6 Tips for a Luxurious Santa Barbara Wine Tour on a Budget
Santa Barbara has beautiful weather, historic landmarks, and delicious wines. It’s become a destination for wine tours to world-renowned vineyards scattered throughout the Santa Ynez Valley, under sunny skies and a temperate, Mediterranean climate.
While celebrity homes dot the countryside, you don’t have to be rich or famous to enjoy everything Santa Barbara has to offer.
Anyone can experience a wine tour that winds its way through nature, busy towns, and Spanish Colonial architecture to stop at vineyards with rich varieties of reds, whites, and blushes. In fact, there’s something for everyone to enjoy in the Santa Barbara region.
If you’re on a budget, here are tips for a luxurious and quality wine tour through Santa Barbara that won’t cost a lot of money, but will make for an amazing trip you’ll never forget.
1. Go With Friends
You certainly can go on a wine tour of Santa Barbara vineyards alone, but for the best wine tasting experience, consider planning a trip with friends, coworkers, a significant other, or family.
In fact, Santa Barbara wine tours are perfect for bachelorette parties and anniversary trips!
Together, you can share the sights, sounds, and tastes of fantastic Santa Barbara wines and the countryside you’ll drive through to get to each one.
With friends, you can also sit and sip wines together after tastings, and you’ll be able to split a bottle or two instead of buying individual glasses. This is a great tip for saving money as you enjoy a wine tour, since purchasing a whole bottle to share will cost less than individual glasses.
It’s also a guaranteed way to feel luxurious, as you enjoy high quality wines in the beautiful weather with some of your closest friends or family.
2. Limit Your Visits to 3-4 Wineries
Plan to take your time and savor wines for a wonderful day of escaping into the world of grape vines and Mediterranean sunshine.
A wine tour isn’t a race; if you try to go to too many wineries in one day, you’ll feel rushed instead of relaxed. The best way to stick to a budget for a wine tour is to spend quality time at a few vineyards. In fact, the perfect number is three or four.
Since tastings at vineyards may cost a little money, by going to fewer, you can save on these costs for trying the wines.
You’ll also feel much more luxurious if you can relax and take in all the beautiful weather, scenery, and wines at each vineyard without worrying about making it to the next one.
An excellent plan at each winery is to purchase a tasting, which also gives you the opportunity to talk to the winemakers about their grapes, winemaking, and the flavors of each wine. Then, if there’s a wine or two you really enjoyed, you can purchase a glass or bottle to share and sip it in the tasting room or outside among the vines.
3. Pack a Lunch or Snacks
Many of the Santa Barbara wineries provide food that you can purchase along with wine tastings, glasses, or bottles. But buying prepared foods is almost always more expensive than making your own.
For a beautiful and delicious complement to the wines you’ll be tasting, consider a snack or lunch of cheese and crackers, fruits and vegetables, and cured meats like summer sausage or prosciutto, as well as your own bottles of water. Pita and hummus are excellent vegan options, too.
Some wineries may not let you bring your own food onto their property, but you can still have a wonderful, budget friendly picnic lunch at your car or park, or at a beautiful natural landmark along your route.
Just make sure you have a plan for some sort of food while you’re enjoying wine tastings, otherwise you might feel stronger effects of all the sips.
4. Share Transportation Costs
When you’re planning a wine tour, it’s important to consider how you’ll get to each winery. Unless someone in your group is planning to be a designated driver, it’s safest to hire a driver who can take care of your transportation needs.
If there are several of you participating in the wine tastings you have planned, you’ll find that it’s actually very budget friendly to split the cost of a professional wine chauffeur for transportation by the hour.
And if there’s one thing that’s worth the little bit of extra money, it’s the safety of your friends and family.
Don’t forget that there are other benefits of hiring transportation services, too, such as a knowledgeable driver who can share information about Santa Barbara’s rich history, and the convenience of not needing to navigate unfamiliar roads.
5. Plan a Tour During the Off-Peak Times
Because of the natural flow of supply and demand, wine tours could end up costing more overall if you plan them during weekends or holidays. But if you decide to visit Santa Barbara wineries during the week or off-peak times instead, you might find you can save a little cash by avoiding upcharges.
There’s also a good chance you’ll enjoy your visit to each winery more if it isn’t busy and crowded. The vintners and other employees can pay much more attention to you and help make your visit unforgettable.
You might even find that private vineyard tours are more available, and that there will be more time for you to chat with the winemakers or pourers about the winemaking process.
Just make sure you check the hours for each vineyard before you plan a visit. Some might be closed or have fewer hours during the week and off-peak times than on a weekend or fun holiday.
As an added benefit of planning a wine tour during off-peak times, you’re also likely to find cheaper rates at local hotels if you’re traveling from out of town.
6. Book a Wine Tour Package
With a personalized wine tour package, you’ll enjoy a more all-inclusive experience for wine tastings. Instead of purchasing and planning every aspect of a wine tour on your own, you’ll receive a personalized itinerary, unshared vehicle, wine tasting fees at 3 wineries, catered picnic lunch, charcuterie box, and door-to-door transportation service.
Additionally, the chauffeur for your guided wine tour can offer an insider’s view of the local landscapes, wineries, and histories better than what you’ll find in a tour book or online.
Personalized wine tours are the ultimate way to experience a luxurious yet affordable day visiting Santa Barbara vineyards.
The package puts together everything you’ll need, so you’ll save time planning your trip.
You’ll also be able to relax in a comfortable, stylish vehicle as you travel between wineries, with much less stress than trying to do it all on your own.
At Silk Road Transportation, we have incredible personalized wine tours and hourly wine chauffeurs that serve the Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez, and Solvang region. Visit us and learn how we can provide an amazing, affordable experience you’ll never forget through this beautiful wine lover’s paradise.