Buellton, California used to be known as “Service Town USA”, a spot for travelers to stop and refuel before continuing on their journeys. Today, Buellton, California is a hidden gem in the Santa Ynez Valley of Santa Barbara County. Buellton, California is an unassuming little town that’s easily overshadowed by the surrounding towns of Solvang, Los Olivos, Santa Ynez, Santa Barbara, and Santa Maria. It has some claim to fame as it was featured in the movie, Sideways, but most visitors still spend the majority of their time in other parts of the Santa Ynez Valley. We should know; we’ve spent plenty of time exploring the cities of the Santa Barbara County and the Santa Ynez Valley, but we never stopped in Buellton. We foolishly thought that all that Buellton, California had to offer was pea soup, as advertised by the infamous Pea Soup Anderson Inn sign visible from the 101 freeway. After Discover Buellton invited us to #SkipTheBigCities and explore Buellton, California, we learned we were very wrong and Buellton, California has A LOT to offer!
Buellton, California is actually one of the most interesting and unique cities we’ve visited lately. The majority of places we visited were small local run spots and the owners are extremely passionate about what they do. They are constantly coming up with fun and unique initiatives and activities. Plus, if you’re a wine drinker, there are some amazing wines to try in Buellton, California. Due to the climate, there are around 50 varietals grown here, so they don’t really specialize in one type of wine, more like something for everyone. “Up and coming” and “hidden gem” are such over used phrases, but we truly feel Buellton, California embodies both of them. We can see this town blowing up in the next few years, so make sure to visit now! We’ve shared all the tips you need to visit, plus the perfect Buellton, California weekend getaway itinerary.
The Ultimate Buellton California Weekend Getaway Itinerary
Getting to Buellton, California
By plane:
If you are traveling domestically, you can fly into the Santa Barbara or Santa Maria airports. From there, you can rent a car to drive to Buellton or take a bus.
If you are traveling internationally, the closest international airport is Los Angeles (LAX). From there you’ll need to rent a car or take the Amtrack to Santa Barbara and then a bus. If you’re coming from international, we recommend renting a car and visiting Buellton as part of a road trip along the California coastline. It’s such a wonderful experience with so much to see and do!
By bus:
There’s a quick and easy Amtrak you can take from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara. From Santa Barbara, you can take a bus to Solvang and then a bus or taxi to Buellton {it’s a less than 10 minute drive}. The Santa Ynez Valley transit bus runs through the whole valley, making it easy to get from town to town.
By car:
Buellton, California is SUCH an easy drive from Los Angeles or San Francisco. Buellton is located right off the freeway, making it a convenient and easy drive. We were pretty surprised by how fast we got there! Once in town, you can get around Buellton with a 5 minute or less drive pretty much everywhere you want to go! You can also add Buellton as a stop on a California coastline road trip, which is always such a fun experience! {Read about our Los Angeles to Portland Road Trip}
Buellton, California 3 day itinerary:
This is our exact 3 day Buellton, California itinerary. It’s more like 2 full days, but’s spread across an evening, full day, and morning. There is plenty more to do, so if you want to stay longer, we’ve included a few other suggestions at the end.
Buellton, California – Day 1
We started our Day 1 a bit late. If you are getting there earlier, we suggest adding a few activities from our Day 2 suggestions as Day 2 is a packed day!
OstrichLand
Stop by OstrichLand to visit the emus and ostriches! If you’ve never seen one up close, it’s a pretty awesome sight! Entrance is about $5 and then you can buy pans of food for $1 each. The food goes by pretty quickly, so you may want to buy one pan per person. Bassam went through multiple pans, while I just did one. The ostriches can be a bit forceful about their feeding, so hold the pan with both hands and try not to be startled. Don’t worry about over feeding the birds, the owners regulate how much food is sold and the birds still usually need to be fed at the end of the day. If you get close without food, the birds will peck at you looking for food. This terrified me, but they pecked at Bassam and he didn’t mind. He actually didn’t even move and just let him keep pecking him because he thought it was funny. 🙄 The birds don’t have teeth, so Bassam said it didn’t hurt.
Be sure to check out the ostrich eggs before you leave. They sell them on site and they are huge! Each ostrich egg is equivalent to 20 chicken eggs. That would be one big omelette! Perfect if you’re having a brunch party! The owners told us the ostrich eggs taste super rich and creamy.
