Santa Barbara (santabarbaraca.com) sits on the central California coast where the plains below the Santa Ynez mountain range reach the sea and is a great escape from the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles. Downtown, the low-rise Spanish-style white stucco buildings with red-tile roofs reflect the city's colonial heritage. Palm trees, jacaranda and jasmine love the Mediterranean climate and so do the grapes from the local wine, which is rightly lauded. Not for nothing was the Oscar-nominated wine-lovers movie Sideways set around here.

VISIT

Found on a rise about three kilometres from the harbour is the Old Mission (santabarbaramission.org). Despite being rebuilt several times after earthquakes the interior of this Spanish colonial-style church dates from 1820 and is worth a look. There are tours and great views of the bay from the grounds. For something a little more unusual, check out Salt, (saltcavesb.com) a spa under the city's main street. It boasts America's largest salt cave – created from 45 tonnes of imported pink salt blocks. Good for just about every ailment, they say.

EAT

Dining on the terrace at the Belmond El Encanto hotel (belmond.com/el-encanto-santa-barbara) is worth every cent just for the view. Go for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Cielito restaurant (cielitorestaurant.com) serves outstanding tapas in the form of calamari escabeche and ceviche of red snapper while bouchon (bouchonsantabarbara.com) serves up first-rate locally sourced food. Olio Pizzeria (oliopizzeria.com) serves excellent pizza in relaxed surroundings.

LOOK

Go for a kayak around the harbour with the good people of the Santa Barbara Adventure Company (sbadventureco.com). Meet at Stearns Wharf, take a loop around the boats and yachts before passing out into the ocean proper. Paddle past pelicans, cormorants and seals to the buoy just offshore and look back to get a fantastic view of Santa Barbara its mountainous backdrop.

MUST

Visiting Santa Barbara without trying the wine is like going to Rome and ignoring the Colosseum. But if you don't have time to visit the 175 local wineries there's an easy self-guided Urban Wine Trail (urbanwinetrailsb.com) downtown which takes in 26 cellar doors in the city's self-styled Funk Zone, a once gritty industrial area now filled with artisan shops, art galleries, restaurants and cafes. If beer's more your shtick then try a tasting paddle at the Figueroa Mountain Brewing Company (figmtnbrew.com). If you're lucky, there'll be a good local band playing, too.

SLEEP

There are plenty of hotels downtown but nothing beats the beautiful Belmond El Encanto hotel (belmond.com/el-encanto-santa-barbara) up in the hills just past the Old Mission. An eclectic mix of blindingly white hacienda and New England-style clapboard buildings it was once a favourite bolthole of old Hollywood elites such as Hedy Lamarr, Clark Gable and Carole Lombard. The hotel is opulent, stylish and, as mentioned before, the panoramic view from the terrace is pretty amazing – as is the breakfast.

TIP

A cool way to get around downtown is via pedicab (sbpedicab.com). These three-wheeled cycles are fitted with two seats at the back and are driven around by knowledgeable guides with a great sense of humour.

Keith Austin was a guest of Visit California and Qantas.