I came here for an event today so really my review is tailored more towards the events that Casa is…read moreholding but also to acknowledge the fabulous grounds and building though I admit I don't have full context for the history or background. I would definitely come back here to learn about the house and to take the guided tour. This wasn't the purpose for me coming today but the gentleman who works here noted that it's a great tour and I know friends who have enjoyed learning about the family and the history of the house, getting a deeper dive of information. I came here with some friends for their first hosted event Sound Bath. A wellness day if you will. From start to finish everything was very organized and thoughtful. The staff hosting the event and the spiritual wellness guide and sound healer was wonderful. Everyone was nice and you felt welcomed. Not pretentious and just very positive and good vibes. We had a nice group and everyone was respectful and on time for the sound bath so it went off without issue. It was a relaxing experience and the grounds were very nice to hold this outdoor event. The birds were chirping, the sun was shining, we found an area with shade, very nice. Very faint sounds of cars in the distance here and there which wasn't ideal but out of their control and once things settled in you really couldn't hear much external noise. After the relaxing sound bath we were offered tea and light pastry snacks. I opted for a water and began exploring the grounds instead of partaking in the refreshments. The grounds are lush and lovely, very zen. Loved the beautiful trees and walkways with small fountains and running water. It was green and pretty all around from the recent rains. Definitely a great location for events and to learn a little SB history. I will definitely do my research and come back again soon.

Yikes, this is an expensive tour but it is a rarity to see a period house with most of the original…read moreoccupants furnishings etc. The tours are docent led and very informative. If you like these types of tours, this one is quite worth it.

This was hands down one of the best tours I've ever had of any city. My father and I took a private…read morewalking tour of Santa Barbara with Ellen, owner of Santa Barbara Walking Tours. Originally slated for 90 minutes, the tour lasted a full two hours. What's more, Ellen was perfectly willing to keep on going. We only stopped because my father and I were worn out and hungry, our brains full while our stomachs were empty. Ellen showed us no shortage of historical and cultural and artistic sites while narrating a bevy of fascinating back stories, from a park that was originally the site of a hotel, to a church that had been rebuilt and moved, to a gorgeous old historic movie theater with an auditorium built to simulate the inside of a mission, to Charlie Chaplin's sometime residence. And so much more. And did you know Santa Barbara had literally no trees at all when the Spanish missionaries first arrived? Ellen also offers customized tours tailored to particular interests (e.g. the Sue Grafton murder mystery tour). Next time you're in Santa Barbara, be sure to reach out to Ellen through her website (http://www.santabarbarawalkingtours.com) to arrange a walking tour of this awesome and beautiful city.

Cute and funky tours of Santa Barbara... a bit of art and history (but keep in mind this isn't an…read moreancient European city by any means ;). I spent a couple decades in SB growing up yet saw and learned many new things I had no clue about which was cool. Quirky, funny and informative guide.

I purchased the Anacapa Wine Walk. We started with Santa Barbara Wine Company, which was incredibly…read morebusy and it took us almost 20 minutes to get anyone's attention. The wine tasting took long as well because the staff was just not attentive. At least wines were OK (drinkable) and we purchased two bottles and saved 20% off each thanks to the app. Then we proceeded to the Oreana winery across the street. Again, the staff was overwhelmed. We finally got our spot and started tasting wines. They were UNDRINKABLE! We travel all over the world and taste wines and these wines were the worst. You taste chemicals and tannins, not the wine. We ended up paying tasting fees for these horrible wines and left without buying anything. Disappointed by the overall experience, we decided to give the third tasting room a try. Area 5.1. was not as busy as the other two, but their wine was nothing remarkable. I am not sure if the Seeker app sends people to the worst tasting rooms or if all of them in the Funk Zone serve inferior wine because it's a touristy place and people will drink anything. Because of such disappointing experience, we did not go to all wineries on the Anacapa Wine Walk, and it was a waste of money and our time.

This was probably the best urban wine tasting package. Went with a few friends and had a blast! The…read morepours were great and all the staff at the wineries were knowledgeable and friendly. I'd definitely recommend it.

The original walking food tour did not disappoint! Our guide, Linda, was informative and friendly,…read moremade us feel comfortable the whole time. The food was really good, had some amazing bites from local places. My only feedback for the company would be to offer a few more drinks with the food. Also- we had tacos with amazing salsa but no chips!! We had 2 of us and were with a group of 5.. it was pretty intimate having to sit at a table with a group of people you don't know, so thankfully they were very nice, chill people. Thank you Linda for making our experience and day wonderful!

