The Ideal Santa Barbara Day Trip Itinerary
An ideal Santa Barbara day trip includes visiting some of the main attractions, eating at some of the best restaurants, and ending the day with an ocean sunset!
I’ve lived in Santa Barbara for years and have visited my entire life since it’s my dad’s hometown. Santa Barbara is home to me, even when I’m not living there full-time! After many years of exploring Santa Barbara, I’ve found the best activities and restaurants to recommend to visitors.
There is an almost endless list of things to do in Santa Barbara! They definitely cannot all be done in one day. A weekend getaway is ideal to experience all that Santa Barbara has to offer. Still, my day trip itinerary is a great start if you can only spend one day in Santa Barbara!
Because I want you to have the perfect Santa Barbara day trip, I’ve added a few alternative options so you can choose which activities and restaurants sound best to you.
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What To Pack for a Santa Barbara Day Trip
Depending on the time of year you visit, you’ll likely pack and dress for warm and sunny weather! Santa Barbara weather is pretty temperate year-round with warm weather in spring and summer and cooler weather in fall and winter.
No matter what time of year you visit, wearing or packing layers is essential to a comfortable trip. The weather cools down once the sun goes down, even on a hot day.
Packing List:
Shorts/pants
T-shirt/tank top
Lightweight jacket or sweater
Coola Sunscreen (Get Coola on Amazon or Ulta)
Swimsuit (I love the ones from Vitamin A!)
Believe it or not, both photos above are in Santa Barbara! Read Best Photo Spots in Santa Barbara to see where the Greek building is located.
How to Get Around Santa Barbara
Drive: If you’re doing a day trip to Santa Barbara from somewhere nearby, you’re probably going to drive. A car is convenient to get around quickly so you can pack in all the activities you want to do!
Bike: Bring your bike or rent some from Wheel Fun Rentals on Mason Street in the Funk Zone. Get electric bikes to speed up transportation time between destinations! Santa Barbara is a pretty bike-friendly town with a long coastal bike trail and State Street, which is closed to cars.
Walk: If you want to get in some steps and take your time getting from place to place, Santa Barbara is a great place to walk around. Most of the activities and restaurants on this list are within walking distance of each other, but you will likely get in 10k steps if you only walk.
Santa Barbara Day Trip Itinerary
Grab Coffee & Breakfast in the Funk Zone
Start your day in Santa Barbara with coffee or tea (I’m a chai latte person!) and some breakfast from one of the delicious coffee shops in the Funk Zone.
The Funk Zone is a neighborhood within downtown Santa Barbara that is an artsy area with wine tasting, breweries, incredible restaurants, and beautiful murals. It’s one of my favorite areas in Santa Barbara!
Dart Coffee Co: They have a lovely garden across the street with tables and chairs to sit at while you enjoy your breakfast. The menu is varied with unique drinks like a June Bug Lavender Latte and delicious food like empanadas, burritos, and pastries. They have vegan food and drink options, and they don’t charge extra for vegan milk!
Helena Avenue Bakery: This is a great place to get breakfast, brunch, or lunch. Their sandwiches are delicious and they have a nice outdoor seating area to soak up some morning sunshine before you move on to your next activity.
Ride Bikes Along the Beach
Santa Barbara has a gorgeous 3-mile bike path that extends from the Andree Clark Bird Refuge to the Santa Barbara Harbor if you want to do a full bike ride. You get ocean views the entire way while passing landmarks like the Chromatic Gate, East Beach, Stearns Wharf, and West Beach.
If you don’t have a bike, you can rent one from Wheel Fun Rentals! They have regular bikes and beach cruisers, electric bikes, and surrey bikes, which look like carriages that two or four people can ride in and pedal. They’re great for a sunny day when you want to bike with some shade over you.
Once you rent your bike, head straight to Cabrillo Blvd. and start at Stearns Wharf for a shorter bike ride. Follow the paved bike path along the coast from Stearns Wharf to the Santa Barbara Harbor and back (about 1.7 miles round trip).
If you want to extend the bike ride, I recommend stopping along the way and enjoying the journey! You can even pack your beach stuff and stop at West Beach to get in some relaxing beach time.
Get Lunch at Corazon Cocina
Some of the best fish tacos in Santa Barbara are from Corazon Cocina! It’s located in Public Market, an indoor food court with multiple restaurants in downtown Santa Barbara. You can either drive, drive, or walk ~1.5 miles down State Street to get here.
In addition to fish tacos, they also have great burritos, ceviche, and incredible hibiscus tea drinks. The fish tacos are my favorite though and I highly recommend getting them if you like fish tacos.
