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Santa Barbara is such a charming seaside city to visit. If you’re looking for blue skies, long stretches of sandy beaches, palm trees, and beautiful weather, Santa Barbara is your place! You could easily spend more than one day in Santa Barbara. If I visit again, it will definitely be a long weekend trip! However, if you only have one day in Santa Barbara, what should you do?
We were visiting Solvang and I wanted to add a little day trip over to Santa Barbara to our itinerary. Seeing as it was our first visit to this seaside city, we really didn’t have much of an idea of what to do. Cue Google. I came up with a few ideas of what I thought we could reasonably see in one day. The best part of this one-day itinerary is that it is super budget-friendly!
Here are some great ideas to add to your itinerary if you only have one day to spend in Santa Barbara.
Best Things to See
While there are many things to do in Santa Barbara, here’s a short list of things I think you should see if you only have one day in the city. Most of them are completely free!
- The Harbor
- Stearns Wharf
- The Courthouse – A must-visit, and one of my favorite stops in Santa Barbara!
- The Old Mission
But first, we eat!
Before we ventured off to explore the town, we had to get some grub. There are SO many places to eat in Santa Barbara, and the menus are really seafood driven. However, as we all well know, vacation can start to get a little expensive!
We found a little budget-friendly lunch spot at the Santa Barbara Harbor called On the Alley to gobble up a couple of crab cake burgers and calamari plate with fries. What a great budget find! Our crab cake burger was so delicious and fresh and came with house-made potato chips. Sadly, I haven’t seen this pop back up on the menu lately but they do also serve a variety of other burgers, sandwiches, tacos, and seafood plates.
The Harbor
After a delicious lunch, we wandered around the harbor a bit to work off a little of the fried food. In this little area, there are a variety of activities you could do:
- Head out to the beach and smell that ocean air
- Visit the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum
- Have lunch or dinner at Brophy Bros. with a view of the Harbor
- Simply walk around and snap pics of the Harbor
- There’s also a variety of shops or activity rentals if you want to get out on the water
Stearns Wharf
Moving on with the itinerary, we drove over to a large parking lot just across from the Santa Barbara Visitors Center and walked over to Stearns Wharf. You can also park on Stearns Wharf for free for the first 90 minutes ($3.00/hr. after that), but we missed the turn and ended up at the parking lot instead.
That turned out to be just fine because we also stopped at the Visitors Center to pick up a free map, some bottled water and a magnet for my collection. This is a paid parking area; however, rates were very reasonable. If you plan on hanging out at the beach, this would also be a great spot to park your car.
*Pro tip: Bring bottled water since you will be walking around A LOT. You can purchase water at various spots (such as at the Visitors Center), but I definitely recommend keeping a bottle or two with you.
Stearns Wharf is California’s oldest wharf (completed in 1872) and offers a variety of activities for visitors. We walked a big loop around the Wharf, checking out the views of the beaches and the city and all the different attractions.
*Pro tip: Wear comfortable walking shoes like these. Like I mentioned above, these sights involve a lot of walking! Be sure to also wear flat shoes when walking on the Wharf as it’s made of large slats of older wood and it’s very easy to trip and fall.
Other things to check out when visiting Stearns Wharf include a plethora of restaurant options, souvenir/gift shops, wine tasting, and fishing off the Wharf. You could also check out the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Sea Center (adult tickets are $10).
The Courthouse
If you only see one thing in Santa Barbara, let it be the Courthouse! This was my favorite stop on our visit to Santa Barbara, and there is no entry fee!
Completed in 1929, the Santa Barbara County Courthouse is a fully-functional courthouse. It just also happens to be a beautiful tourist attraction! You can even catch a FREE public tour of the Courthouse Monday through Friday at 10:30 a.m., or daily at 2:00 p.m. (including weekends).
Climbing the stairs to the top of the Bell Tower is 100% worth it. There is also an elevator if you aren’t able to climb to the top but just know that during peak visiting hours, the elevator will run quite slow due to the amount of visitors. Who doesn’t need a little exercise anyway?
From the top of the Bell Tower, you can get a 360 degree view of Santa Barbara, which is just gorgeous on a clear day!
The Old Mission
Our last stop of the day was the Old Mission Santa Barbara. Of all the years I lived in California, this was the very first mission that I visited! Missions in California are quite historic, and this one in particular is really worth the visit – not just for people interested in religion, but those interested in history of the Native Americans and early settlers in the area.
To get through the Mission, you can pay $15.00 to take yourself on a self-guided tour, which is reasonable considering all of the aforementioned Santa Barbara activities are completely free (unless you visit the museums, of course). They also have guided tours available for an additional cost Thursday through Saturday.
Getting around the Mission on your own is quite easy, as you’ll find signs leading you in the right direction throughout the duration of the tour.
The tour will lead you through the gardens, on to the mausoleum, and through the cemetery.
The final portion of the tour is through the museum, where you will experience your history lesson. You’ll find photos of early settlers, friars, priests, and Native Americans (the Chumash), which we enjoyed reading about in the captions next to the photos.
There is also a collection of artifacts and rooms set up to recreate what life was like in the 1700 and 1800’s for those who lived at the Mission.
*Final pro tip: Dress in layers! The temperatures were in the 70’s, but all the walking you will do will heat you up quickly. 70’s in Santa Barbara means you can get quite warm, and you want your experience to be as enjoyable as possible. Debating on jeans vs. shorts? Go with the shorts! And bring a sweater…if you must.
If you were planning a one-day visit to Santa Barbara, what are some things you would include on your itinerary? We’ll definitely be back to experience more of Santa Barbara in the future, and we’d love some suggestions!
I loved reading about your experience in Santa Barbara. Your descriptions really made it come alive for me. Happy travels!
Thank you! I definitely need to make my way back to Santa Barbara, especially to explore the food scene.
Totally agree! I recently visited Santa Barbara and found the weather as close to perfect as you can get. It really makes you want to spend as much time outside as possible. The Funk Zone is a hub of some of Santa Barbara’s best food and drink all within walking or biking distance.
If you are looking for bike rentals I would suggest Cal Coast Adventures https://www.calcoastadventures.com/, as they offer tons of biking options. Beach cruisers to mountain bikes – they really have it all!
Another bucketlist item I was able to check off was learning to surf with Santa Barbara Surf School https://www.santabarbarasurfschool.com/. The instructors were so knowledgeable about ocean life and safety and I stood up on my first wave.
It was an experience I’ll never forget. Can’t wait to make my way back to Santa Barbara!
Thanks for the suggestions Hannah! I’ll have to take a look at those when we get the chance to return to the area, especially the Funk Zone. I’m all about that food and drink!