After being super excited to walk, explore, eat, and drink with friends.....we were all totally let…read moredown by the amount of actual tastings provided. Out guide was Nancy, and she was super sweet, thoughtful, and insightful, but my review isn't based on her. It's based on experience and value. What did $270 plus tip get us over 4 hours? 2 regular sized margaritas, one small one and a total of 5 Street sized tacos and some very unathentic churrros. I would have loved to have options of some kind, we were served whatever meat they wanted to serve. These tacos were not authentic and definitely were not filling, we all were starving when we left. We definitely did more walking and talking than eating and drinking. Would definitely say, for the price, you're better off bar/taco hopping yourself. I gave 3 stars since I went with good friends and Nancy was sweet.

We had a fantastic fun 4 hour tour eating our way through Santa Barbara today!…read more To start, it's not just a food tasting tour because one learns all about Santa Barbara history. Our guide, Manuel, was not only a great guide but a fun person to talk with, ask questions to and gave the 8 of us on this tour an insight into the city, it's good and much more. One of the great things about this company is they are open to understanding any food issues one has. In our group we had people who don't eat dairy, others who don't eat beef and another who can't have much sugar and when told ahead of time they ordered food that each of us could eat. We started with macarons (not macaroons), had Italian food, wine, Mexican food, empenadas, beer, ice cream and more as we toured State Street and other places in the area on what turned out to be a 4-hour tour. If we had a suggestion, it would be not to start with macarons, but to finish with them, as it seemed a bit weird starting with a cookie-type baked good, although they were delicious. One of the nice things about our tour is that there were just the 8 of us good friends, and Manuel fit right in. So if you're looking for bites of good food and learning about the city, the Santa Barbara Tasting Tour is a great way to do it, and kudos to Allison for setting this up for us!

We've never been to Santa Barbara or a food tour before. After looking around we decided to go with…read morethis tour. They do discourage kids, but to contact and let them know upon booking if you will be bringing kids. We have 3 kids (7,5, and 2 years). They did great! It was just enough walking and resting/stopping and eating for them. We met our tour guide Manuel (I think that's what his name was) along with the rest of the group at Arlington theater. He then gave use a quick history of Santa Barbara and the town. He also passed out a summary of the 6 different places that we'll be stopping at. First stop was Renaud's Patisserie and Bistro where we got a quick lesson about macaroons. We tried an assortment of them. We had Lemon, Raspberry, Vanilla, Salted Caramel, pistachio, and strawberry. It was a good start to the day. Second stop was Ca'Dario where we tried brow butter and sage spinach ravioli and a bolognese. This stop was our favorite. It was so good. Even the kids ate the sage! Third stop was II Fustino for Olive oil and balsamic vinegar tasting. Eh, wasn't our cup of tea. Fourth stop, Empty Bowl Gourmet Noodle Bar where we had potsticker (just one potsticker) and yellow chicken thai curry. The potsticker was soft and when you dip it in the spicy sauce it tastes even better. The chicken curry came with some type of noodles. It wasn't too spicy. The kids were able to eat it, but they preferred the potsticker instead. Fifth stop was at Chocolats du CaliBressan where we all had a Buddah shaped chocolate that filled with an ooey creamy caramel that oozed out when you bit into it. SO GOOD! We also got to choose one more chocolate of our choice from the counter. This was our other favorite spot! The last stop was at Cebada Winey where we got to taste some wine. The owner was actually there pouring and presenting the wines. Cebada wines are very light and not too sweet. We got to taste a 2013 Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and a Blueberry dessert wine. All were very light, but me and husband liked the Chardonnay best. We stayed and our kids got to taste the jams. They tried 3 jams. Blueberry, citrus and one more (I forgot). They liked the blueberry one, so we ended up getting a jar. This tour was very informative and a great way to try a bunch of spots Sanata Barbara has to offer. I would suggest having a lite snack before touring. Otherwise, you might still be hungry. We ate a little something before the tour started and we left feeling contented. We weren't full but weren't hungry. Water is offered at most of the stops and there are restrooms practically everywhere. The tour ran about 2.5 hrs. We did a bit of walking so I would suggest comfortable shoes just like their website states. I would suggest this tour especially if it's tour first time to SB. You get to see some cute shops and plazas along the way that you could stop at after the tour is over. You also learn about some of the buildings, statues and history of the town.

