Santa Barbara, California, US

Your ship will anchor off this picturesque town nicknamed The American Riviera, set on slopes rising from a handsome sandy beach to the steep backdrop of the Santa Ynez Range. Much of the local architecture cleaves to the Spanish Colonial style dictated by the Mission that marked is founding, with adobe-styled facades and red barrel-tiled roofs. The Mission is a functioning church, and the older sections comprise an interesting museum of California’s earliest days as a Spanish colony. The County Courthouse, just off the central State Street shopping area, is a more recent exemplar of the style, ornately finished with colored tiles and handsome murals. Its tall clock tower, with a fascinating visible clockworks, is an excellent place to take in views of the whole city and the dark Channel Islands basking in the shining sea offshore. The harbor, where your tender lands, is a working fishing port, as well as a tourist attraction with restaurants, yacht services and a maritime museum. At the other end of the yacht marina and past a short beach, Stearns Wharf extends to an assortment of restaurants and souvenir shops. Just beyond the mountains, one of California’s most famous wine-producing regions awaits, as well as the picturesque Danish community of Solvang.