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.

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.

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.

What a wonderful tour we had! I am so happy we went on this…read moretour, we had a fantastic guide, Georgia, that was so very knowledgeable about the Santa Barbara history and she also had a great spunky personality that made the tour even better. We got plenty of food! Definitely no need to eat lunch after as was our plan. Delicious dishes! My favorite was a Thai salad with Mango, but we also had street tacos, and a cheese board oh wait maybe that was my favorite... or maybe the ice cream?! Oh also had chicken parmigiana and tagliatelle served with a fun Margarita! Yummy.... We also had one really great wine tasting, the only "bad" part was that I really wanted to order some wine but we kinda moved on before we got the chance to order. If I would change anything I would ask that they maybe give you a little more heads up. Georgia did a great job weaving together stories about both historical events and famous people in SB history with architectural information. I would highly recommend you put some comfy shoes on and book this tour ASAP!

I think there's some confusion between companies here, so just to clarify this is a wonderful tour…read moreled by a local guide named Julie. Julie was incredibly warm on our tour, and offered fascinating stories of local ghost lore, history and even architectural tidbits about the buildings we visited. She is extremely knowledgeable about Santa Barbara and has a curious, open-hearted and respectful approach to the ghost stories she tells. This was a very engaging tour and we learned a lot about the area!

My husband and I were looking for something fun, unique, and a bit out of the ordinary--and we're…read moreso glad we found the *one and only* original Santa Barbara Ghost Tours! After reading their glowing reviews, we knew this was the company to go with, and they did not disappoint. We opted for the **Paranormal Pairing Tour** and couldn't be happier with our choice. The experience was fantastic from start to finish. Our guide, Allison, was absolutely brilliant--her storytelling was captivating, and the ghost stories she shared felt so real and engaging. Walking through Santa Barbara after dark, we were immersed in its history, eerie tales, and hauntingly beautiful sights. The flow of the tour was perfect, with just the right balance of history, mystery, and atmosphere. We enjoyed every minute of this unforgettable evening and can't recommend it highly enough. If you're looking for a fascinating way to explore Santa Barbara's spookier side, this is it!

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.

Really fun way to explore downtown Santa Barbara. This is an easy, level walking surface tour. I…read morewalked at a very leisurely pace and was able to complete the tour in 2 hours. If you go M-F during business hours, use the restrooms at the SB County Courthouse. They are much nicer and better supplied than the public restroom off State St. listed in the tour a bit further on. Be sure to check out the tours in Ventura and San Diego, as well.

From the owner: Our Story We’re a family owned and run business. We founded…read moreScavenger Hunt Walking Tours with these key principles in mind: 1) It’s better to be outside than inside. 2) It’s fun to solve puzzles and riddles! 3) We have fun and get smarter when we visit and learn about new places. We started building scavenger hunts for the kids in the house, then the backyard, and eventually expanded those ideas to the point where we wanted to share them with others so they could have as much fun as we were. Thus, this company was born. We hope you have as much fun playing our scavenger hunts as we have making them!

I heard about this tour and read about it in a local Magazine. I decided to take a look. Overall,…read morethe walk was nice. I would have preferred some company, but I was perfectly fine doing the walk alone. It might have been a good idea to do some more research on the history of Santa Barbara and who its earliest settlers were... but nevertheless, the buildings were very interesting, and the city was good in preserving the historic landmarks.

Jacob was professional, efficient, friendly. Everything you could ask for as he navigated shuttling…read moreguests at our party. The van was comfy and clean. I highly recommend this company!

By far the best tour company in town! Great day horseback riding and visiting the spectacular wine…read morecountry. If I could give them 6 starts I totally would :)