2019 Santa Barbara Holiday Light Tour

By Harley Hahn

Every year in December, there are marvelous displays of holiday lights in Santa Barbara, California. If you live there or if you happen to be visiting, you and your family can have a wonderful time driving around looking at the festive decorations — if you know where to look.

When you have some time on a December evening, the directions below will take you on an amazing tour of the Santa Barbara holiday lights. If you drive at a reasonably slow pace, the entire route will take you about an hour and a quarter.

If you only have time to visit one place, the most spectacular display is on 1209 E. Quinientos St on the east side of Santa Barbara, just past Soledad Street (map).

DIRECTIONS

The full Holiday Light Tour takes about one and a quarter hours if you drive slow. I recommend starting your tour between 6:30 pm and 7:30 pm.

There are six parts to this tour:

• Part 1 runs through downtown Santa Barbara. 
• Part 2 visits the West Side. 
• Part 3 takes you over the Portesuello hills. 
• Part 4 is to the west of Las Positas. 
• Part 5 leads you to the Hitchcock area. 
• Part 6 finishes by taking you to the East Side.

Hint: If you don’t know your way around Santa Barbara, it is a good idea to take a GPS, a map, or a real estate agent with you, in case you accidentally stray from the route.

Read the full tour and directions here.