Santa Barbara, with fewer than 90,000 people, barely makes it into California’s 100 largest cities. But this coastal enclave has an outsize role in the state’s history. Settled by the Spanish as a military fort and mission in the 1780s, the city and its surroundings, including the Santa Ynez Mountains, have markers of its past everywhere, from Indigenous Chumash cave paintings to the adobe presidio (Spanish fortress). Graced by fragrant climbing jasmine and purple-blossomed jacaranda, Santa Barbara looks almost too good for its age, and like the celebrities who live in the neighboring Montecito hills, it has clearly had some work done. Among the high-profile additions is MOXI, the Wolf Museum of Exploration + Innovation, a curious child’s dream with its rooftop garden devoted to rambunctious water play.

Friday

3 p.m. Get a view from the top

Start with a post-travel pick-me-up at LOKUM, a Turkish sweet shop on State Street, Santa Barbara’s main drag. Take your pistachio coffee ($6.50) to stroll down State Street, which closed to cars early in the pandemic and is now a tree-lined pedestrian and cycling avenue with parklets and buskers. Continue to the Spanish Colonial Santa Barbara County Courthouse, surrounded by sunken gardens, fountains and bunya-bunya trees. Climb to the courthouse’s clock tower for a 360-degree view of the city, including the Old Mission Santa Barbara (aka Queen of the Missions), established in 1786. On a clear day, you can see the 4,000-foot La Cumbre Peak and the distant Channel Islands. On your way down, dip into the gilded Mural Room, where the brutal Spanish conquest of California’s Indigenous population is depicted as an act of glory.

5 p.m. Swirl a glass or two

Santa Barbara County has nearly 275 wineries and seven distinct wine regions. Fortunately, more than 20 tasting rooms in Santa Barbara’s downtown offer a walkable introduction. Near the Presidio neighborhood, grab the last reservation at Frequency, a courtyard tasting room planted with citrus and palms, where $20 buys four of the family-owned winery’s distinctive pours. Then head six blocks south to the Funk Zone, the goofily named postindustrial nightlife district at the foot of State Street, for a tasting at the Valley Project, the free-spirited little sister to the established and revered Kunin Wines. The tasting room’s floor-to-ceiling chalk mural of Santa Barbara’s wine appellations is worth a visit in itself.

7:30 p.m. Dine in the New World

Eat on the flower-draped patio of La Paloma Cafe, built on the figurative ruins of not one but two of Santa Barbara’s most beloved restaurants: a midcentury institution and the neon-lit Paradise Cafe, which closed, to the lament of many locals, in late 2020. La Paloma takes this lineage seriously, keeping the neon and restoring the building’s murals. The restaurant’s unmissable dish also nods to heritage: A wagyu tri-tip with salsa, horseradish and pinquito beans ($35.95) is a gussied-up version of Santa Barbara’s regional barbecue known as Santa Maria style. For dessert, stroll one block to Tondi Gelato. The shop, named for its owner, who lived in Italy for over a decade, features both classic flavors including salted caramel and seasonal sorbetti made with fruits such as guava and persimmon from the Santa Barbara Farmers Market. Cup or cone, from $5.

9:30 p.m. Cap off the night

Veer from the Funk Zone to the Presidio and find some local color at Lovejoy’s Pickle Room, a bar in a former 1940s-era Chinese restaurant. While this vintage dive may be best at happy hour, when it feels like the hidden realm of old-timers eating pastrami egg rolls and slurping house wine, its charms endure after its $2-off specials are finished. Drink a classic mai tai ($13) among the bar’s red tasseled lanterns, golden walls and red vinyl booths. A couple of blocks up State Street, in the Arts District, the Good Lion is a cocktail bar named for an obscure fable by Ernest Hemingway. It serves a fine Coastal Negroni made with a Spanish herbal gin, a wine-based Corsican aperitif, amaro for bitterness and a hint of anise ($15) in a dimly lit, Art Deco-inspired space alongside the Granada Theater.

Saturday

8:30 a.m. Discover a garden gem

Stop at Alessia Patisserie and Cafe for a pastry from its rotating selection, such as the ricotta-and-squash-blossom danish ($5.75), and an espresso for the road. Be on time for your 9:15 a.m. admission to Ganna Walska Lotusland (tickets, $50), where you’ll have to reserve far in advance to be one of the 15,000 people a year granted access. This magical 37-acre garden in the Montecito highlands is the work of the eclectic, many-times-married Polish singer Ganna Walska who, according to myth, may or may not be buried somewhere in her sprawling property. Wander through cactus forests to immaculate Japanese gardens to lush tropical orchids, banana trees and ginger plants, an experience transportive enough to justify the high price of admission.

