Solvang: A town rooted in Spanish ties evolved into a celebration of Danish heritage and culture. If you have ever wanted to visit Denmark or even had a trip planned, Solvang is the perfect place to scratch that urge.
Meaning “sunny field,” Solvang lives up to its name the moment you step into its welcoming arms. With its flower-lined streets (MY FAV*), sweet sugar smells wafting through the air, and warm greetings, you are immediately caught up in the wonder. It’s a tiny town, but Little Denmark packs a big punch in terms of smiles, experiences, and engagement. It also has something for everyone – whether you want a romantic weekend, fun with the family, or a solo trip, Solvang can give that to you. My plan was written for solo or small group travel, as are most of my blogs, but with a few tweaks in choices and mindset, it’s easily adapted.
*I spent five minutes just taking pictures of flowers on the streets – I would’ve taken longer, but people were waiting!
Table of Contents
- Where is Solvang
- How to Get to Solvang
- Where to Stay in Solvang
- Where to Eat in Solvang
- What to do In Solvang
- Things to do In Solvang: Saturday
6a. Museums and the Old Mission
6b. Hans Christian Andersen Park
6c. Downtown Solvang - Things to do in Solvang: Sunday
7a. Danish Icons - Annual Events in Solvang
- Miscellaneous Fun Facts About Solvang
- TLDR Itinerary for Solvang
Where is Solvang, CA
Solvang is about 2.5 hours north of Los Angeles (plus, you get to drive up part of the famous PCH, aka Highway 1). In my opinion, this distance makes it ideal for a quick trip from Los Angeles! It’s nestled in the Santa Ynez Valley and surrounded by wineries, which is part of the reason wine tours and tastings are a popular attraction here. I’m not a travel-for-wine person, so you won’t find wineries on my list of things to do in Solvang! I’ll direct you to some options, though.
How to get to Solvang, CA
Regardless of if you are coming from the north or south, you’ll need to hop on US-101. From there, take exit 140A for CA-246 towards Solvang and you’ll be there in 3 miles! If you aren’t driving, you can take a train, which even provides deals and discounts at many businesses!
Where to stay in Solvang, CA
The first night we stayed just outside Solvang, at Pea Soup Andersen’s Inn in Buellton. Pea Soup Anderson’s has made a name for itself in being a go-to spot for travelers, and their split pea soup even has copycat recipes online! My mom and I weren’t drawn to their food, but we did take a walk over to the adjoining restaurant to see their store area, which is quaint and rustic. They cater to tourists, but it is fun seeing what different places and stores have. Kitchsy, maybe. Cute, kind of. Worth it? To see at least once, yeah. The Inn was also cool in that the buildings form a rectangle, and there are unique amenities within the confines. There’s a putting green, bocci ball, sitting areas, and fire pit. We wanted to play outside, but alas – with mom’s surgery, resting was in order after we returned from our nighttime excursion (hold your horses – I’ll get to that!). The centerpiece is a lovely gazebo where they serve breakfast each morning. It was a lovely stay, but the next night we decided we wanted to be closer to Solvang – we were only 3 miles away but being able to walk out our door into Solvang proper (for the same price!) was alluring.
We ended up moving to Solvang Inn & Cottages. Here, they give you a gift of chocolates and snacks upon check in, which is nice for people without food restrictions and allergies (so, not my mom and I). We stayed in a hotel-like room, but they have full-blown house-like cottages if you want a kitchen and more space. My only complaint was the lightning, but most people don’t do a full 500-piece puzzle in one night at a hotel… Yeah, I did that. Mom helped too. There’s a Thomas Kinkade (you know that painter) store in Solvang, and they had Disney puzzles for sale. I didn’t need sleep anyway.
Where to eat in Solvang, CA
Honestly, there’s not a single vegan or vegetarian restaurant in the area. Omnivores have plenty of options, and there are several omnivorous places that offer plant options.
I stopped at New Frontiers Natural Market Place and had some food of the salad bar with salsa, but they’ve got a pizza and sandwich area, smoothie bar, and other options since they are a grocery store.
