Visit Santa Barbara Car Free
Plan a memorable, car-free experience in Santa Barbara County. Absorb your surroundings from a train or bus window, breath in fresh air on a BCycle e-bike, and stroll our connected sidewalk system. The Santa Barbara Car Free program provides resources to help visitors enjoy our region without a car.
Train Discount
Make your SoCal trip extra special. Travel on the Pacific Surfliner® to Santa Barbara County. Santa Barbara is served by two Amtrak train routes, the Pacific Surfliner® (San Diego to San Luis Obispo) and the Coast Starlight® (Los Angeles to Seattle). The Santa Barbara Amtrak station is conveniently located in downtown Santa Barbara just two blocks from the beach, Stearns Warf and many attractions. Visit the popular Funk Zone and Urban Wine Trail beginning right across the street from the station. Many hotels, shops and restaurants are located within a few blocks walk from the station.
Traveling 351 miles and serving 27 stations, the Pacific Surfliner offers four round-trip trains daily to Santa Barbara route/schedules. Santa Barbara county train stations include Lompoc-Surf, Guadalupe, Goleta, Santa Barbara, and Carpinteria. Connecting Thruway bus service is offered from the train station to the UCSB Campus, Solvang-Santa Ynez Valley, Buellton and Santa Maria. Hotels may offer complimentary pick-up and drop-off service, please ask when making reservations.
Onboard amenities on the Pacific Surfliner include complimentary Wi-Fi, power outlets, spacious, reclining seats and overhead luggage/surfboard racks. Visit the Sea View Café featuring fresh salads and sandwiches, snacks, local craft beer, cocktails, and wine.
Complimentary Bikes Onboard & Local Bus Connections for Pacific Surfliner Passengers
You can bring your bike onboard the Pacific Surfliner for free by simply making a reservation for your bike when booking a trip. For local information please see How to Take a Bike on Local Transit Services video. And to make it even easier to get around Santa Barbara, the Pacific Surfliner offers complimentary transfers to your final destination via Santa Barbara Metropolitan Transit District SBMTD buses. This connection to local transit program allows passengers the convenience of connecting to public transit for free by showing their Pacific Surfliner train ticket.
Save 20% on Amtrak® Pacific Surfliner® to and from all five Santa Barbara County stations!
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- Save 20% on the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner® (plus associated thruway buses).
• Valid for travel to/from the following Santa Barbara County stations only: Carpinteria, Santa Barbara, UCSB-University of California Santa Barbara, Goleta, Guadalupe, Lompoc-Surf, Solvang, Santa Maria, and Buellton.
• Valid for travel on Pacific Surfliner trains and associated thruways (except 7000-8999 thruway series).
• Valid for 20pct discount off the regular full adult rail fare.
• Advance reservation required a minimum of three (3) days prior to departure.
• Blackout Dates:
o 17Feb23, 20Feb23, 07Apr23, 10Apr23, 26May23, 16Jun23, 19Jun23, 01Sep23, 04Sep23, 21-22Nov23, 25-27Nov23, 22-24Dec23, 29-31Dec23
o 01Jan24, 16Feb24, 19Feb24, 29Mar24, 1Apr24, 27May24, 4-5Jul24, 30Aug24, 2Sep24, 26-27Nov24, 30Nov24-2Dec24, 23-24Dec24, 26-27Dec24, 30-31Dec24
o 2-3Jan25, 14Feb25, 17Feb25, 17-18Apr25, 21Apr25, 23May25, 3Jul25, 6Jul25, 29Aug25, 1Sep25, 25-26Nov25, 29Nov25-1Dec25, 20-24Dec25, 26-31Dec25.
• Valid for coach seating.
• Upgrades to Business Class are available upon full payment of accommodation charges.
• Not combinable with any other discount offer.
• Seating is limited & may not be available on all trains at all times.
• Fares are subject to availability.
• Subject to any restrictions, blackouts, and refund rules that apply to the type of fare purchased.
• Routes and schedules are subject to change without notice.
• Once travel has begun, no changes to the itinerary are permitted.
• Other restrictions may apply.
• AMTRAK and Pacific Surfliner are registered service marks of the National Railroad Passenger Corporation.
- Select your route and dates: Find the route and dates you wish to travel. Write down the schedule, but do not book yet. For schedules and information go to Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner. Three-day advance reservations are required, and restrictions apply.
- Register: Have your schedule and payment information ready and register below on this website at least three days before you plan to travel. Upon registration confirmation, you will be forwarded to Amtrak’s website.
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Purchase: Follow the instructions on Amtrak’s website and purchase your ticket. Discount will be applied automatically. This special is only available using the website special purchase. You must select a qualifying train route and date to be eligible for the discount and you may not use the discount for purchase on board the train, at any station, with Amtrak’s phone line, or to purchase of a gift certificate.
- Save 20% on the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner® (plus associated thruway buses).
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Train Discount Form
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For train schedules and general information, see Amtrak.com.
Transportation from Santa Barbara Airport
The Santa Barbara Municipal Airport (SBA), a gateway to the enchantment of Santa Barbara, is located 8 miles west of downtown Santa Barbara.
