Travel with kids can be daunting; I get it. But the best part about living in Los Angeles with kids is the ability to make a quick little jaunt up or down the coast to explore, discover, and enjoy childhood unplugged. There are plenty of things that can be done to make travel with kids more fun, and I’ll be sure to share some of our tried and true travel tips soon, but in the meantime, I want to feature a few super kid-friendly California destinations that are only a stone’s throw away from Los Angeles.
If you live near L.A. hop in the car and make it happen, and if you’re traveling to L.A. for an extended holiday, I promise you it’s worth the rental car.
Today I’m sharing Santa Barbara.
Santa Barbara
Just a little over 2 hours from Los Angeles, Santa Barbara is a great place to take the kids. Santa Barbara is near the ocean and the mountains; the weather is almost always moderate (coastal climate is so predictable), and there are parks everywhere (over 55! + 8 public gardens). If you’re driving up for a day or weekend, there are tons of kid-friendly restaurants. Plus most of them use the local catch, which truly gives you the fresh food vibe. When we visited our boys tried and loved local fish.
It’s just a fantastic town that it’s hard to narrow down just what you should do, but since I must, here’s what we did on a day trip with two small children.
Stearns Wharf
Stearns Wharf is great for a stroll with the kiddos. Walking and looking at the boats and sea life was half the fun for my children, but it’s also ripe with restaurants and a few kid-friendly attractions if you want to add a little more fun to the trip. Our children enjoyed the Sea Center, which is owned and operated by the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History and has tons of interactive exhibits, sea creatures, and a shark touch pool.
Another favorite for our boys was visiting Mother Stearns Candy Company. This place carried hundreds of old-school candy items and novelties. My boys were most excited about trying the different flavored gummy bears and lollipops.
There is also the Santa Barbara Water Taxi which is always a hit with the kids. This shuttle runs every half hour and runs between the Santa Barbara Harbor and Stearns Wharf. The taxi is fantastic if you choose to park near Stearns Wharf as we did, and you wish to venture slightly further afield.
Old Mission Santa Barbara
This place, our primary reason for visiting Santa Barbara, is truly spectacular. If you’re unfamiliar let me fill you in: The Old Mission Santa Barbara was established on the Feast of Saint Barbara in 1786 and founded by the Spanish Franciscans. For more than 200 years this landmark has been home to Franciscan friars and is a beautiful church with a large and active parish. Did you know that? I thought it was just a museum! But it is so much more.
There are lots events held here throughout the year so be sure to check before you drive up. We visited during a super cool sidewalk art exhibit. We decided to do the self-guided tour, and I would highly recommend going this route if you have small children. When my two yr old started to get antsy, I was easily able to step aside into a quiet corner and get him in order without being too disruptive to the other visitors.
Whether you choose to do the docent-guided or self-guided tour, it will be worth it. This Mission is breathtaking. The colonial-era art and sculptures were a favorite of my husband, and we really enjoyed explaining all the 17th-century art and artifacts to our 5yr old.
Also, you absolutely must visit the chapel and mausoleum, feeling that type of reverence amidst the hustle and bustle of the 21st century is an experience in and of itself. We waited for the other visitors to pass so that we could explain the sights and importance to our small children. They seemed to care for about 5 seconds. It’s still an experience I would recommend.
Shipwreck Playground
We actually stopped here between our visits to the Mission and the Wharf. We felt like a little kid-only play time was necessary to ensure our children felt engaged and entertained. This is one of my biggest tips for travel with kids: know what you’re working with. A two-hour car ride and a few hours an old Mission are easy for an adult, but for a two-year-old, not so much. Looking for a local playground is the easiest way to give small children a hard reset on the very short window of good behavior.
All credit goes to my husband because this playground was an absolute score. The shipwreck playground has a massive play structure, a grassy area for adult relaxing, sand for digging and bathrooms within eyeshot. We spent about 30-40mins there, and it made all the difference in the world.
The Beach
Because, Duh. Even though we live three mins from the beach, we still made an effort to hit the Santa Barbara beach because it just seemed like a great way to end the day. This, similar to our trip to the playground, made the experience for our children. They got to do dig in the sand, play in the water, and we even saw a pod of young sea lions playing near the surf. We only spent about an hour at the beach and then packed up for the drive home. The short sunset swim exhausted our boys and made for a relatively quiet ride home for the hubby and I. Score!
Santa Barbara is an excellent day trip or anytime trip. You could easily spend an entire day enjoying all of the things I mentioned above and sharing the experience with kids just makes it all the better.
Any places you’d add to this list? I wanna know!
PS- Looking for things to do with kids in NYC? I got you covered, too.
Xo, Kimberly Fe'Lix
