Santa Barbara by hilarystyle, Santa Barbara, California

With it’s beautiful coastline, perfect mediterranean climate and gleaming white mission style buildings Santa Barbara is one of the most beautiful, if not the most beautiful, coast city in California. When you throw in great shopping, its many fascinating sights, including the Mission, botanic gardens, a renowned natural history museum and an adorable zoo with ocean views, you’ve pretty much found the perfect place for a relaxing family weekend.

Having visited Santa Barbara many times it wasn’t until our most recent visit that we decided to really explore, previously we’d been more than satisfied with the occasional visit to the zoo, but spent most of our time wandering along the beach paths, playing at the many playgrounds and shopping and eating along State Street.

Santa Barbara is relatively compact and many activities are within easy walking distance of one another, including the zoo! However, the Mission, Natural History Museum and Botanical Gardens are bit further out and require transportation. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).