen but got upgraded to a lovely kitchenette room. They had complimentary bikes but we didn’t use them.
We had one dinner at Oku - husband raved about his sushi - and one breakfast on the charming courtyard at Jeannine’s. Both walkable from the inn.
Santa Barbara is wonderful in September. We’ve tended to stay downtown (we love the Canary hotel, it’s a Kimpton property) because we like to be walking distance to the beach and restaurants, but there are plenty of Airbnb’s or VRBOs.
I wanted to suggest you check out Ojai (gorgeous and also amazing cycling) or the broader Santa Ynez valley, too. Solvang is touristy and cute for a day trip (it bills itself as a mini Denmark), but there’s more classic central CA vibe in Los Olivos, Buellton, Santa Ynez, Los Alamos.
If you like wine tasting I would suggest going to Paso Robles. Its also a great place to stay with lots of good food.
We stayed at the Allegretto there. Was lovely.
You will love the airport. Easiest airport I’ve ever flown in and out of. Sept is usually great weather. The fog is gone and the days still long and sunny.
You can rent kayaks in the marina. There might be other spots but that’s one I know of.
Island Packers will require a trip to Ventura harbor but they are your source for trips out to the Channel Islands.
Santa Barbara Adventure does guide kayak tours at Santa Cruz Island. I think you still need to get the bot from Island packers. I’ve not done them as I’ve only visited via private boat.
Condor Express is an option for whale watching.
I love getting a coffee or matcha from Dart coffee in the marina and looking out onto the water at the boats. They also have a location in the Funk zone.
What kind of food do you like?
Hotels vary in price. If you have some ideas I can advise on surrounding location. Cabrillo blvd has lots of motels across the street from the water. They only beachfront places are The Bacara north of SB , and the Rosewood Miramar which is an awesome location but price prohibitive for most of us.
Goleta has some more affordable places that are nice like The Leta. You’d have to drive everywhere.
I’ve only been researching this since this morning, so I’m not really sure what to expect.
We’d like to be able to walk to restaurants, and the beach too if possible, and we’d like to not pay a fortune to park a car. (I am thinking we will get a car, but we could do without for a couple of days and then get one for the potential “other part” of our trip if that’s a smart thing to do).
I did find an interesting VRBO place near West Beach, and actually I have lots of Chase points which I gather could convert to Hyatt. There is a place called Mar Monte that looks interesting, but I’m not sure it’s a great location?
We’d like to be able to walk to restaurants, and the beach too if possible, and we’d like to not pay a fortune to park a car.
The Harbor House Inn meets all of these qualifications. We were in Room 4.
Thanks - I’ve checked it out and it does look doable.
Thanks for this insight. I will be there the same weekend for a wedding. I guess I should look into plane tickets SOON,
The Santa Barbara airport is great. It’s worth looking into as sometimes it’s not more expensive than LAX. If you do end up flying to LAX the Santa Barbara Airbus has great service to Carpinteria, Santa Barbara and Goleta.
My daughter got married in Santa Barbara during Covid on a random weekend in October. The hotels were crazy expensive. For example the Canary that someone referenced above was $700 a night.
UCSB graduation in June is another weekend where reservations are harder to get. For move in the places out closer to the campus fill up first.
You can find bike routes online such as Santa Barbara Maps | Bike Paths | Bike Trails | best bicycling advice Depending on your interests you could pick relatively flat routes or challenging climbs such as San Marcos pass.
From downtown SB the beach is an easy walk and Sept is actually the best weather of the year, before storms start to arrive and when the water has warmed a bit so the mornings tend to be less overcast or foggy than they are in the spring. As to the water, north of LA people go to the beach to look at the water but not swim. Without a wetsuit it is too cold for anyone but children (they don’t seem to care). If you’re walking on the sand near the water either wear shoes you don’t care about or if barefoot buy some baby oil and paper towels because there is natural tar seepage. Every UCSB student has a bottle by their doorway.
If you want to do a daytrip then downtown San Luis Obispo is a little over 90 minutes away and has a wonderful downtown. If you go the tri-tip sandwich for lunch at Firestone Grill is a local favorite. Solvang is fine as a daytrip, we’ve not stayed overnite but maybe you’d enjoy that. Much closer to SB is downtown Ventura, another classic beach town. If you’re a Patagonia fan then visit Great Pacific Iron Works in downtown Ventura which was their very first store. Last time we were there they stocked some vintage-style jackets.
Since this is a college forum it’s worth mentioning that the campuses of UCSB and Cal Poly are in the area. You can bike from downtown SB to UCSB, much of which is on a bike trail.
Sundays they have an art show along the beach in SB, fun to wander along. Lastly, at least once a day and possibly more you need to have McConnell’s Ice Cream. Incredible stuff!
I’m a Rori’s ice cream fan. My daughter is a devoted McConnell eater.
Thanks, especially for the Patagonia info. I actually just read a book about the owner (well used to be owner).
Consider an overnight for this: Sensorio https://sensoriopaso.com/
The Channel Islands kayaking is great. If they still offer snorkeling, do it.
Sensoria looks really fun!
if you like those kinds of shows, I believe you are local to LA? The winter festival at Descanso Gardens has a similar vibe although probably somewhat smaller in scale.
My daughter (an actor) was in a play in Santa Barbara. She was there for most of the summer and we flew out to Santa Barbara to see her play and spend some time with her. We stayed for a week.
We rented a place through AIrB&B in Montecito, which was very close to Santa Barbara and a very nice area. During that week, we visited the Botanic Garden, which was really interesting because it featured native plants, and had hiking trails, We also went to a bird refuge in Santa Barbara, (Don’t remember the name.) In addition, we drove to Pasa Robles and visited wineries. It was a great place to spend a week.
For those familiar with the area, any opinion of Seacliff/Leadbetter beach?
I think that is a condo complex across from the beach. There will likely be stairs to the unit. I think many units have an ocean view. It’s walkable to Shoreline park which is just up the hill which is a nice greenbelt promenade. The other direction you have the marina. It’s pretty close to the city college so I’m not sure how much a factor that is for noise. Restaurants are walkable from there just not as close as the other location you noted.