WELCOME TO SANTA BARBARA: THE AMERICAN RIVIERA

This page will give you an overview of Santa Barbara, as well as many phone numbers for wonderful things to see and do while you are here. Enjoy your visit!

Santa Barbara is rather unique. When people think of the Riviera, they generally think of the French Riviera - But on the other side of the world, on the shores of the beautiful Pacific, lies another Riviera - Santa Barbara, also known as the American Riviera. Geographically, the two share much in common: towering mountains and a sweeping shoreline overlooking nearby islands. Both enjoy a unique south facing position, resulting in a world renowned, temperate climate. Sheltered between both mountains and islands, both bask in sunshine from dawn to dusk.

Santa Barbara differs from its European relative in several important ways. First of all, as a lush, tropical paradise, it features all the advantages of a major resort - minus the crowds, however. Second, it has a unique ambiance - a captivating blend of colorful history, distinctive architecture and the legendary Southern California lifestyle. Known all over the world for its exceptional beauty, Santa Barbara boasts crystal clear air, stunning scenery and glistening, palm lined, golden beaches.

While exuding warmth, friendliness and a relaxed atmosphere, Santa Barbara offers an outstanding variety of attractions. Where else can you spend a few days at a western guest ranch, go whale watching, mountain biking, wine tasting and sailing and also enjoy museums, art galleries, numerous great restaurants and first rate dance, theater and music performances - year around?

Located just 90 miles north of Los Angeles, Santa Barbara is surprisingly accessible and affordable. We're reachable by plane, train, boat or automobile but, beware, once you get here, you'll never want to leave! So just ask us, and we'll tell you - we think Santa Barbara is the perfect place to live.

The seaside climate of Santa Barbara is always a delightful surprise to the first-time visitor. This is particularly true during the winter months - roughly from October through March. But we're not the first to appreciate this little of a coastal paradise. Word got out, and beginning about the turn of the century, many prominent Eastern families who came to visit ended up establishing winter residences. They found the lure of our pleasant year round climate simply too hard to resist. Santa Barbara is a get-out-in-the-sunshine-and-fresh-air-kind-of-a-place, with all of the type of activities that description implies. With the average rainfall about only 18 inches, it's similar to many desert resort communities. Unlike these resorts, however, there are no sandy windstorms that make their presence known in every nook and cranny in your home, nor are there the hot, dry, skin-cracking days that take all of the hydration out of you. Absent too, are the cold and damp winter storms that frequently plague many California coastal resorts. What allows Santa Barbara to escape nature's typical moodiness is its unique geographic situation. For roughly 40 miles on either side of Santa Barbara, the Pacific coastline runs East/West. This alignment helps to moderate the ocean currents that flow past Santa Barbara's front door. Our towering mountains that rise up close to the sea, shelter this tiny coastal strip from both inland heat and cold.

The Channel Islands, which is the chain of islands some 20 to 30 miles off our shore, break the force of the ocean storms and tends to quiet the surf. The result is a comfortable year round average temperature of 62 degrees with an average maximum of 72 degrees and an average minimum of 52 degrees. To sum it up, this means that there really is no "off season" in Santa Barbara. Our warm sunshine, beautiful scenery, invigorating clean air and congenial people are rather pleasant to be with year round. Won't you join us?

FACTS & FIGURES

LOCATION:  Santa Barbara is located on the South Central coast of California facing the Pacific Ocean, some 90 miles northeast of Los Angeles and 330 miles south of San Francisco.  It is in a moderate coastal valley, surrounded by green hills and rolling surf.  The elevation ranges from sea level to 850 feet within the city limits.  The city occupies 23 square miles in a county, including the Channel Islands, of 2,774 square miles.

ACCESS:  Two airlines affiliated with major scheduled air carriers (American Eagle-American Airlines, and United Express-United Airlines) connect Santa Barbara with other cities where connections can be made to cities worldwide.  Bus service is available with Greyhound Bus Lines, which provides Santa Barbara with daily arrivals and departures.  There are also north and southbound trains that stop in Santa Barbara each day.

