Planning for a trip to the West Coast

Good morning all

After a relatively chilly Easter break to the Balearics, we are looking to go to the West Coast of America next April, flying UC with VS. We have previously done San Francisco and then driven to Santa Monica (stopping off in Cambria overnight), but thinking of either doing Napa or Santa Barbara this time instead of San Francisco. We are definitely going to go to Santa Monica and stay at Shutters, but does anyone have any experience of either Santa Barbara or Napa and could make recommendations as to which one we should go to and how to get around? I understand that Santa Barbara is much closer to Santa Monica and that there is a train, but Napa is much further and we may need to fly? We don't really fancy the long drive again.

Thanks in advance. Sometimes I think planning a holiday is almost more fun than going on one. Or maybe not quite!

Lorelai

After a relatively chilly Easter break to the Balearics, we are looking to go to the West Coast of America next April, flying UC with VS. We have previously done San Francisco and then driven to Santa Monica (stopping off in Cambria overnight), but thinking of either doing Napa or Santa Barbara this time instead of San Francisco. We are definitely going to go to Santa Monica and stay at Shutters, but does anyone have any experience of either Santa Barbara or Napa and could make recommendations as to which one we should go to and how to get around? I understand that Santa Barbara is much closer to Santa Monica and that there is a train, but Napa is much further and we may need to fly? We don't really fancy the long drive again.

To visit Napa Valley you'd be better off flying to San Francisco and driving north. Once in the area I guess there will be tours that will take you around if you don't want to drive.

Santa Barbara is a decent place for an night or two. As you say there is a train. I've done the drive a few times, takes a couple of hours but is mostly inland and not scenic.

Have you thought about going to San Francisco and then venturing up through the Pacific North West? We did that a few years ago, split it into sections with no more than four hours driving a day and really enjoyed it.

Thank you pjh for your reply, I think we have decided on Santa Barbara and Santa Monica. It just feels a bit of a faff for a week to do Napa Valley and then have to fly internally etc. Thanks for your help

You might spend a few moments looking at the Simpson House Inn in Santa Barbara; pretty much faultless as a place to base yourselves. The breakfasts, and evening wine & hors d'oeuvres are delicious. Spend the evenings watching the family of racoons bathing in the fountains!

http://www.simpsonhouseinn.com

Santa Barbara is pretty tourist heavy, so choose your restaurants with care and complain if you are served sub-standard offerings.

We usually spend a week in Santa Monica and then travel down to Laguna Beach for a week when on the West Coast.

You might spend a few moments looking at the Simpson House Inn in Santa Barbara; pretty much faultless as a place to base yourselves. The breakfasts, and evening wine & hors d'oeuvres are delicious. Spend the evenings watching the family of racoons bathing in the fountains!

http://www.simpsonhouseinn.com

Santa Barbara is pretty tourist heavy, so choose your restaurants with care and complain if you are served sub-standard offerings.

Thank you for this, that looks lovely! We were looking at the Ritz Carlton or the Belmond El Encanto, but a family of racoons in a fountain and wine and hors d'oeuvres sound unmissable. Do you have any recommendations for restaurants? We like most food!

We usually spend a week in Santa Monica and then travel down to Laguna Beach for a week when on the West Coast.

Ooo, that's an option we hadn't considered, I'll look into it, thank you!

Santa Barbara Fishouse
101 East Cabrillo Boulevard

The Palace Grill
8 East Cota Street

The Lark
131 Anacapa Street

Reservations are a very good idea as most (all?) get busy in the evenings; if you are staying at the Simpson House, the staff will take care of them for you.

I live in Palo Alto and love Napa and Sonoma, but I can't imagine spending a week there. It is a great weekend/two night job but there is a lot of driving between the wineries unless you get a tour bus or uber around which gets expensive. Its only 50 mins north of SF so its definitely worth a day trip.

My sparkling wine tour should anyone want to try it are:

Gloria Ferrer (Spanish cava style)
Domaine Carneros (Tattinger owned)
Domaine Chandon (Moet & Chandon owned)
Mumm Napa (G H Mumm owned)

Mumm Napa is my personal favourite and a great end to a Napa bubbly tour. Try the Rose Reserve which is only available at the winery. It is very very nice