California: Santa Barbara Wine Country Bike Tour

Santa Barbara Bike Tour Itinerary

DAY 1: On this bike tour we’ll stay across the street from the ocean and the bike path in Santa Barbara. Unpack your bags as we’ll be here 3 nights. If you arrive early, walk the sandy beach, swim in the hotel’s pool, or take the trolley up State Street to browse the shops. We’ll have a rental bike fitting at 3:00pm, an orientation at 5:30pm and dinner at 6:30pm. 0 miles.

Day 2 Our first ride of the bike tour is all on paved bike paths, but first we must shuttle out of our hotel to the charming town of Ojai. We’ll hop on the first bike trail that will take us down to the coast and into the town of Ventura. Home of the first Patagonia store, it is worth a visit before you start cycling on our second trail. We used to have to take a train through this beautiful stretch along the coast, but since the bike path was extended, it’s no longer necessary!42 miles +954’/-1560’.

DAY 3: Today, we’ll start our cycling tour on one of the many bike lanes that line the streets of this city. We begin to ascend quickly as we head away from the coast, into the foothills and along quiet, winding Mountain Drive. We’ll have the road to ourselves as we marvel at the beautiful vistas of the city below, the ocean beyond, and the Channel Islands rising in the distance.

Then it’s down to the beach town of Carpinteria, named by the Spaniards for the Chumash Indians who lived and made their oceangoing boats there. They used the naturally occurring asphalt – or bitumen – to seal their wooden canoes. Your feet might pick it up if you walk barefoot on the sand, but it comes off easily with lotion. The bike path along the ocean takes us back to Santa Barbara. 39 miles +2149’/-2148’.

DAY 4:

On day 4 of the bike tour we head west, hugging the coastline until we turn north and pass through the beautiful residential district of Hope Ranch. We swing south and east again, passing the Ellwood Mesa Open Space & Sperling Preserve, where monarch butterfly studies are being done at its Butterfly Grove. To walk among the eucalyptus trees where these butterflies spend the winter is a worthwhile detour.

We’ll eventually make our way through the University of California at Santa Barbara. You’ll need to follow the cues carefully, as there are bike paths everywhere! There’s a reason it was granted a Platinum Award as a Bicycle Friendly University in 2019. Everyone is on a bicycle on this college campus. It’s exhilarating. The ride ends at Goleta Beach Park, loved for its fishing piers and sunbathing beaches.

From here we will shuttle to a farm winery for lunch and optional wine tasting and then shuttle to Solvang. This quaint town was founded by the Danish in 1911 and has worked hard since then to keep its old world charm. There are probably more bakeries here than in any other town its size. You’ll have time to sample some of them as we’re here for the next two nights. 26 miles +1102’/-1107’.

DAY 5: Today’s bike ride is completely different, but just as beautiful as what you’ve come to expect. Instead of ocean, we now bike past gently rolling hillsides covered in vineyards, ranch land dotted with huge Valley Oak trees, and steep ravines cut by creeks.

We’ll bike into Foxen Canyon and toward Alisos Canyon and then enjoy a picnic lunch in Los Olivos. You’ll see some of California’s world-class vineyards on the route and tasting rooms in Los Olivos. If you want to do a tasting in town after lunch, you can shuttle back to the hotel. Once we are all back in Solvang, we’ll enjoy our last dinner together. 34.5 miles +2100’/-2102’.

DAY 6: We complete our bike tour with one last ride around the Santa Ynez Valley and through Ballard and Happy Canyons. We’ll pass lavender farms and apple orchards before ending with a picnic lunch back at our hotel. Then we’ll say our good-byes and shuttle you back to the airport by 3:00pm or train station by 3:30pm. 26 miles +1283’/-1284’.