Originally posted by kumazam:
the Solvang/Los Olivos/Santa Ynez area would be the best place to stay in my opinion for proximity to wineries – everything is within a 1 hour shot from there, from Santa Maria to the north, Santa Barbara to the south & Lompoc and the Santa Rita Hills to the west. That being said, Santa Barbara is a very nice place to stay, so if you don’t mind the extra 45 min to an hour or so trek south when you come down, and vice versa when you travel up north to these places for visits, something to consider. If so, not much more to the below id add other than (1) lodging – Canary Inn, Inn of the Spanish Garden (2) Jaffurs, Jaffurs, Jaffurs (3) dining – Louie’s Bistro, Bouchon, La Playa Azul, C’est Cheese… theres more but no need to go into detail unless you think you’ll be staying there.
(1) places in and around Solvang/Los Olivos that are worth looking in to for lodging:
Ballard Inn
Santa Ynez Inn
Chumash Casino
Holiday Inn Express Solvang
(2) wineries (keeping in mind your preference for Syrah, and edited to include producers i enjoy).
in Los Olivos and literally minutes from each other:
Stolpman
Qupe
Andrew Murray
Beckmen
Zaca Mesa
Epiphany
Consilience
Tensley/Carina
in Santa Rita Hills/Lompoc:
Babcock
Ampelos
Arcadian
Melville
in Santa Maria/Santa Ynez:
Core
Foxen
Demetria
(3) places in and around Solvang/Los Olivos for dining (not an exhaustive list, but some to keep in mind):
Ballard Inn
Brothers’ Restaurant at Mattei’s Tavern
Full of Life Flatbread (formerly American Flatbread – only open on weekends)
Patrick’s Side Street Café
Panino Solvang
Los Olivos Grocery
Root 246 (haven’t been but heard positive things)
many of the wineries might require appts so best to look up and make arrangements if necessary... i can also give you some of my favorites near Paso when driving through... in particular Tablas Creek & Linne Calodo
slow day at work
