Why Santa Barbara? Well, I have an interview half an hour away from the city, so I decided to visit my friend in beautiful Santa Barbara for a few days after the interview. Santa Barbara has been called the American Riviera for its beautiful beaches, charming downtown, and exorbitant prices! Fortunately I’ll be staying with my friend, so at least I can save on the lodging costs.
(For those of you keeping up, the job search is still going on. I am waiting to hear back from a few places, going on interviews, and chatting to recruiters. The job search is at once exciting and unsettling – I can feel a marked improvement in the job market compared to a few months ago, and I’m excited about the potential jobs I’ve applied for and interviewed for. Still, while interviews are easier to come by the competition for an offer remains intense – wish me luck!).
In preparation for my trip, I’ve found several things for those will be visiting Santa Barbara on a budget:
Hotels - It’s not cheap to stay in a slice of Santa Barbara, fortunately, if you are forgiving of tight spaces, thin towels, and perhaps lumpy beds, you can find cool and funky motels to stay in without breaking the bank.
- The Presidio Motel: Rates aren’t listed on their website, but I called about a year ago, and received quotes of $100 to $150 per night for weekend stays.
- The Agave Inn: A sister hotel to The Presidio Motel, The Agave Inn is located 10 minutes from Downtown Santa Barbara and has rates in the $70-$100 range.
- Inn at East Beach: For the last weekend of March, the cheapest rates available are $190 per room.
Dine - I love food, and Santa Barbara does not disappoint. I’ve had very good French food in this city (although not on a budget). If you can, I’d suggest you splurge at least once when you’re in the city.
- Petit Valentien: A French bistro located downtown. I especially enjoy the appetizers (I like the variety, the ample portions, and the affordable prices). On my last trip to Santa Barbara, a friend and I split several appetizers, and the tab for us came out to be under $20 per person. Not bad for a nice evening meal on a budget.
- Cajun Kitchen Cafe: One of my favorite places to get brunch in Santa Barbara. I’ve been here a few times, and my favorite is the salmon eggs benedict (a special, ~$10) and the cornbread. Prepare to be stuffed. Yum!
Play – What’s a vacation without some fun? Santa Barbara has a lot of places that visitors can go to for free or for cheap.
- Santa Barbara Courthouse: I love love love this courthouse, which might be the most beautiful courthouse I have ever seen. Old-mission style architecture with emerald green lawns and statuesque palm trees – what else can you ask for? The Courthouse offers free tours, or you can just pop in on your own to admire the scenery (Budget brides can also get married at the courthouse for a low fee. See details here).
- Urban Wine Tasting Trial: No time (or money?) to explore outside of downtown Santa Barbara? You can see go on a wine tasting trip with this handy PDF map of local wineries. Most places are around $5 a tasting for 5-8 wines, making this a fun and budget-friendly activity.
image source: wikipedia.org
You May Also Want To Read :
I've been getting the itch to go travel lately. It doesn't even have to be somewhere out of the ...
Dear California, I love so many things about you. The sunny weather of Los Angeles. The beautif ...
You know you are a personal finance blogger when the prospect of making new retirement contribut ...
{ 1 trackback }
{ 20 comments… read them below or add one }
I love Santa Barbara! The conference that I've gone to every year since 2003 is in Ventura (just south of Santa Barbara) so I've really fallen in love with the area.
I always stay at the Four Point Sheraton in Ventura because it is right on the Harbor so I can do a morning run along the harbor in the morning, which I love (and I can get a room there for $99/night which is unbeatable!)
Great post! I would love to go on a weekend outing to SB. So, this post comes in handy. A couple of years ago (might have been more), my husband and i tried to get up there to see Crosby, Stills and Nash concert. But that was when we had the torrential rain storm and that mud slide came down and they lost that family. It also covered the freeway. Then we were driving north only to find the aqueduct flooded in Ojai. To no avail, we got stuck in Thousand Oaks. But the lady at the bar… totally was nice and got us sloshed for getting stuck. And put us up in a nice room. Bless her.
Wow nice that you found someone nice. I hope your next trip to SB is more successful!
I stay at the Inn at East Beach everytime I go to Santa Barbara. It's inexpensive, the rooms are pretty decent, and the manager is the friendliest guy ever. It feels homey.
Welcome to California! Santa Barbara is sooooo beautiful. And the weather has been so nice here (Cali): hot enough to be beautiful on the beaches. I hope that you have fun! Its a go-to place for most people who live in California…and the food is AMAZING!
I have a good friend that is from Santa Barbara and I'm planning a summer trip to go visit her. I didn't even know it was that beautiful! I'll direct her to your site and maybe she can offer even more affordable options.
That'd be great. Thanks!
Santa Barbara is so nice. I like to go there for day trips. My ex boyfriend has a restaurant up there…it's called Zaytoon. Middle Eastern food. Try it out next time you go there, it's really good!
There are so any cool places I'd like to go to! If I were rich, I'd be travelling all the time!
LeanLifeCoach did a post about this time in Japan! I'm starting to feel like I'm missing out!!!
Thanks for the great article about Santa Barbara, It's a desination that I would have over looked.
If you're ever in CA, give me a shout.
I might be able to show you around.
Have you ever been to New York?
Honestly, how much more do you like it in California than New York?
Your post makes me want to move out West.
I have been to New York City 3 times for total of around 8 weeks. I love many things about NYC – the convenience of public transportation, the great food, and the great cultural institutions (LOVE the Metropolitan Museum), I'd be happy living and working in NYC for a few years in my career. It's a world-class city.
But as much as I appreciate and enjoy NYC, I *love* California. I love the weather (really, does anything else need to be said on that subject?), I love that my family is here. I love the wide array of food (though I might need to drive further to get to them). The traffic really sucks sometimes. The real estate is expensive but not as pricey as NYC. I love that California has so many interesting places to explore: the big metropolises of San Fran and LA, but also Santa Barbara, San Diego, the beautiful wine country of Napa and Somona, the coastline of Big Sur, the redwoods of Yosemite. Anyhow.. that's an essay for ya!
Wine tourism is an important element of the visitor experience in Santa Barbara. It might aim to build those experiences into the wider cultural and lifestyle
Very best of luck in your interview! Only been to SB once for a wedding, and thought it was beautiful, just like much of the Coastal parts of California actually!
Best, Sam
Thanks for the encouragement.
I'm enjoying my time Santa Barbara… now I understand why people never want to leave.
I love Santa Barbara. It's only a little over an hour from where I live, though I'll admit I haven't been there in over a year
. I also want to add that renting bicycles is also really fun and an easy way to navigate up and down State Street (I love biking, what can I say.)
Good luck on that job hunting!
When I travel, sometimes I stay in hostels. They don't always have to be dirty and scary (like I feel its portrayed in TV), but places like the YMCA can have really clean and affordable lodging if you just need a place to crash.
When my girlfriends and I went to Montreal, it was even better for us because we could all shower at one time instead of waiting in line for one washroom (imagine that!).
Have fun in SB!
I stayed in hostels during college. They were certainly affordable. This time I got lucky in Santa Barbara… I'm staying with my friend and her family in their gorgeous home (with 20 ft ceilings)!
Good luck on the job search!!
Did you know you can deduct job hunting expenses on your taxes? I didn't, and I didn't have enough to deduct to make it worth more than the standard deduction, but for someone like you who is traveling and such, that will be a nice chunk of change to deduct next year!
I'm sure you already knew that , but thought I'd share! Fingers crossed for ya!