CLIMATE:  Temperatures for the Santa Barbara Area range from a low of 56 to a high of 82 degrees during the summer months (April-September), and a low of 47 to a high of 66 degrees in the winter months (October-March).  The average rainfall is 18 inches, and the air quality is generally good.

HISTORY:  The Santa Barbara area was discovered and claimed for Spain in 1542 by Juan Cabrillo, a Portuguese explorer sailing for Spain.  In 1602 Sebastian Vizcaino anchored offshore on December 4th-the feast day of Saint Barbara (patroness of Mariners).  The ship´s priest named both the channel and mainland area Santa Barbara in her honor.  In April 1782 Padre Juniper Serra established the Presidio Real of Santa Barbara in a grand ceremony, and four years later construction of Mission Santa Barbara began.  It was the tenth of 21 Franciscan missions to be built in upper-California.  Soon Yankee traders, tourists and health seekers, followed by wealthy Easterners settled in Santa Barbara because of the mild winters.  The mixture of newcomers and Spanish descendants has shaped the area for what it has become today.

ACCOMMODATIONS:  Santa Barbara boasts over 90 motels and hotels, plus numerous bed and breakfast inns, all of which provide over 4,500 rooms from the modest to the most luxurious for both business travelers and tourists.

CHURCHES:  Over 140 churches in the area represent almost every faith and denomination.

CONFERENCES:  The mild weather, combined with the excellent accommodations and restaurants are reasons for the large number of conferences and conventions held in the Santa Barbara area.

RESTAURANTS:  There are some 400 restaurants, coffee shops, cafes, and snack bars, many with sidewalk cabaret tables, with menus that range from fast food, to exotic dishes, or elegant dining.

MEDIA:  The Santa Barbara News-Press is locally owned and operated daily newspaper with circulation in excess of 70,000.  There are seven AM, and nine FM radio stations, along with eleven television stations available with antenna or cable.

ECONOMY:  Santa Barbara´s employment force is mainly in service-related companies.  The economy is based on electronics and space age research, light manufacturing, educational facilities, tourist and convention services.  Additional contributors to the economic stability of the area are commercial fishing, agriculture, government and finance, commercially produced minerals such as petroleum, natural gas, sand and gravel, and wholesale and retail enterprises.  The financial community consists of 11 banks with 36 offices, and 8 savings and loan associations with 17 offices.  The two major shopping malls, the El Paseo Nuevo located downtown, and the La Cumbre Plaza at State Street and La Cumbre attract regional shoppers to their major department stores, specialty shops, and restaurants.

CULTURE:  The Santa Barbara Museum of Art is one of five privately maintained museums.  There are displays of works from many private collections, and the public library has a wing of paintings and related art.  There are a number of private galleries with unique selections of works for sale.  The Contemporary Arts Forum is located centrally in El Paseo Nuevo Mall.  The Santa Barbara Symphony Orchestra provides entertainment throughout the year.  There are local theatre groups as well as groups from local educational institutions which perform year round.  In addition to local productions, road companies of various Broadway productions schedule performances at our local facilities.  The Santa Barbara Choral Society performs at many local functions at various times throughout the year as well.

 


RECREATION: Recreation plays a very important part in the life of Santa Barbara, for resident and visitor alike.  There are both public and private golf courses for all from the ?weekend duffer´ to the scratch golfer.  The 34 municipal parks, many with picnic equipment and children´s playgrounds, and some with facilities for volleyball, softball, swimming, lawn-bowling, and tennis (some with light for night play) are gathering places for locals and visitors alike.  There is both saltwater and freshwater fishing within a short distance of Santa Barbara.  Some other recreational activities in the surrounding areas include hot air ballooning, bicycling, hang gliding, hiking, horseback riding, polo, roller-skating, scuba diving, off-road vehicle driving, and whale watching.

