Santa Barbara Scenic Train Day Trip

Santa Barbara is a very beautiful city, the seaside with all the paintings and craft exhibitions are amazing! This is my favorite part where we stayed for 2 hours. Regarding the tour, the Amastrak Starlight is well to be taken but regarding our guide, he was more a driver than a guide, he just gave us instructions on the times and time on site. He spoke much more with the other Asians than we did, if not at all. We would have liked to have an explanation about County Courthouse, because it’s nice to see but to understand would be better... 🤷🏻‍♀️ and regarding Old Mission, there is a museum inside and it’s $17 admission, plus there is nothing to see except the religious souvenir shop 🙏🏻 the whole group stayed outside and we waited almost an hour like that

This tour is not as described… the trip is not from LA to Santa Barbara. Instead, you are driven an hour to Oxnard where we waited nearly two-hours for the Amtrak train. The driver left us and said our ticket for boarding the train was on the phone of another tour guest . Not one name from our party of 4 was on the ticket list on her phone and the driver had already left us. (did not wait to make sure we made the train) The driver told us we would ride upstairs on the double-decker panorama train car. First, there wasn’t a panorama car and second there were no seats available on the second level, no reserved seats and all passengers left to fend for themselves. The Amtrak agent told us our tickets were for the lower level. The train ride lasted only 45 minutes and during that time you saw the ocean only about half the time. We were not informed in advance that we would NOT ride the train back to LA. Instead, we were packed into a Ford transit van with 12 people. The stop in Santa Barbara was just long enough to get lunch. We were dropped off in a public parking lot and when we came back at the departure time the van/driver were nowhere to be found. We had to search to find the van. The two other stops at the courthouse were nice but too long as everyone in the group was ready to leave each stop after 15 minutes. THEN came the 2-hour trek back to LA in the crowded van (NOT the train) The webpage for this tour is very vague, the driver couldn’t give us direct answers about the tour. For the price they charge TOTALLY NOT worth it!!!!! When we tried to get clarification about where to park our car at the pickup point – no one could give us an answer to that simple question or how much it would cost, etc. Avoid this tour – book your own tour with Amtrak train from Union Station in LA or make the drive. This is not the experience you want! We were under the impression that the trip is primarily about the train ride, unfortunately, that's not the case with this tour. We got picked up at 8am and returned at 6pm and a total of 45 minutes was spent on the train. Tour is not worth the time or money.

I was on this tour last sundy, the coast starlight train had a very beautiful view and it is a good expericence. The stops were nice as well. the tour guide daniel chen was very helpful and knows a lot about the area. I willl recommend to others.

We extended a business trip and decided to visit Santa Barbara. I’m told late May weather can be iffy, but we had beautiful skies and warm temperatures. We stopped at Jamie Slone Wines tasting room. Jamie and his wife, Kym, were wonderful. They recommended we head up to Buellton, stopping at Industrial Eats for lunch and Brick Barn Winery. Don’t be fooled by the warehouse area that Industrial Eats is located in. The interior is wonderfully clean and charming. More importantly, the food is amazing! Brick Barn Winery was equally good. We skipped a tasting and selected a couple glasses of wine (you can get a taste first). We hope to return to Santa Barbara for more than just a day visit.

The trip to Santa Barbara was worth it. With only a few days in LA and wanting to see some scenery, this trip delivered. Amazing place