The Santa Barbara Bus Sightseing Tour

On this tour we pick you up from San Diego, Orange County, or the Los Angeles area.                   

See our Maps & Directions Page

Price: Ask for group quote.

Tour is not offered on major Santa Barbara or US Holidays

Santa Barbara Bus Sightseeing Tour - Full Description

Our Trek to Santa Barbara

On our way to Santa Barbara, we take the freeway through San Diego, Orange County, Los Angeles and its many communities. 

At Santa Monica, we leave the freeways and join the historic coast highway, US Hwy 1, through Malibu and then along the mostly deserted beach areas west and north of LA.  This rugged coastline along the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation area offers magnificient beach and mountain views.  As we pass by the U S Navy's Pacific Missile Test Center, we divert through the extensive farmland of Oxnard and then join historic Hwy 101 to complete our journey to the historic city of Santa Barbara. 

Throughout our journey you will be constantly admiring the rugged coastal views and the many quaint coastal communities.

Our time in Santa Barbara

We arrive at our destination along the waterfront on Cabrillo Blvd in Santa Barbara,  Cabrillo Blvd lives on one of the top ten beaches in the US.

We make our initial stop at the Santa Barbara Chamber of Commerce Visitor Information Center at Cabrillo and Garden - a wealth of information.   Our bus will park here later in the tour to return us to our home destination.

The city of Santa Barbara provides a small electric shuttle bus up and down Cabrillo and also up and down State St, which is one of the main attraction to many Santa Barbara visitors.  State Street is lined with shops and restaurants.  You will be amazed at the lack of big box stores and drive throughs.  Cost of the electric shuttle is nominal, 25 cents per person as you board the shuttle.  They run every 20 to 30 minutes.

Before we leave the bus we brief you on your options in Santa Barbara.  Your first 2 hours will be on your own.  We provide you a map, and a list of things to do and also brief you on your guided tour options for the final two hours in Santa Barbara.

One option is for you to explore Santa Barbara on your own, or the second option is to take a free, modified version of our regular Santa Barbara Historical Tours.

If you are joining us on the historical walking tours,  we brief upu on how to meet us at the starting points, the Santa Barbara Art Museum, Karpeles Manuscript Library or the Dolphin Fountain at Stearns Wharf.

As far as our departure is concened, you must remember that we will be operating like a cruise ship, our departure time will be rigidly followed - we generally depart the city by 3:00pm, people want us to return them back to their resort on time.  (Just in case you miss us, the Amtrak runs a high speed train to our starting point that leaves about 5:00pm.)

The Red Tile Tour Overview  (optional)

We meet at the historic Santa Barbara Museum of Art, 1130 State St, (State & Anapamu) where we start our short walk.  Next is everybody's favorite, a tour of the historic Santa Barbara Courthouse, bring your camera for those panoramic pictures of the Santa Barbara area from the 85ft tall tower - you have to use the elevator to get to the top!.  As we take a short walk to our next destination, we talk to you about Santa Barbara history before we provide the guided tour of the Santa Barbara Presidio, the oldest structure (1782) in the area.  We also provide a brief stop at C'est Cheese for gourmet cheese tasting with a beverage (non-alcoholic).  Time permitting we take a short walk through nearby city parks.  The bus meets us here for the return trip.

The Mission Trail Overview (optional)

Our bus take you there, for those who have chosen this visit to the famous Santa Barbara "Queen of the Missions" grounds.  You will be unacompanied at the mission, but we recommend that you take the self-guided tour of this very historic building, admission is $5.00, a dollar less for Seniors,  We will pick you up at the mission, just wait for us!

The Waterfront Tour   (seasonable & optional)

(Not availble on Wednesday in the off season, since 2 of our key attractions are not available)

We meet at the Dolphin Fountain at the foot of State St and Stearns Wharf where our guide will be and then we explore Stearns Wharf,  a great place to visit, and that is where we sample Mother Stearns home made fudge.  We leave Stearns Wharf via the Water Taxi, the "Little Toot".  It leaves on the the half hour near the end of Stearns Wharf.  It will take us out among the large and small boats residing in the harbor.  On the other side of Santa Barbara Harbor, we visit the Maritime Museum, which holds one of the greatest collection of heritage and historical maritime items.  We also enter the top floor Visitor Center, where we can examine great murals on the floor and walls, but don't forget to take a look of the harbor.    Time permitting, a short walk will take us to the Carriage and Western Art Museum, one of the greatest collections of coaches, buggies and western tack.  Will Rogers and former US President Ronald Reagan's saddles are on display, among many others.  On our return to the pick up point near the Visitor Center, we will have time to explore the historic grounds of the former Potter Hotel, as famous in its days as the Hotel Del Coronad in San Diego is now.  We will return to a location where we can board the electric shuttle back to State St. 

The Return Trip

Our bus will join us at the end point of the tours.  If you have been exploring Santa Barbara on your own, it will pick you up near the Visitors Center at Cabrillo and Garden.  Please arrive ahead of time, the doors will be open. 

When we clear the city and have answered your questions, we will have a little wine tasting and try a snack in a package from Costco.  You probably know that the famous wine tasting movie, "Sideways", was filmed in Santa Barbara County and in the Los Olivos area, where the most of the local grapes are grown.  We will have some of the Santa Barbara whites and reds to sample.  Also soft drinks for those who prefer them.  We show a movie during our return as soon as it gets dark.