I'm not normally one for guided tours of new cities as I generally prefer to walk around them and explore in my own time and according to my own personal likes and dislikes. That said, as we only had a few hours and wanted to see as much as possible, this was a great way of learning a little about Santa Barbara.
Our tour guide was polite, friendly and genuinely interested in the city and was generous with his knowledge, combining facts & figures with personal thoughts and insight. We got the first tour of the day at 10am which I highly recommend a) because there were only 6 other people on it so the trolley was nice and relaxed and everyone got an open air window seat and b) because end-to-end, it takes approximately 2 hours so you won't end up feeling rushed if there are other places you want to explore.
A foggy start to the say meant that it wasn't until we returned to the pier at the end that we got to see the ocean but it didn't spoil the tour itself which took in Montecito, the Mission, State St and many other areas you might not have spent any time in otherwise. The Mission itself was particularly beautiful and a 10 minute stop off here for photos and a comfort break was much appreciated.
Santa Barbara City Hall is the most photographed building in CA and rightly so as we were able to see its allure on the tour. This is one of the places to bookmark for a return visit to as we were told there is an observation deck on top with 360 degree views - stunning and wonderful for photos.
Take a light jacket as it can get breezy and a bottle of water as it can get warm and don't expect masses of time to be spent in and devoted to each area - unless you want to jump on and off which is possible, there just isn't the time. However as a quick introduction to a cool, historic, quirky little town, this is great value and well worth going on.