Funny fact, both Solvang and Buellton claim OstrichLand and they both can! Because the two town are so close together, OstrichLand falls in both. The mailbox and office is in Solvang, while the ostriches are in Buellton!
Dinner at Hitching Post 2
You may recognize Hitching Post 2 if you’ve seen the movie Sideways, as the main characters spent a lot of time here! The author of the book, Rex Pickett, actually spent quite a bit of time here as he was writing Sideways. He created a fictional version of one of the bartenders and one of the waitresses and wrote them into the book. The staff at Hitching Post 2 didn’t think the book would come to much and were surprised when a Hollywood movie producer and director came to ask if Hitching Post 2 could be featured in the movie version of Sideways! There’s more to Hitching Post 2 than just a claim to fame through Sideways though. The restaurant serves up hearty portions of traditional American steakhouse fare, all with a rustic ambiance and great service. They’s also opened a tasting room next door where you can try their fantastic wines and have their infamous burger for lunch.
We recommend: Artichoke appetizer, steak or fish of the day if you’re not a meat eater, key lime pie. Ask for a side of their ancho chile tomato pesto! FYI- there are not a lot of vegetarian options. All entrees come with a salad, soup, garlic bread, and choice of a side.
Buellton, California – Day 2
Today is a day full of tastings as we eat and drink our way around Buellton, California! Be sure to drink plenty of water, pace yourself, and eat before drinking!
Painting Lesson with Gypsy Studios
Imagine this. Relaxing French cafe music, a gorgeous view of a vineyard, several hours with nothing ahead of you but mixing up paint colors and painting the beautiful landscape in front of you. All with a glass of wine in hand. Sounds like a dream right? Painting with Gypsy Studios was the highlight of the trip for me! They are a full service art studio on wheels and go around to different wineries in the Santa Barbara county. You can see where they’ll be via their website and you can also set up a private class if you prefer. Each class is 3 hours long and they provide you with everything you need to create your masterpiece, plus a glass of wine from the winery you’re painting at.
Our experience was at Brick Barn, which we’ll talk more about in a minute. From there, one of the talented art teachers will walk you through how to paint the scenery in front of you. It’s an experience that will involve all your senses and tap into your creativity. We felt so relaxed afterwards. I didn’t follow the directions exactly, I’m just not great at following instructions, but Bassam did and you can see how both of ours turned out. It was such a wonderful experience! Perfect for a romantic date while on a trip or a group activity if you’re traveling with a group. It was like a little slice of Tuscany, Italy while in Buellton, California. Don’t miss this!
- Bassam’s
- Lena’s
Wine tasting at Brick Barn
Wine tasting at Brick Barn was such a delight and an experience we highly recommend! This gorgeous winery will feel like you’re in Bordeaux or Napa, even though it’s literally just right off of the 101 freeway! You won’t hear any noise from the freeway; the property feels secluded. The estate was built in 1972 as a world class Arabian horse farm. 40 years later after the owner’s prize horse passed away, the barn was converted into a tasting room. The interior is just as gorgeous as the exterior and great care was taken during the redesign. All of the brickwork is original; it was removed for the ground to be cleaned and then relaid. The walls of the event rooms are made of wine bottle corks! The current wine club lounge is where people who boarded their horses at the barn used to come and sit to watch their horses. If you’re someone who loves interior design or historic sites, you will love exploring this tasting room and discovering all the little details. It’s all the perfect spot for an event! There’s a gorgeous bridal suite and a perfect space for an outdoor event. They also host all kinds of business meetings and work events. Such an amazing spot for any kind of event!
You can visit for a regular tasting, a private tasting, a private cellar and barrel room tour and tasting, a private vineyard, barrel room, and cellar tour and tasting, or a picnic lunch and tour. Every Saturday there is live music and food trucks. Brick Barn really turns into a destination to spend a few hours, more than just a place to quickly grab a tasting.