What: - Walk along 22 historic places in the Santa Barbara…read moredowntown More Info: - Free admission inside a few historic landmarks - Free parking on the streets - Check out the map of the Red Tile Walking Tour here: http://www.santabarbaracarfree.org/pdf-files/redtile.pdf The Red Tile Walking Tour is a walk in the Santa Barbara downtown, along the historic places. We totally underestimated the amount of time that it would take to complete the tour. It covers about 12 blocks and we did not have sufficient time to cover all the 22 historic places. After parking the car on the streets, we started the tour from Presidio Avenue, the oldest street in Santa Barbara. The Spanish style architecture of the buildings and shopping malls impressed me a lot. I could not help but keep staring and admiring the beautiful Santa Barbara downtown. Our next stop was at the El Presidio de Santa Barbara State Historic Park. It was founded in 1782 and was built by the Spanish along the coast of Alta California. There is a $7/adult admission fee to explore this historic park. A map serves as a guide to explore the park and the placards in several rooms educate one about the history of each room. One can easily spend at least an hour exploring this park and more time if you are a history lover. We then walked to the Santa Barbara County courthouse. I was looking at the courthouse for a very long time thinking how beautiful a courthouse could possibly look. Designed in a Spanish style with an 80-foot clock tower, the courthouse seemed to attract a lot of people. One is allowed to go to the clock tower for free We entered the courthouse and were amazed to see the interior décor, murals, tiles, painting, etc. A 360 degree of Santa Barbara invited us when we walked up to the clock tower. The ocean could be seen from one end, the Santa Ynez Mountains could be seen from another end and several other landmarks. After enjoying the magnificent view, we walked down and ended our Red Tile Walking Tour.

When I was researching for someplace for my wife and I to vacation on our anniversary, I was having…read morea hard time choosing Santa Barbara as I was unsure of what all we would do. Then I came across the Red Tile Walking Tour and we decided on SB. The walk is flat and only a couple of miles that winds around and near State Street. Download the podcast by John O'Hurley (Seinfeld's J. Peterman) that gives a nice audio/video spin to the walk. You can also pick up a small pamphlet at the County Courthouse (where the walk starts) that gives a little synopsis of each location on the walk. Take the time and actually go into the places that you can (some locations are not open to the public) it is worth the small fees to visit the museums.

The tour was excellent! We've been to SB before but the history and sights along the way was great!…read moreOur tour guide Chuck was fantastic!

Santa Barbara was a bucket list stop for my girlfriend, and we booked the 2:00 p.m. trolley tour…read morehoping for a well guided introduction to the city's history and landmarks. Unfortunately, it ended up being one of the more disappointing parts of the trip. The seating is tightly packed. I understand maximizing capacity, but at 6'6" it was not comfortable. We moved to the front right side where there is a sideways bench behind the driver, which offered more legroom. That felt like a smart move until we realized most of the sights being pointed out were on the left side of the trolley. It felt like about 80 percent of the tour was oriented that direction, which meant we were constantly twisting around and still missing details. If you book this tour, sit on the left side. The narration also felt disorganized. The driver mentioned he was reading the traffic flow incorrectly and ended up doing much of the route "backwards." Because of that, he would introduce a historical figure or landmark, then later circle back and partially repeat the same information when reaching his usual talking point. There was noticeable repetition and filler instead of a smooth, cohesive storyline. Midway through the tour, there is a stop at Mission Santa Barbara for about 15 minutes. While it is nice to get off and stretch your legs, 15 minutes is nowhere near enough time to meaningfully experience the mission. You can walk through the courtyard and take a few photos, but that is about it. The mission deserves more time than a quick pass through. In practice, the stop felt more like a checkbox than a real opportunity to explore. Another frustration was departure time. The 2:00 p.m. tour did not leave at 2:00. The driver waited past the scheduled time to see if additional passengers would join. When you are visiting from out of town and carefully stacking your schedule, those extra 10 to 15 minutes matter. Overall, for about $30 per person, I expected a more polished and better organized experience. We both left disappointed. If you want a meaningful introduction to Santa Barbara, you may be better off exploring key spots on your own at your own pace.

What a fun tour! We got to learn about some SB history and learn about tiles from both an artistic…read moreand historical perspective... we got a bunch of free swag with our Tile Spotter Premium tix-- a hand stamped Journal and tote featuring tile art from our tour guide, Roger Buster! I loved the energy, the pace, and all of the amazing information we received-- and I especially loved the "tile spotter" card that came with the tour-- it was like a scavenger hunt and walking tour all in one!

The tile walk was amazing! I learned a lot about the unique and beautiful tiles all over downtown…read moreSanta Barbara, including the different time periods and artistic influences. Also, we got to see a lot of beautiful local Santa Barbara architecture. Highly recommend this walking tour, whether you're a local or just visiting! Great for every one of all ages if you like learning about something new.