Find Santa Barbara Holiday Rentals

Sunny Santa Barbara comes with elegant Spanish churches and Californian sands

Topped by the elegant spires of the Santa Barbara Mission – dating back to 1786, no less – and studded with palm trees and red-tiled houses, this sunny corner of southern California could almost be mistaken for a centuries-old Spanish town at first glance. Life trots along at a lazy pace, with the tanned locals flitting between the cotton-hued sands of East Beach and the salt-washed quays of Stearns Wharf. There's a long history of Spanish conquest and Mexican ranchos to unravel in the local museums, and plenty of lively street parades to enthrall throughout the summer months. Meanwhile, the surrounding ridges of the Santa Ynez Mountains provide a whole other realm to explore, with their sumptuous wineries and winding Pacific trails.

Why book Santa Barbara holiday rentals with ebookers?

If you don't want to be just another drive-through tourist on the Pacific Coast Highway, Santa Barbara holiday apartments could be the thing for you. They offer a chance to bed down beneath the swaying palm trees and Santa Ynez peaks like a bona fide local. With a flat or villa to call your own for the whole duration of your stay, you'll be strutting down the avenues to catch the morning surf, or hopping between the all-American eateries as if you've been dwelling in South Cali for years. What's more, holiday rentals in Santa Barbara typically come with loads more room than your classic hotel, so feel free to bring along the boards, the boots and everything else you need to explore this town to the full.

Top things to do in Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara is known for its picture-postcard Spanish architecture. If that tickles your fancy, you can't miss a trip to the famed Santa Barbara Mission, which dates all the way to the 1780s, and comes with beautiful Franciscan towers and flourishes. The artistic draws don't end there though, what with the Santa Barbara County Courthouse and the Santa Barbara Museum of Art both to be found along the genteel avenues. And then there are the reserves of the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, offering an altogether different glimpse of beauty with its wild redwoods, chaparral valleys and Californian wildflowers. Basking on the beaches is, of course, another top thing to do in these parts. East Beach is the most famous, but Arroyo Burro and Leadbetter also have their own delights.

Getting around in Santa Barbara

If you're planning to stay close to the heart of Santa Barbara and just hop between the elegant Spanish churches and sparkling sands along the coast, then it's likely you'll get by either travelling on foot or by bicycle. There's a dedicated skating and walking track along the whole shore for moving between the districts that butt up to the ocean, where the lanky palms give way to the swells of the Pacific. For getting to and from Santa Barbara holiday rentals in further-away areas, there's always the SBMTD transit system, while hiring a car is great for exploring the Pacific Coast Highway and the rugged Santa Ynez Mountains.