What are some fun things to do in Santa Barbara?|165826

My wife and I are planning a 4 day vacation in Santa Barbara. Any suggestions on things to do during the day? Nightlife? Restaurants?

I_ve lived in Santa Barbara for the past 15 years and can honestly say that it is one of the best places in the world to visit.

Start your trip at Stearns Wharf. Visit the wine tasting room. It costs around $5 for 5 tastes of local wines. Then, walk to the end of the pier to look in the hole in the middle of the pier. There are beautiful starfish there. If you spend a few dollars, you can get your parking ticket validated.

Next, drive up State Street and visit Historic El Paseo. There is a free museum there. There is also an awesome Sunday Brunch (and great Friday night happy hour) at the restaurant there.

Paseo Nuevo Mall has a good Nordstrom and Macys in an outdoor mall setting. A few blocks up State Street will take you to the Museum of Art. Being originally from a big city, I was pleasantly surprised by the incredible collection here.

Great restaurants include Montecito Cafe, Taj cafe, Pierre La Fond, Aldos, and Restaurant Kai.

Next, drive up State Street and take a right on Mission Drive. Then, take a left at the dead end and you will end up at the Mission. It offers a great self-guided tour and includes many indigenous artefacts and history of how life was 200 years ago. As the previous poster recommended, visit the natural history museum. It is small but nice.

On your next day, go wine tasting. (Bring a designated driver or hire a car if possible) Drive along San Marcos Pass and have lunch at Cold Springs Tavern, a historic stage coach stop.

When wine tasting, focus on the three _B_s Brander for Sauvignon Blanc, Bridlewood for Chardonnay, and Beckman for other Rhone Varietals. Pack a picnic lunch and have a _Sideways_ trip.

Be sure to visit Red Rock in the Los Padres National Forest. If you like horseback riding, go to Rancho Oso. Drive along Alamo Pintado Road to see the miniature horses. On the way back, visit the Ostrich farm and feed an Emu.

Also visit Nojoqui Falls on your way back to Santa Barbara. It has a beautiful walkway.

Nightlife: Soho has great live bands, concerts in the park on Thursday nights are popular during the summer, and you really can_t beat seeing a concert at the Lobero or Arlington. These locations draw famous musicians in a small setting.

Have a wonderful trip.

Find a bar with a patio and sit and laught at all of the shallow, bleach-blonde, movie star wanna bes that walk by.

I live in Santa Barbara. During the day: Wine tasting...you can download maps online and drive yourself, or there are companies that will pick you up and take you from winery to winery. Butterfly Beach in Montecito is a great beach for relaxing on the sand and taking in the sun (or arrive in the evening for a sunset stroll). Shopping along State Street and a stroll along Sterns Wharf is nice to do. Take a tour of the Mission and then drive up to Francesci Park for a beautiful city view. The Santa Barbara Bontanic Gardens are beautiful. Whale Watching is great this time of year, too. There are amazing hikes close by -- great views, waterfalls, etc., and on the way back stop for a drink or lunch at Cold Springs Tavern. At night -- plenty of great restaurants (Seville, El Paseo, Brophy Bros., BrewHouse, Piranha, Elements, Chads, Palace Grill are some good ones). For an after dinner drink and maybe some music -- Soho, Rocks, Blue Agave, James Joyce are good. I_d also recommend Beach Break Cafe and/or East Beach Grill for breakfast.

Santa Barbara has one of the best zoos I_ve ever visited, especialy the gorilla exhibit.

If you like museums...they have a really neat natural history museum there. I always visit when I go.

Take a ride in one of the bicycle rickshaws.

Go to Yahoo travel and enter Santa Barbara, Ca and check out what others say about that city. Have a wonderful time. My wife and I always do.