Getting There

Santa Barbara is 92 miles north of Los Angeles and 332 miles south of San Francisco. It is the largest city and the seat of Santa Barbara County. The Santa Ynez Mountains, which run along the east-west section of the Santa Barbara coast, serve as the boundary distinguishing "North County" (Buellton, Guadalupe, Lompoc, Los Alamos, Santa Maria, Santa Ynez, Solvang, and others) from "South County" (Carpinteria, Goleta, Montecito, Santa Barbara, and Summerland). While the South County cities and towns nestle in the Santa Ynez foothills on the shore of the Pacific Ocean, North County communities are located in higher-elevation inland mountain valleys.

Most guests will fly into Los Angeles and drive to Santa Barbara. By car, U.S. 101 runs right through Santa Barbara; it's the fastest and most direct route from north or south (1 1/2 hours from Los Angeles, 6 hours from San Francisco).

The Santa Barbara Municipal Airport (tel. 805/967-7111) is located in Goleta, about 10 minutes north of downtown Santa Barbara. Airlines serving Santa Barbara include American Eagle (tel. 800/433-7300), AmericaWest Airlines (tel. 800/235-9292), United (tel. 800/241-6522), and US Airways Express (tel. 800/428-4322). There are a number of major destinations that you can reach in one stop from Santa Barbara - Los Angeles, San Francisco, Phoenix, Denver, Salt Lake City and San Jose. Yellow Cab (tel. 805/965-5111) and other metered taxis line up outside the terminal; the fare is about $22 to downtown.