Weekend trips from Santa Barbara
For any of these trips, you could visit just the first or second destination if you want to do less driving and spend more time in the area.
Trip idea #1: Santa Barbara → Las Vegas → Laguna Beach → Santa Barbara
leave Santa Barbara on Friday
1 hour → Malibu
56 minutes → Los Angeles
55 minutes → Mt Baldy
1.5 hours → Barstow
50 minutes → Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA
1.5 hours → Mojave Desert
1.5 hours → Las Vegas (stay Friday night)
1 hour → Malibu
56 minutes → Los Angeles
55 minutes → Mt Baldy
1.5 hours → Barstow
50 minutes → Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA
1.5 hours → Mojave Desert
1.5 hours → Las Vegas (stay Friday night)
8 hours of driving
Las Vegas to Laguna Beach
leave Las Vegas on Saturday
58 minutes → Fashion Outlets of Las Vegas
1 hour → Worlds tallest thermometer!
43 minutes → Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA
50 minutes → Barstow
55 minutes → Albuquerque
1 hour → Anaheim
31 minutes → Laguna Beach (stay Saturday night)
58 minutes → Fashion Outlets of Las Vegas
1 hour → Worlds tallest thermometer!
43 minutes → Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA
50 minutes → Barstow
55 minutes → Albuquerque
1 hour → Anaheim
31 minutes → Laguna Beach (stay Saturday night)
6 hours of driving
Laguna Beach to Santa Barbara
leave Laguna Beach on Sunday
38 minutes → Disneyland
56 minutes → Los Angeles
46 minutes → Malibu
30 minutes → Ventura
32 minutes → Santa Barbara (back home)
38 minutes → Disneyland
56 minutes → Los Angeles
46 minutes → Malibu
30 minutes → Ventura
32 minutes → Santa Barbara (back home)
3.5 hours of driving
Total driving time for this trip is about 17.5 hours of driving.
Trip idea #2: Santa Barbara → Cambria → Big Sur → Santa Barbara
leave Santa Barbara on Friday
44 minutes → Solvang
1 hour → San Luis Obispo
40 minutes → Cambria (stay Friday night)
44 minutes → Solvang
1 hour → San Luis Obispo
40 minutes → Cambria (stay Friday night)
2.5 hours of driving
Cambria to Big Sur
leave Cambria on Saturday
16 minutes → Hearst Castle
24 minutes → Ragged Point
19 minutes → Treebones Resort
18 minutes → Limekiln State Park
23 minutes → Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park
15 minutes → Nepenthe
10 minutes → Big Sur (stay Saturday night)
16 minutes → Hearst Castle
24 minutes → Ragged Point
19 minutes → Treebones Resort
18 minutes → Limekiln State Park
23 minutes → Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park
15 minutes → Nepenthe
10 minutes → Big Sur (stay Saturday night)
2 hours of driving
Big Sur to Santa Barbara
leave Big Sur on Sunday
1 hour → Nepenthe
1 hour → Hearst Castle
58 minutes → Pismo Beach
44 minutes → Solvang
10 minutes → Santa Barbara (back home)
1 hour → Nepenthe
1 hour → Hearst Castle
58 minutes → Pismo Beach
44 minutes → Solvang
10 minutes → Santa Barbara (back home)
4 hours of driving
Total driving time for this trip is about 9 hours of driving.
Trip idea #3: Santa Barbara → Carmel → Santa Cruz → Santa Barbara
leave Santa Barbara on Friday
44 minutes → Solvang
1 hour → San Luis Obispo
1.5 hours → King City
50 minutes → Salinas
31 minutes → Carmel (stay Friday night)
44 minutes → Solvang
1 hour → San Luis Obispo
1.5 hours → King City
50 minutes → Salinas
31 minutes → Carmel (stay Friday night)
4.5 hours of driving
Carmel to Santa Cruz
leave Carmel on Saturday
17 minutes → Marina
12 minutes → California 1
11 minutes → Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve
15 minutes → Watsonville
19 minutes → Seacliff State Beach
15 minutes → Santa Cruz (stay Saturday night)
17 minutes → Marina
12 minutes → California 1
11 minutes → Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve
15 minutes → Watsonville
19 minutes → Seacliff State Beach
15 minutes → Santa Cruz (stay Saturday night)
1.5 hours of driving
Santa Cruz to Santa Barbara
leave Santa Cruz on Sunday
50 minutes → Salinas
49 minutes → King City
54 minutes → Re:Find
1 hour → San Luis Obispo
44 minutes → Solvang
46 minutes → Santa Barbara (back home)
50 minutes → Salinas
49 minutes → King City
54 minutes → Re:Find
1 hour → San Luis Obispo
44 minutes → Solvang
46 minutes → Santa Barbara (back home)
5 hours of driving
Total driving time for this trip is about 11 hours of driving.
Trip idea #4: Santa Barbara → San Francisco → Sonoma → Santa Barbara
leave Santa Barbara on Friday
44 minutes → Solvang
1 hour → San Luis Obispo
54 minutes → Re:Find
1 hour → Pinnacles National Park
1.5 hours → Monterey
1.5 hours → San Jose
54 minutes → San Francisco (stay Friday night)
44 minutes → Solvang
1 hour → San Luis Obispo
54 minutes → Re:Find
1 hour → Pinnacles National Park
1.5 hours → Monterey
1.5 hours → San Jose
54 minutes → San Francisco (stay Friday night)
7.5 hours of driving
San Francisco to Sonoma
leave San Francisco on Saturday
10 minutes → Golden Gate Bridge
16 minutes → Mill Valley
16 minutes → China Camp State Park
17 minutes → Novato
16 minutes → Ram's Gate Winery
12 minutes → Fremont Diner
9 minutes → Sonoma (stay Saturday night)
10 minutes → Golden Gate Bridge
16 minutes → Mill Valley
16 minutes → China Camp State Park
17 minutes → Novato
16 minutes → Ram's Gate Winery
12 minutes → Fremont Diner
9 minutes → Sonoma (stay Saturday night)
1.5 hours of driving
Sonoma to Santa Barbara
leave Sonoma on Sunday
47 minutes → Oakland
1 hour → San Jose
50 minutes → Salinas
1.5 hours → King City
1.5 hours → San Luis Obispo
1 hour → Santa Barbara (back home)
47 minutes → Oakland
1 hour → San Jose
50 minutes → Salinas
1.5 hours → King City
1.5 hours → San Luis Obispo
1 hour → Santa Barbara (back home)
6.5 hours of driving
Total driving time for this trip is about 16 hours of driving.
Discover weekend getaways from Santa Barbara and explore
places that are easily drivable for a short 3-day trip or a longer weekend
if there's a holiday or you can get time off. Once you've picked a
destination, you can search for alternate routes that might have more
interesting stops along the way. If you're looking for all of the
possible destinations, try searching for a radius of
50 miles from Santa Barbara up to 200 miles from Santa Barbara or anything in between. If you don't have enough time for a
long weekend, try searching for day trips from Santa Barbara, or you can make Santa Barbara your destination instead. If you have more time, you can plan a drive from Santa Barbara to Arizona.
