On State Street, you’ll find plenty of surf shops, as well as the best of the stores and brands you already know and love. Additionally, you’ll find the entrance to Paseo Nuevo Mall. Continue to follow State Street and you’ll also find small, locally-owned boutiques inside La Arcada. This hidden gem is an architectural delight, home to the iconic turtle fountain.
Shops are scattered throughout all of Santa Barbara, including Arlington Plaza and De La Guerra Plaza. And everywhere you look, there are consignment shops souvenir shops, gift shops and galleries just waiting to be discovered.
As you near the water, head east off of State Street between Montecito and Mason Streets to find yourself in the Funk Zone. This up-and-coming area is bursting with energy, and, while it is definitely known for its abundance of wine tasting rooms, it has loads of eclectic shops to entertain as well.
If you hit the water and just want to keep going, Stearns Wharf and the Santa Barbara Harbor are also home to several cute souvenir shops, perfect for picking up a memento for yourself, or an I-Was-Thinking-of-You gift for someone else.
Away from downtown Santa Barbara, there are additional shopping meccas of note: Uptown Santa Barbara, another easily navigable open-air option awaits at La Cumbre Plaza. And a few miles south in Montecito, two areas, Coast Village Road and the Upper Village, are home to a sweet cache of one-off boutiques, as well as fun shops with only a few locations in the country.