My mom stopped at Succulent Café, and they have a rotating vegan option – at the time, it was a chickpea salad sandwich, which is not something I like. But it’s clearly marked, and for somewhere with few options, that’s a win!
Root 246 also has options that sound good. We were trying to save money, but it has a few nice reviews on Happy Cow. To be fair, it’s mid-range expensive and comparable to Succulent Cafe, but for someone living in Long Beach at the time, I wanted to spend money elsewhere.
For Danish pastries, I’m afraid I couldn’t find much – and I tried. The closest I found was Good Seed Café, which offers vegan/gluten free curry lentil pie (a savory item, I know), monkey bars (oats, banana, peanut butter, chocolate chips, dates, maple syrup, chia seeds, and walnuts – as I’m writing this, I want one!), chocolate chip cookies, soup can cherry bread (I found this fascinating – bread baked in a soup can! But cherries often make me sick – if you have tried it/do try it, let me know in the comments!), and granola. So, for a sweet treat while your comrades chow down on non-vegan snacks, stop in here (I bet omnivores will want to try æbleskiver – a cross between a pancake and a popover – while in Solvang).
Other places with options include Café Dolce (juice bar style), California Tacos (y’know… tacos), Fitzpatrick’s Tavern (I’m not a huge fan of their lack of labelling, but if you end up there, they supposedly have a vegan burger and tempeh), and the Coffee House by CHOMP (vegan burger patty substitute).
What to do in Solvang, CA
From walking tours to shops to the outdoors, Solvang is full of things to do, but even with just a weekend there, you can hit many of the major points of interest. (But seriously, if you have more than a weekend, you won’t regret staying here.) As I mentioned, I’m not a big wine person, so I didn’t go to any wineries, attend any tastings, or take a special tour. For some direction, though, Rusack Vineyards has the best (and most) reviews on TripAdvisor, with Rideau coming in a close second. Now on to things I’m better equipped to discuss.
Things to do In Solvang: Saturday
After you’ve eaten Saturday morning, you’ll have some decisions to make – museums and art galleries are plentiful, and options include the Wildling Museum of Art & Nature, the Elverhøj (pronounced Elverhoy) Museum of History & Art, the Hans Christian Andersen Museum, the Vintage Motorcycle Museum, and Old Mission Santa Ines. We chose to visit the Wildling Museum because I love nature, the outdoors, and art. The Wildling Museum was a perfect combination of these. (They even had a whole floor of photography! I danced around happily looking at all the art.)
Museums & Old Mission Santa Ines
The Wildling Museum of Art & Nature is a unique art museum that showcases the importance of preserving our natural world. From hands-on family crafts, to paintings, digital art, and photography, the museum encourages guests to renew their relationship with the wilderness. Can you tell I’m a little biases for this one?
The Elverhøj Museum is the former residence of a Solvang art family, and it now showcases their art in addition to the culture of Denmark and the American-Danish experience.
The Hans Christian Andersen Museum is exactly as you’d expect – information about his life, work, and unrequited love. It’s tiny (which is saying something because all the museums here are small) and sits atop the Book Loft.
The Vintage Motorcycle Museum is also as it sounds – a collection of vintage and rare motorcycles. It’s a privately owned collection, and we chose not to visit in part because of its steep entry fee ($10/person). The motorcycles on display do rotate, though, so that’s cool!
We walked around the Old Mission the night prior, so we didn’t feel the need to see the inside or walk around it during the day (we’ve also been to a lot of missions before). Built as the 19th of 21 missions built in California by Spanish Franciscan priests, Old Mission Santa Ines was built as a link between surrounding missions and to help the native Chumash people acculturate to the Spanish. (This practice was problematic for a whole ‘nother set of reasons – way too many to get into. I’ve only just started learning about it, but @_wildheart_wanderingspirit_ on Instagram is a native to Canada and has better explanations than me.) They do offer self-guided tours if you want to go inside, but the grounds are free to explore.
