Red-tile roofs, white stucco and the Santa Ynez Mountains rising right behind the beach give Santa Barbara its Mediterranean nickname. After a 1925 earthquake, the city rebuilt in a unified Spanish Colonial Revival style, and it still looks the part.

Walk State Street to the waterfront, sip local wine in the Funk Zone, and catch sunset from the bluffs at nearby Coal Oil Point.

Sunset at Coal Oil Point near Santa Barbara
Photo: Glenn Beltz / CC BY 4.0