We did the vineyard tour and tasting and absolutely loved it! The property is so beautiful and they don’t mind if you want to walk through the grapes. In fact, they provide cute yellow rain boots so you can walk through the chardonnay as you sip a chardonnay tasting, all without ruining your shoes. Each wine guide aims to provide an experience to visitors, not just a tour or tasting. None of the wines have tasting notes, because it’s all supposed to be a conversation and journey. Our guide explained at everyone tastes different things because we all grew up with different tastes and flavors. What we taste in the wine is a reflection of our culinary past. I loved this explanation and this interactive format. It was so much fun and a great way to learn more about tasting wines! After the walk through the vineyards, we got to visit the cellar and barrel rooms. Bottling is done on site, which not a lot of places do, and it was amazing to get to watch the magic in action!
Lunch and beer tasting at Firestone Walker Brewing Company
By this time you’ll probably be ready for lunch, we definitely were! Firestone Walker Brewing Company is a fantastic choice for a slightly heavier lunch, perfect for a day full of tastings! Firestone is very popular on the Central Coast and you may have seen their beers at your local store as they have nation wide beer distribution. One of their most popular beers is 805 – named for the local area code.
We recommend: Drunken shrimp, taproom pretzel, rotater tater tots (different every day!), ahi wonton tacos, and the bear’s burger
After lunch, make sure to check out Barrelworks, their adjoining tasting room and blending center, featuring beers from their wild ale program as well as one off selections from their barrel aging spirits program. There are 14 beers on tap that you can taste and the selection changes almost daily. I’m not really a beer fan, but I actually liked these because the wild ales we tried drank a bit more like a wine than a beer. They are all naturally fermented and overlaid with local fruit and spices. They wanted to create beers that showcase the flora in the local environment, resulting in these unique wild ales.
Explore Industrial Way
This street used to be industrial (hence the name) and full of service businesses, warehouses, winemaking and light manufacturing. Today, there are all kinds of wine tasting rooms, spirit tasting rooms, a sweet shop, a brewery, and tons of dining options. You can walk the whole street, which is perfect since you’ll probably be doing a few tastings here! The rest of the places recommended for today are all on Industrial Way.
Spirit tasting at Ascendant Spirits
Did you know Buellton is home to the first distillery since the prohibition in Santa Barbara County? That distillery is Ascendant Spirits! So much cool history here! Ascendant Spirits produces award winning whiskey, vodka, and gin using local ingredients. You can go for a tour of the distillery and also taste all their different spirits. We learned so much on the tour from Steve, the very talented and passionate distillery owner. He used to be a movie producer and then decided he had a passion for spirits and wanted to get into the distillery business. We learned that Buellton is the ideal place to make spirits, as the temperature changes drastically daily. The spirits are able to breathe daily rather than seasonally, as they do at distilleries in other parts of the country. The bourbon is aged in barrels for 5 years at Ascendant Spirits, while most places only age it for 2 years. Even if you aren’t a huge spirit drinker, we highly recommend visiting Ascendant Spirits while in Buellton, California. Steve’s passion for what he does shines and you may discover something you never knew you liked!
FYI- You cannot purchase any spirits here to take home, but you’ll find them all at the liquor stores in the area.
Don’t miss: Calyx gin (awarded best gin by the San Francisco Spirits competition), ghost chili vodka, and Breaker bourbon whiskey
Want more spirits? Visit DorWood next and try their limoncello
Wine tasting at Industrial WineWorks
Industrial WineWorks is a complex on Industrial Way with 6 unique wine tasting rooms. Each are independent wineries, but the winemakers have formed a tight bond and community. Go taste at each of their tasting rooms or pick 1 or 2 to visit. This is a very unique place to taste wine, as each winemaker has a very distinct and creative style. They bring their unique perspective and fresh ideas to the wine scene and you’re sure to taste something very different than what you’ve tasted before. We tried wine from two of the tasting rooms:
-
Helix Tasting Room
Helix Tasting Room was opened by Kalyra Winery. The owner and winemaker is Australian born and has a long history of producing award winning dessert wines. The idea for this particular tasting room is to showcase Kalyra’s sparking and dessert wine, as well as their “239” wine which is a fortified wine that is 23.9% alcohol and designed to be used for cocktails. We purchased both the white and rose variety and can’t wait to experiment with it and make various cocktails! Kalyra has some great recipes on their website we’ll be trying. We don’t usually like dessert wines, but we loved the orange muscat wine. It would be perfect served at a dinner party with fruit for people to dip in it!