Now, if you time it well or are particularly speedy, you can visit multiple museums – since my mom was recovering from emergency gallbladder removal surgery, we took our tiiimmmeee. In actuality, the Wildling Museum could have taken us an hour, and the others are probably on par with that. (Except the Hans Christian Andersen and Motorcycle Museums – based on their apparent size, I’d call that 30 minutes.) Because we took our time, we went straight to lunch – but that also took us a long time. Dairy and gluten allergies and veganism in small town-USA are hard when it’s paired with pickiness!
Whatever you choose for lunch, afterward you can choose your own adventure again. Want to head into the shopping area (there’s at least 150 shops, so you’ve got a lot to do)? Go for it. Want to take a walk? That works too. How about a small hike? Gotcha covered. The best part? Regardless of which option you choose, you’ll have a chance to do the other tomorrow before heading home.
Hans Christian Andersen Park
Mom needed a rest in the room, so I chose to take a walk through Hans Christian Andersen Park. I entered from the back (I don’t recommend my path – I tried following Google maps to get to a “trail” and it took me down the actual road. With cars. And no sidewalk. Yeah.), but the front, which I walked out of, is an attractive castle arch that looks like it was plucked out of a fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen himself. The park has ton of greenery, a play area for kids, and a skate park. There are also picnic tables, so if you are so inclined, try a picnic with your lunch! My walk was a fitting break for mid-afternoon, even though I was expected more of a hike (thanks Google).
Downtown Solvang
The park isn’t far from the stores in Solvang, so Mom joined me for a nice walk about the stores. We managed to fully experience quite a few before stores started closing. There are quite a few thrift shops, typical tourist shops, jewelry stores, bakeries and chocolatiers, toy stores, and clothing stores, but when I’m traveling, I like to look for the unique, local, and beautiful places. Some of my favorites included the Thomas Kinkade Gallery (need I remind you of my 2am puzzle antics?), The Book Loft, Stix and Stones Gallery, and ZFolio. I’m a big fan of books and local art/crafts, and these each provided that. ZFolio has even been voted the top retailer of designer jewelry in the US two years in a row.
There was another local craft boutique/gallery I loved as well, but it was seasonal (we were there right after Christmas). If you go during winter, hopefully they’ll be there – it should be next to the Home Connection store across from the Solvang Windmill. I also enjoyed strolling through Gerlach Photo Gallery, and talking with the owner of Family Coat of Arms – she has a unique and rare passion for what she does!
We were interested in a few stores we happened to skip, some out of tiredness and some we just missed: A Piece of the Past, The Mole Hole, and Nativo Art all look unique and worthwhile.
Now, don’t be alarmed at all the shops and stores to experience – that’s what part of tomorrow is for!
Things to do In Solvang: Sunday
Today consists of four things: eating, exploring the rest of the village (even if you aren’t into all the shops I described, the architecture is cozy and there are Danish icons throughout), seeing a waterfall, and going home. You can also throw in one of the wine tours for a late-night return home (or skip one of the other activities… I’m not your keeper! Have fun!)
Solvang’s Danish Icons
Back to those icons I mentioned – when you are strolling through Solvang, don’t forget to look for the Danish icons including the Little Mermaid* (a ½ bronze replica of the statue in Copenhagen’s harbor), the Round Tower (it’s a pizza place and 2/3 smaller than the Danish original), four windmills (it used to be five, but the fifth was torn down in 2009), the giant red clog (it’s not as big as I was expecting), and the wind harp. The wind harp is off the map at the top, inside the gates of a nursing home. There are visitor spots next to the harp, but I erred on the side of caution and didn’t visit it. The fourth mill is also off map to the left, but just barely, so I’ve indicated where it is.
Once you feel readily worn out of walking about the town, and after you’ve eaten lunch, there’s one more option I think you’ll enjoy. You may have gathered from various posts and readings throughout my site, I like to mix the city with the outdoors, and Solvang not only has Hans Christian Andersen Park, but a waterfall too!
I’ve got to admit, Mom was worn out after doing so much, so we headed back to Long Beach after lunch. But that’s why I need one of you to go and let me live vicariously through you.