11:30 a.m. Eat Mexican soul food

In a city of taquerias, Corazon Comedor stands out. The newest project of chef Ramon Velazquez, who earned Michelin recognition for his taco stand at Santa Barbara’s Public Market, the comedor (a casual, homestyle restaurant) opened in November after a pandemic delay, and serves dishes inspired by his mom when Velazquez was growing up in Guadalajara, Mexico. The airy dining room — which has a TV playing nostalgic black-and-white Mexican movies — clangs with the sounds of an open kitchen and smells of dishes including the earthy mole coloradito that tops the free chips and the rich, complex pozole (a traditional stew made with hominy and long-cooked pork broth). If you want more, Velazquez plans to open his first fine-dining restaurant, Alma Fonda Fina, in Montecito this summer.

1 p.m. Get out on the water

After years of drought, Cachuma Lake — Santa Barbara’s expansive, tentacled reservoir about 30 minutes out of town — is full for the first time in more than a decade. Take Highway 154 over the San Marcos Pass to the Santa Ynez Valley to see the lake glistening between oak-covered hills. The drive is part of the experience, with potential stops including the Chumash Painted Cave State Historic Park, where visitors can see centuries-old rock art by the Indigenous Chumash people, and the Tequepis Trailhead, for those who would rather hike than float. At Cachuma Lake Recreation Area (admission $10), take advantage of the abundant water by renting a kayak (from $15 per hour) or boat (from $45 for two hours) from the Rocky Mountain Recreation Co. Because the lake is a reservoir, swimming isn’t permitted, but the park has a pool and Hook’d Bar & Grill has picnic tables beside the lake with live music on weekends.

6:30 p.m. Splurge on seafood

Bar Le Cote, with grass-green walls and ranch-inspired John Flaming prints, opened in the Santa Ynez Valley town of Los Olivos in 2021, the second restaurant by the husband-and-wife team behind the Michelin-starred casual French restaurant Bell’s in Los Alamos. The tavern’s five-course Spanish-inspired tasting menu for two ($185) is a splurge. But in a region with some of the most jaw-droppingly expensive restaurants in the country, that feels like a relative bargain. The prix fixe might include a bite of locally harvested sea urchin, a pair of oysters and cool spiced peel-and-eat shrimp, a photogenic day-boat scallop crudo or a dry-aged branzino with leeks. A la carte is also available.

Sunday

8:30 a.m. Cruise by the beach

Stop into the Arlington Street location of Caje Coffee Roasters, the elegant new cafe of the long-running shop in Isla Vista, near the University of California, Santa Barbara. The cafe’s $10 signature drinks are prepared with the complexity of cocktails: a strawberry-rose matcha tea is served in a petal-­coated glass, while a chocolate and toasted coconut drink has a marshmallow that is torch-charred upon serving. Then, unlock a BCycle and cruise down to the 4.5-mile waterfront Cabrillo Bike Path, which extends all the way from Leadbetter Beach to Butterfly Beach on a protected bike lane. Look for the rainbow umbrellas of fruit vendors selling freshly prepared mango, cucumber, watermelon and more with traditional Mexican flourishes including salt, lime juice and Tajin seasoning, and plop on the sand to watch surfers and seabirds.

10 a.m. Linger over brunch

Dock your BCycle and head to Chase Palm Park, which has hosted crocheters, ceramists, painters and dozens of other craftspeople and artisans at the Santa Barbara Arts and Crafts Show every Sunday since 1965. After perusing the stalls, make your way to Jeannine’s Bakery for brunch. The newest location of a decades-old breakfast institution opened in 2021, planting itself directly across from Stearns Wharf and East Beach with a sprawling palm-shaded patio dotted with pink sun umbrellas. Be prepared to stand in line to order long-running favorites such as banana Kahlua French toast ($16.75) or a Benedict ($18) made with the regional favorite, tri-tip, before finding a spot in the courtyard, where every table seems to be topped with a bottle of Champagne and a carafe of fresh juice.

11:30 a.m. Stroll past history

Santa Barbara’s downtown is built around the last presidio established in California. El Presidio de Santa Barbara State Historic Park preserves the 5-1/2-acre site and has a visitor center devoted to its history. The presidio’s surviving adobe structures are incorporated into the neighborhood’s contemporary life, with historical placards posted on many buildings. For a self-guided tour, wander the area pulling up the QR codes on each to read about its history. Then, head a couple of blocks north on Anacapa Street to Sullivan Goss, a private three-room gallery around the corner from the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, where pieces can cost as much as a home down payment and the collection leans heavily on evocative portrayals of the American West.