Stroll Among Beautiful Orchid in Santa Barbara

What is better to do on a lazy afternoon than to walk among beautiful blooming orchids at this famous Santa Barbara Orchid Estate? Maybe after grabbing delicious, lunch, brunch, or breakfast if you’re an early person, you can stop by this wonderful little gem for a walk to digest your meal. This estate locates minutes away from downtown Santa Barbara and other nearby attractions.

overview

Location: Santa Barbara, CA

Address: 1250 Orchid Drive, Santa Barbara, California 93111

Directions: Take the Patterson exit from 101 and turn toward the ocean; go about two miles south, following the yellow divider line to where it ends into Orchid Drive; you will find us up the hill in a neighborhood, after three speed bumps on the left. (taken from the website)

Hours: Mon –  Sat from 8am to 4:30pm and Sunday from 11am to 4:30pm.

Parking: Once you arrive at the estate, you can just drive through the gate and park on the dirt open area on your right. There should be plenty of parking. I was there on a weekend and there were no other cars there.

Admission: Free

Visit: This estate focuses on selling their orchid and it isn’t a farm or really an attraction where there are guides and tours. You will just walk around the area and appreciate these amazing flowers yourself and maybe purchase one or two because they are so cool!

Best Time To Visit: Orchids bloom late fall or early Spring before April, so those are the best times to visit.

Nearby Attractions: Chumash Indian Painted Cave, Ostrich Farm, and Nojoqui Waterfalls

visit

My friends and I didn’t know much what to expect from this place and we were blown away by the variety of orchids. The colors and the smell of thousands of orchids just lifted our spirited and pumped us up for the day of adventure. It was a great start to a long day. We walked around the place and the staffs who were not busy with their tasks were more than happy to answer us questions and tell us a little bit about these mysterious flowers.

We spent about an hour and a half total walking around and learning about these flowers. There are descriptions for every plant, so that was helpful since I didn’t know anything about orchid.

I really recommend you to visit this place during the orchid bloom season, which is late fall and early spring until around April. This little free gem is a great side stop if you’re driving through Santa Barbara.