They have a lovely area to eat outside with beautiful Spanish-style architecture and plants surrounding it. There is indoor seating as well if you prefer that.
Tip: The outdoor area is a perfect spot to snap some photos with the typical Santa Barbara architecture!
Walk or Bike Around Downtown
The main street in downtown Santa Barbara is called State Street. It’s lined with shops and restaurants and is a great place to walk around to pass the time. Large parts of the street have been closed to cars and it’s open to pedestrians, bikers, scooters, and skateboarders!
Things To Do in Downtown Santa Barbara:
Peruse the many shops.
Get treats and drinks at CAJE Coffee Roasters.
Play chess on a giant chessboard in Paseo Nuevo.
Visit the Santa Barbara Museum of Art.
Explore the Santa Barbara Courthouse.
Tour Casa De La Guerra.
Check out El Presidio de Santa Bárbara State Historic Park.
Relax at the Beach
If you want to stay in the downtown area, the best beaches are West Beach and Leadbetter Beach. These are conveniently located along E. Cabrillo Blvd. next to Stearns Wharf and the Santa Barbara Harbor.
West Beach and Leadbetter are both large, open beaches near restaurants and restrooms. You can either bike here from downtown or drive and park along the street or in one of the paid parking lots.
If you don’t mind driving for about 10-15 minutes, the best beach in Santa Barbara is Butterfly Beach! It’s technically located in Montecito, which is an unincorporated area in Santa Barbara County and is known for being an upscale area that many celebrities call home.
There are no bathrooms at Butterfly Beach, so plan accordingly! There is a Starbucks in downtown Montecito that you can drive to if you need to use a bathroom — it’s about a 5-minute drive and there is a parking lot there.
Have Dinner On the Coast
Shoreline Beach Cafe
You can either order from Shoreline Beach Cafe’s limited walk-up menu and have a beach picnic or eat at a restaurant and have a sit-down meal from their full menu. Their walk-up menu has tacos, fish and chips, burgers, and sides.
Whether you have a picnic or eat at the restaurant, you will get gorgeous ocean views since this restaurant is right on the beach! The outdoor seating is on the sand of Leadbetter Beach so you can have your feet in the sand while you eat.
If you don’t want to be on the beach, you can eat indoors and still have ocean views with fresh air through their glass half-walls and the tented roof.
Santa Barbara FisHouse
For a more upscale/fancy dinner, Santa Barbara FisHouse has amazing dishes and is across the street from the beach. It’s a couple of blocks down from Stearns Wharf and is easily walkable if you’re coming from West Beach.
There aren’t ocean views from here like there are at Shoreline Beach Cafe, but you will have views of the line of palm trees between the street and the beach!
Watch Sunset to End the Day
Sunset at Leadbetter Beach
You don’t have to go far after dinner to watch the sunset if you eat at Shoreline Beach Cafe since it is on Leadbetter Beach. Keep in mind that depending on the time you eat dinner and the time of year, the sun may set before or while you eat dinner.
Leadbetter Beach has a large parking lot which makes it easy to get a spot for both dinner and watching the sunset. It’s a long stretch of beach and is such a lovely spot for sunset. There is also a large park area that was upgraded in January 2024 with new grass and 14 barbeques at each picnic bench site.
Some of the best sunsets I’ve ever seen have been at this beach — particularly in the winter when Santa Barbara has the most beautiful sunsets!
Sunset on the Double Dolphin Cruise
For a romantic and fun end to the day, hop aboard the Double Dolphin for a sunset cruise around the Santa Barbara coast! There are drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) and snacks available for purchase on board.
The catamaran takes off from the Santa Barbara Harbor and sails around for a couple of hours. You’re likely to see sea lions hanging out on the buoys and if you’re lucky, you may spot some dolphins and otters!
Taking a sunset cruise is such a nice way to end an amazing Santa Barbara day trip. I’ve taken this exact cruise multiple times and had so much fun every time!
Note: If this is something you want to do, you may need to shift your day trip schedule around. The cruise starts at different times (between 3:15pm and 6pm) depending on the time of year for optimal sunset viewing. You will see the start time once you select your date!
Where To Stay in Santa Barbara
If you want to turn your day trip into a multi-day trip, read my guide about where to stay in Santa Barbara, book one of the top options below, or search the map to find a hotel!
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Best Overall: Hotel Californian
Best Luxury: Palihouse Santa Barbara
Best Beachfront: Santa Barbara Inn
Best Budget: Inn by the Harbor
Best Boutique: Riviera Beach House
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