Nojoqui Falls Trail is in a park less than 15 minutes from Solvang. It’s a 0.8-mile round trip with a mild slope, so it’s a nice way to stretch your legs before heading home. The falls are 80-ft, but I love falls, so I’m always inclined to check ‘em out. Let me know how it goes in the comments!
Annual Events in Solvang
Whenever you get the chance to visit Solvang, I encourage you to go. But, if you can visit during one of their annual events, that would be even better. Solvang Stomp (October), Danish Days (September) & Julefest (December) are the three big events, and we arrived the day Julefest was ending – I was so disappointed. On the plus side, we got to attend the tree burning, which was a riot of warmth and color!
Solvang Stomp is a one-day event all about wine and grapes. Imagine a street festival with wine and food.
Danish Days is a three-day “extra” celebration of Danish heritage. Starting around 4:30 pm Friday, music, events, and parades start. The weekend includes three parades, Danish folk dancers and musicians performing around town, an old-world market, a Viking Encampment, a free Saturday evening rock concert line-up, a rune reader, and more depending on the year!
Julefest (pronounced Yulefest) takes place from November 30 – January 3 each year, and it has tons of events that fall in that month. The event I was most interested in was the Nisse Adventure. Imagine a nisse as being a sprite or tiny gnome, and you’ll get a better idea of what the challenge entails. A nisse hides themselves throughout downtown Solvang, and with the help of hints provided by the town, visitors track it down. When they find the nisse’s hiding spot, visitors scan a QR code to continue the adventure and win prizes! Other events include a tree typical tree lighting, Santa’s Village, and Parade, plus the not-so-typical Aurora Dronealis, Christmas Market Light Show, Dansk New Year, Candlelight Tours, and Skål Wine and Stein Stroll.
Miscellaneous Fun Facts About Solvang, CA
1. Parking is free in Solvang, so no worries about having to pay or check on your car
2. They have a comprehensive printed map of all the stores in the area; much better than you can find online. Stop by their tourism center or one of the museums to pick it up ASAP
3. Avoid Ostrichland USA down the road. It’s a popular attraction, but for all the wrong reasons. We stopped, spoke to staff, and asked a few questions to quickly surmise even the staff didn’t condone the treatment of the animals or believe it’s a wildlife sanctuary as stated online. Regardless of the good reviews online, I was inclined to believe the staff and urge you to skip this experience for a more humane one in the future.
4. There’s a lavender farm 10 minutes from Solvang that you may want to visit as well. Pictures, picnics, and visiting the farm is free, plus they have a gift shop if you want lavender products made by them. It’s not in the main itinerary because the flowering season is only part of the year (June-July).
5. You may be asking: Why is there a Spanish mission in the middle of a Danish town?! The answer’s simple, really – the mission was there first!
The TLDR Weekend Itinerary for Solvang, CA
Friday Night
- We headed to the tree burning but dinner at Root 246 would be good too.
- Drinks at one of the breweries.
Saturday
- Breakfast at The Good Seed Cafe
- Explore The Wildling Museum and/or myriad of other museums
- Lunch
- Walk/Picnic at Hans Christian Andersen Park
- Peruse some of the 150 shops in Solvang
- Dinner & wind down
Sunday
- Breakfast
- Finish exploring the shops, have some pastries if you are an omnivore, and make sure to see the Danish Icons
- Lunch
- Walk to Nojoqui Falls
- Head home, go on a wine tour, or stop at the lavender farm
So, which part of Solvang are you most excited to see? The Danish Icons, the food, the stores? The Wildling Museum?? Yep, not letting that one go. Scroll up if you missed my mild obsession with it. Let me know in the comments!
*Solvang’s Little Mermaid statue is the only one authorized by heirs of sculptor Edvard Eriksen, the creator of Copenhagen’s statue. How cool is that!
If you are going to be in the area, here’s some other places you might want to check out!
The Best One-Day Joshua Tree Itinerary to Maximize Time (I’ve got two other Joshua Tree itineraries too – check them out!)
Long Beach Vegan Food Guide
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This place looks so pretty! I especially love the photo of the big bright flower! I would love to visit one day 🙂
I hope you get the chance to!