The tasting room has a very cool and funky feel and everything is made from recycled wine materials. Helix also has a vintage trailer with a variety of vintage wine foods, accessories, and clothing. It’s such a cool feature to check out and makes for the perfect activity pre or post tasting. We loved looking through all the treasures bought the prettiest vintage dessert wine glasses!
-
Imagine:
We also tried Imagine’s wine. They make big bold reds which are my favorite! Their wine bottle has the first nude photo on a bottle of wine in America! Since the government has to approve wine bottle labels, this was was the first one that was approved!
Dinner at Industrial Eats
Industrial Eats was our absolute favorite spot we dined at in Buellton, California and we HIGHLY recommend it! It’s all farm-to-table resturaunt, the ingredients are sourced from 4 local farmers, housed in a re-purposed warehouse. The chefs don’t use recipes and the menus are constantly changing. It’s a very casual place, you order at the bar and then seat yourself. All the wine is purchased from local wineries in kegs. Since the menu is constantly changing, it’s written on giant slices on butcher paper, with the specials on clipboards. The decor is very cool and funky and the open kitchen is lined with all kinds of cookbooks. We had the pleasure of meeting the owner and his love for food just shines through how he talks about the restaurant and his philosophy. We loved every single thing we tried and can’t wait to go back and try more!
Industrial Eats recently opened up a “Grand Room” next door where they offer butchering classes, private dining, and monthly special coursed dining menus. Each month one of the chefs is given free rein to do whatever they want with the menu and they come up with creative concepts like peasant food from around the world or fermented foods. 50 seats are available for these dinners and they typically sell out lightening quick.
We recommend: Literally everything! The menu is constantly changing so what we had may not be available, but we really loved the fig, walnut, and tahini pizza, shrimp scampi toasts, and the beet salad. Definitely get a pizza, a salad, and at least one other dish.
Buellton, California – Day 3
Breakfast at Ellen’s Danish Pancake House
A popular local’s spot, Ellen’s serves up American and danish food in a causal setting. We loved our omelettes and the Danish pancakes. The pancakes are like a cross between an American pancake and a crepe, most resembling a crispy crepe. I don’t usually like pancakes, but I LOVED these.
We recommend: The Danish pancakes!
Tour of Mendenhall Museum
The Mendenhall Museum is a personal collection of unique gas station and automobile memorabilia. They have one of the largest petroliana collections on the west coast, including gasoline pumps, over 2500 oil and road signs, over 1500 license plates, race cars, and racing memorabilia. The museum used to be the wrecking yard for a car garage around the corner, then it was donated to the Boy Scouts, and then a Baptist Church. Now the Mendenhall family lives here. Part of the tour is their actual living room, bathroom, and kitchen and each room is a carefully curated part of the collection. It’s hard to tell from the photos, but it’s extremely organized and well edited. Tours are only held by appointment because the family actually lives here. They also hold a ton of events which just seems like so much fun! For example, a Grease movie screening in front of the “gas station”.
The Mendenhall Museum is such a wonderfully unique place and not one that can be described well in words or even by photos. It’s really the kind of thing you need to experience in real life to understand how visually stunning it is and really capture the experience of it. This was the highlight of the trip for Bassam; he could’ve stayed there for hours. One of the owners told us many wives will surprise their husbands with a trip here and the husbands always love it!
Walk at the Botanic Gardens
The Santa Ynez Valley Botanic Garden is a community built garden in Buellton, California. We stopped by for a quick walk before heading back home. You can have a picnic here, go on a self guided tour, or just relax as you observe the gorgeous scenery. Our favorite thing was the “Wishing Tree”, where we tied a wish to the tree.
Other dining recommendations in Buellton, California
Please keep in mind we have not tried these spots but they have great reviews and we want to try them next time.
- Mother Hubbards – breakfast
- La Botte Bistro – dinner
- Morrel’s Farm Fresh Dining – breakfast, lunch, dinner
- Pattibakes – desserts, sandwiches, and baked goods
- A Ru Japanese Restaurant – lunch and dinner
Other things to do in Buellton, California
Please keep in mind we have not tried all of these activities, but they look great!
