Hello my loves,
Hubby and I had the most amazing weekend in Santa Ynez this past week and I thought a little blog post recap could be helpful!
Tbh I had never heard of Santa Ynez before one of my friends Heather (hey giirrll) suggested it as a weekend trip. It’s like Napa but closer to LA, has amazing wineries, quaint towns and a food scene that will knock your socks off. Rather than hopping on a flight + driving that extra hour to Napa, you can drive 2.5 hours (with traffic) to Santa Ynez and have all of your winery dreams granted.
There are a lot of little towns in the Santa Ynez Vally. There’s Solvang (an insanely cute Danish town), Ballard, Los Alamos, Los Olivos, Buellton and Santa Ynez, of course. All of which are within 10-15 minutes of each other! I’ll run you through where we stayed, ate and drank in case you need inspo to help plan your visit. Btw, I actually worked with a travel agency called Afternoon Travel to help plan the weekend! They totally came in handy as things really book out and they were able to get us in.
Weekend Trip to Santa Ynez
Tips are italicized!
Where We Stayed
We stayed at The Landsby which was a really nice hotel on the main strip in Solvang. It was very reasonably priced, clean, newly renovated, charming and vibey inside. Really enjoyed it and would stay here again. They also happen to have a yummy restaurant called Mad and Vin. There are tasting rooms all around the hotel, so it’s centrally located on the main drag in Solvang.
Where We Ate
We ate nothing but good meals! In Solvang we ate at Mad and Vin, Paula’s Pancake House, Sear Steakhouse, and Brekkie’s by Chomp. In Santa Ynez, we ate at SY Kitchen which is Italian and so good. In Ballard, we ate at Bob’s Well Bread. This is just a must if you go to Santa Ynez Valley. Pro tip: Get to Bob’s and Paula’s no later than 9:30 (9 am is good) to avoid a wait. In Los Alamos, we ate at Bell’s which is a Michelin star French restaurant. For a Michelin star place, we were shocked that a 5-course meal was only $75/person. Truly exceptional food and an extensive wine list.
Where We Drank
We went to 2 wineries, Sunstone and Brave & Maiden. Sunstone was beautiful and had Tuscan vibes, the wine was good. Brave & Maiden has impeccable decor and excellent wine. Hit them both up if you can because they are literally 5 minutes down the road from each other. Make sure to book a reservation at B&M as soon as you know you’re going as they book out! And then we stumbled into a few other tasting rooms, Stolpman and Foxen were both good!
psst: click the picture to shop the look!
All in all, I would say this trip is the perfect weekend getaway for my LA peeps! It’s quirky, quaint, refined yet relaxed and a short drive from the city. I’m thinking of doing my 30th there!
Oh and in case you want a unique activity that doesn’t involve alcohol, there happens to be an ostrich farm if you’d like to feed some ostriches. We did and it was a good time!
