Santa Ynez Valley

Santa Ynez valley is in Southern California, about 2 hours north of Los Angeles. While Sun comes standard in California, Santa Ynez’s add-on is, picture perfect green rolling hills carpeted with wildflowers, cattle and sheep grazing on those hills, long stretches of vineyards and farms. Simply put this valley is beautiful. I do not exaggerate when I say Santa Ynez reminded of Scottish Highlands. Read about the Highlands here.

Santa Ynez is a perfect weekend getaway from the city life; no matter your taste in a perfect getaway. There are many back roads for biking and hikes. For more leisurely trips there are picnic spots in Padres forest area, boating at the Cachuma lake or do what we just went on long scenic drives. For those Wine connoisseurs, there is even tasting at the numerous vineyards. For Michael Jackson fans, his Neverland Ranch is also in Santa Ynez. Have your pick!

Yet Santa Ynez is never too far from a city. To the south is Santa Barbara and Santa Maria to the North, Solvang, Los Olivos and city of Santa Ynez in the middle. We started our trip from Santa Maria towards Santa Barbara. First we drove along the bending and curving Foxen Canyon Road towards Highway 154. Not too bad but we didn’t find this road too scenic. There are many wineries and farms here though. A must go for Wine tasting. Foxen Canyon and other such roads in this area can be driven at 10 miles under the speed limit to see the scenery or 30 miles above to get the kick out of curves and turns. We were the tortoise on the road but a few Hurleys and Porsches passed us by at high speeds. Don’t worry there are very few cars on these byroads.

There are two recommended scenic drives – Figueroa and Refugio road. We did the former. This one is definitely a under the speed limit kind. Keep your camera ready! You’ll see plenty of bikers here. Most of the pics on this blog are from this road. Also, I highly recommend Highway 154. It is the main artery of this area and therefore busier than the rest of the roads but still a very good drive. Lake Cachuma & its picnic area is also on this highway.

Along the way there are many small towns, no more than a 1-2 miles in radius. Los Olivos is one, Santa Ynze is another. Both take great effort in maintaining a rustic early 19th century feel to them. I suppose they are worth a quick visit when visiting this area but next time, I’d much rather spend time in the most famous town in the area Solvang, the little Danish town, only 3 miles from Santa Ynez.

Next time, I’d explore Highway 246. This one connects Santa Ynez to Lompoc and then to the isolated Surf Beach in the Vandenberg Airforce Base. Something saved for next trip…

Best Time to Visit: Spring.
Getting There: Santa Ynez is about 1.5 hrs drive from Los Angeles and about 30mins from Santa Barbara, CA. No public transportation here, one has to drive.
Places to Stay: There are many hotels in Santa Barbara and Santa Maria. 
Places to Eat: Santa Ynez sports a pub, Restaurant Trattoria Grappolo which is highly recommended by TripAdvisor and a burger joint were we ate an Ostrich burger. If you are looking for quite & some local fare you can eat here, else drive 3 miles to Solvang.