Limited boat rentals and supplies available at both locations.

SCHOOLS and LIBRARIES:  The Santa Barbara public schools rank among the best in the state.  The public school programs include elementary, middle/junior high, senior high, special education, and continuation curriculum.  Santa Barbara is also home of Santa Barbara City College, Westmont College, and the University of California, as well as Brooks Institute School of Photography and the Music Academy of the West.  The public library system consists of six branches and a bookmobile.  The system contains over 300,000 books, 6,000 records, numerous subscriptions to periodicals, thousands of pamphlets, and over 4,000 videos.

TRANSPORTATION:  The Metropolitan Transit District provides bus service to and from various points in Santa Barbara daily.  Fares are 1 dollar for the general public and 50 cents for senior citizens (over 62).  The District also has electric bus service available for areas not serviced by regular bus routes.

MEDICAL FACILITIES: There are four hospitals that serve the medical needs of the greater Santa Barbara area with a total of over 800 beds to meet the health requirements of the community. 

WINERIES: A short trip from Santa Barbara over the foothills into the Santa Ynez Valley brings a plethora of internationally renowned wineries, most of which have picnic areas for a leisurely lunch, and tasting rooms for visitors to sample a variety of their premium wines.

OUTLYING AREA ATTRACTIONS:  There is much to see in the areas immediately around Santa Barbara.  From the ocean to the west to the mountains to the east, there are activities to satisfy the interests of all.

SOLVANG:  45 miles northeast of Santa Barbara, this quaint Danish town has maintained its charm and cultural identity since it was founded in 1911.  The gas streetlights, Danish windmills, old-world architecture, and Scandinavian shops and restaurants transport visitors to another world in another time.  Hans Christian Anderson Park offers a children´s playground, tennis, an atmosphere for picnics, or just relaxing.  For detailed information on events and attraction, contact the Solvang Visitors Bureau, 808/688-6144.

SANTA MARIA:  Located only 79 miles north of Santa Barbara, Santa Maria is a quiet town with cattle feeding in the foothill pastures, re-wing blackbirds visiting marshes, and missiles streaking overhead from Vandenberg Air Base.  There are daily tours of the missile launch facilities, which are open to the public.  The nationally acclaimed Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts is based here and performs year round.  The newly founded Santa Maria Museum of Flight is open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

CARPINTERIA:  Located on the beach a few miles south of Santa Barbara, Carpinteria boasts a variety of attractions including Abbey Garden Cactus and Succulent Nursery with over 2,000 varieties of cacti and succulents, the Carpinteria Valley Museum of History, the Santa Barbara Polo and Raquet Club, Santa Claus Lane with toy shops, a bakery, a candy kitchen, and other specialty shops.  Carpinteria is also home to Stewart Orchids, a nursery of exotic varieties of flowers with 80,000 square feet of greenhouse space.

BUELLTON:  Buellton, home of the world famous Pea Soup Andersen´s restaurant since 1924 has attracted millions of hungry travelers from around the world.  Buellton has a number of motels, restaurants, golf courses, a dinner theater, comedy club, and movie theater.  Buellton Visitor´s Center 805.688.7829 or toll-free 1.800.324.3800.

LOMPOC:  Located 50 miles northwest of Santa Barbara, Lompoc boasts 19 miles of flower fields in bloom from early June to Mid-July.  Another attraction in the area is La Purisima state Historical Park, an impressive mission built in the early 1800´s.

CHUMASH PAINTED CAVE HISTORICAL PARK:  Located 12 miles northeast of Santa Barbara, the park boasts brightly colored pictographs created by the Chumash Indians on the cave walls.

LAKE CACHUMA COUNTY PARK:  The lake is a fisherman´s paradise, with bass, catfish, trout, bluegill, and crappie.  A bait and tackle shop provides for the needs of everyone.  Boat launching and rentals are available.