Wine tasting:
- Cookie and wine pairing at Lorig Wine Company
- Private wine and production facility tours at Easy Street Wine Collective or Selection Wines
- On Avenue of Flags: Standing Sun Winery, Alebru Vino, Mosby Winery
- On Industrial Way: Margerum Wine Company, Helix, Buscador Wine, Cholame Vineyard, Tiera y Vino, Alma Rose Winery, Loring Wine Company, Imagine Wine, Esfuerzo Wines
- On Highway 246: Shoestring Winery, Hitching Post Wines, Ken Brown Wines, Brick Barn Wine Estate, Dierberg & Star Lane Vineyard, Foley Estates Vineyard and Winery
- Explore the Santa Rita Hills wine trail
Make your own cutting board workshop at Shaun Boyd Made This
Go on a tour of all the Sideways locations
- Sanford Winery
- Sideways Inn
- Hitching Post 2
- AJ Spurs Resturaunt
- Solvang Restaurant (Solvang)
- Foxen Winery (Santa Maria)
- Kalyra Winery (Santa Ynez)
- Los Olivos Cafe and Wine Merchant (Los Olivos)
- Fess Parker (Los Olivos)
Visit the gift shop at the historic Pea Soup Anderson’s Restaurant
Attend an event
There always tons of great events going on in Buellton from Sideways Anniversary Parties to a wine and chili festival. Check out Discover Buellton’s calendar for a full listing.
Visit Salvatore Espresso Systems to try an espresso and learn how the espresso machines are made
Where to stay in Buellton, California
Hampton Inn and Suites Buellton
We stayed at the Hampton Inn and Suites Buellton and we absolutely loved it! It’s such a relaxing hotel to stay at! All the rooms are suites so they are very spacious and comfortable. Even though we are only two people, we love having the room to spread out. The hotel offers a complimentary breakfast, an all day tea and coffee bar, and an evening happy hour with wine, beers, and light appetizers. I love when hotels offer happy hours, but they typically don’t serve very good wine. The Hampton Inn and Suites Buellton offers amazing wines from the local wineries, including two of our local favorites: Fess Parker and Lucas & Lewellen. They also have a bocce ball court, gorgeous views of the rolling mountains, and fire pits. It’s the perfect spot to sit and relax a bit before you continue on your adventures. Also, everyone who works there is so incredibly nice and friendly. Even though it’s a chain hotel, it felt like we were staying at boutique hotel. The room rates are also very affordable, which is always a plus. We are considering staying here next time we go to Solvang or Santa Ynez because the hotel is really nice with better rates than what we typically find in those towns and it’s a very short drive. Check hotel prices and availability here.
Other accommodation options in Buellton, California:
- Sideways Inn – Used to be Days Inn and renamed after the movie since the main characters stayed here. Very cute inside and windmill outside
- Flying Flags – RV resort, wine cottages, and glamping
Nearby cities to visit when in Buellton, California
There are so many amazing towns to visit close to Buellton, California. It would be easy to stop by another one on your weekend getaway or extend your stay and visit a few. Here are our favorites:
- Solvang – An adorable Danish town with great shopping, food, and wine {post coming soon}
- Santa Ynez – Our favorite place in the area to go wine tasting! {post coming soon}
- Los Olivos – A charming wine country town {post coming soon}
- Santa Barbara – The largest city in the region with Spanish inspired architecture, beautiful beaches, shopping, dining, wine tasting, and so much more {post coming soon}
We hope you found this post helpful and hope it inspired you to visit Buellton, California if it was not already on your California bucket list! We had such an amazing getaway and can’t wait to visit Buellton again soon!
This post was written in partnership with Discover Buellton. All opinions are, as always, our own.
Did you like this post about Buellton, California? Please pin it!
love all your photos! Looks like an awesome trip
Aw thank you! We had a wonderful time!
OMG those ostriches are the best thing I’ve ever seen! Totally adding Buellton to our list for our next California trip – looks like our kind of place!!
They were so fun! I think you’ll love it!!
Never heard of Buellton before. Definitely saving this for future trips to CA. The wineries would be interesting to check out.
I hope you love if you get the chance to visit! It’s such a unique place and the wine is fantastic!
Loved this! Such good and personal reviews. Def. helped when planning our trip to Buellton.
Yay! I’m so glad you found it helpful!