Many hotels offer free pick-up and drop-off service, inquire when making your lodging reservation. Taxi cabs are also available. Click here to see a terminal map.
The #11 MTD bus serves the airport more than 30 times daily to/from the downtown area. See the stops and the schedule here.
Getting to/from the Amtrak Station
The Goleta Amtrak Station is 1.9 miles from the airport entrance.
The closest door-to-door public transportation are the #6 and #11 MTD bus lines, which essentially run in opposite directions around the airport, UCSB, and Camino Real Marketplace. While not a very direct route, the ~40-minute bus ride does not require a lot of walking and has no bus transfers.
- Goleta Amtrak Station to the Airport: take the #6 bus line.
- Goleta Amtrak station stop: Hollister and La Patera Lane.
- From the Airport to Goleta Amtrak station, take the #11 bus line.
- Airport stop: Moffet Place and SB Airport
Airlines Direct to Santa Barbara
Alaska Air, American Airlines, Delta, SouthWest, and United Airlines serve the Santa Barbara airport. Direct flights extend as far as north to Seattle and east to Atlanta.
Flying to Los Angeles
FlyAway Bus – The FlyAway bus services goes between Los Angeles Airport and Union Station, where you can catch Amtrak to Santa Barbara. This service operates every 30 minutes all day and night except between 1 and 5 a.m., when it operates every hour.
Santa Barbara Airbus – 16 daily trips to and from Los Angeles International Airport on comfortable, restroom equipped buses.
Car Free Itinerary
It’s easy and fun to explore Santa Barbara without a car. Here is a list of attractions all accessible via walking, bicycling, or public MTD bus transportation.
Top 3 Santa Barbara Attractions
The Mission is approximately 2.5 miles from Stearns Wharf. From anywhere downtown, it is a pretty walk or bike (uphill) through residential neighborhoods.
Walk, bike or take the MTD Downtown Electric shuttle to the corner of State and Anapamu and walk east one block on Anapamu Street.
Located at the end State Street where it meets Cabrillo Boulevard. Stearns Wharf is just a few short blocks from the Amtrak station and many waterfront hotels. Walk, bike or take the MTD Downtown and Waterfront electric shuttles.
The Visit Santa Barbara website has the ultimate list to build your complete itinerary.
Bike, Bus, Walk
How to Get Around
The climate and geography of Santa Barbara make it easy to get around without a car. There is much to do within walking and bicycling distance of the train station, downtown, the Mission and the Waterfront. For reaching further destinations like the airport, Santa Ynez Valley wine country and the Channel Islands, we can connect you with a variety of transportation options. Use the resources and maps below to help plan your trip and guide your car-free experience.
Bike
Some of the finest year-round bicycling in the U.S. is available on and off road in the Santa Barbara area. Well-marked bike paths not only cover the waterfront, but extend west to Goleta and the UC, Santa Barbara campus. Some bicycle services even offer delivery and pickup at your hotel.
You can bring your bike for free on all Amtrak Pacific Surfliner trains if you make an advanced reservation when ordering tickets. Read more on Amtrak.
Our Santa Barbara County Bike Map is undergoing changes. We hope to have an updated web version soon. In the meantime, our 2013 bike map is fairly accurate for North County. You can get a physical copy of the 2013 map at most bike shops and visitor centers throughout the county. For a complete list of bike shops in Santa Barbara County, see our community partners and shops section by scrolling down on this page.
Bike Rental
BCycle is the City of Santa Barbara’s bikeshare. Anyone with a smartphone can easily pedal 17-miles-per-hour around town on an electric bike. Other tour and rental options include:
- Energized Bikes – Santa Barbara
- Cal Coast Bike Tours, Surf Lessons, Kayak Tours
- Santa Barbara Bikes to Go
- Open Air Bicycles | Santa Barbara, CA
- I Bike Santa Barbara Wine Country Tours
- Santa Barbara Wine Country Cycling Tours
- Pedego Los Olivos – Local Electric Bike Shop
- Wheel Fun Rentals Santa Barbara and Solvang
Take the Bus
MTD will take you from the airport to the waterfront and as far south as Carpinteria. Visit SBMTD.gov for all the schedules and information. You can purchase MTD 10-Ride Bus passes by mail using a form linked from MTD’s Fares & Passes page. For a complete list of bus services in the county, visit: our Transit page.
Want to take your bike on the bus? Our bike map has an illustration showing you how to load your bike on the bus.
On the day you travel on the Pacific Surfliner train, show your valid Amtrak Pacific Surfliner paper ticket or e-ticket to the driver when you board the connecting bus or shuttle and ride MTD for free! Visit Pacific Surfliner for more info.
Walk or Wheelchair
Let your feet or mobility device get you from A to B with some sightseeing in between. Here are some walking tour opportunities:
- Free Walking Tours Santa Barbara
- Red Tile Walking Tour
- Twelve Santa Barbara Paseos
- Harbor/Shoreline Walking Tour
- Butterfly Beach/Coast Village Road
- Walk Santa Barbara’s Urban Wine Trail, visiting winery tasting rooms as you go.
See below for an interactive version of the Red Tile Walking Tour. Click on the top right symbol with the four corners to view full-screen map.
