Walking Through Little Denmark in California: Solvang

Thanks to a fellow reader Smiling in Sonoma, we were tipped to visit the small Danish town of Solvang on the drive from Morro Bay to Santa Barbara. What? A Danish town in southern California? Yep, I thought it surprising too, but this little town was founded in 1911 by a group of Danes who wanted to establish a colony far from midwestern winters (Wikipedia). Wow, that’s like story of my life (kind of).

So of course we had to make a stop there, and walking around in Solvang was like being in little Denmark! Lots of windmills, cute bakeries, and little inns…

Of course they had danish pastries.

The cafe was inside a greenhouse!

Inside and antiques store. It was like walking around eggshells – everything inside was so fragile!

Aha, spotted the first windmill!

Windmill #2

We happened to have lunch at the only German restaurant in a Danish town. I learned that I would not like to have sauerkraut again after trying it for the first time…

5 kinds of sausages!! Yes!

Windmill #3. See, I wasn’t kidding!

The cutest little houses!

Most of the time was spent shopping because, well, that’s mostly what one could do there besides eat. It was neat to walk through the town and explore what the shops sold. Everything was so cute and infused with some element of Danish culture! Once again, thanks for the recommendation Smiling in Sonoma!

Have you ever been to Solvang (or Denmark)? Any unique town near where you live?

Thanks for reading!