Santa Barbara Vedanta Temple

Designed in 1956 by Lutah Maria Riggs, Santa Barbara’s first licensed female architect, this is a jewel box temple of meditation and contemplation that sits high up in the Montecito foothills and has a breathtaking ocean view. Their bookstore and gift shop next door is hard to leave. Thank you to Meg Ryan, who shared this recommendation in a New York Times interview. This is where you go when you are seeking silence and solitude.