We love finding the best photo spots to visit whenever we travel somewhere. It’s the best way to commemorate our trip when we get to take some beautiful photos with the dogs!

Santa Barbara has been a frequent destination for us lately, both having family there and visiting Kokoro & Chibi’s best friend Pavlov. Today we’re sharing some of our favorite spots in the area to take photos (with or without your pup)!

Chromatic Gate

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This joyfully colored, rainbow structure can be found close to downtown Santa Barbara, right near the beach. It sits at the corner of an intersection so it’s pretty close to the road, but nevertheless the views and photos are spectacular.

There is plenty of street parking available near the gate — if it’s busy, just circle back around once or twice and you’re bound to get a good spot nearby.

Knapp’s Castle

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Towards the end of a short and easy hike, this lookout is perfect for taking photos and watching the sun set. There is a stone arch of sorts that you can even walk onto (carefully) to take some epic photos. For those who fear heights (like me), probably best not to climb up there.

Arroyo Burro Beach

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We. Love. This. Beach! Probably even more than any beach in LA county. Yes, there is a dog beach section for the puppers.

It’s beautiful, spacious, and definitely poses as the perfect backdrop to some cute photos of your pup romping up and down the shoreline.

The Funk Zone

Known for its plentiful bars and breweries, this area is perfect for spending a few hours, tasting flights of drinks with your pup by your side. A lot of the establishments here are dog-friendly, including some on the pier. After you’ve had your fill of drink and food, you can snap some photos right on the water!

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Downtown Santa Barbara

This part of the city is cute, quaint, and well kept. Santa Barbara as a city feels very “small town” and community driven, and you can find gorgeous buildings with detailed architecture and textures everywhere to act as a photoshoot location. The best part about the city is that it’s almost always perfect weather!

Sands Beach

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To get to this beach, you can take a walking path through some beautiful fields perfect for taking photos. As you approach the shore and get down towards the beach, you’ll find a relatively secluded local beach that is usually more empty than others. If you get lucky, you might meet a sea lion like we did!

To be honest, the entire county of Santa Barbara is so serene, peaceful, and makes for a beautiful backdrop for any photo. Surely there are more spots than just those mentioned in our post today, but these are some of our favorites that we’ve visited so far.

Have you been to any of these spots? Got any other recommendations? Leave a comment here or connect with us on Instagram!