Solvang, California: Shop 'Till You Drop in the Danish City

Solvang is a little known town located in southern California, between Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo, it is approximately three to four hours from Los Angeles. From San Francisco it is about five hours away. Take highway 101 South and turn off on the highway 246 exit, turn east for a five minute drive along a road with thorough bred race horse farms on each side, watch carefully you may see ostrich playing in the fields before you arrive in Solvang. The name Solvang means Little Denmark. It is known as the Danish Capitol of the U.S. The population of Solvang is small, but attracts approximately one million visitors per year.

Be Sure to bring your Camera or Video Camera.

Be sure to take along your camera or video camera to get pictures of the Danish theme shops, windmills, restaurants and accommodations. Don't be surprised to see horse driven carriages filled with visitors going down the street. You can even go for a ride in one and get a picture in one. Besides shopping, there are restaurants and bakeries all around.

Restaurants

The restaurant with the highest reviews in town is Paula's Pancake House at 1531 Mission Drive. According to guests who have eaten there it's a lot better then IHOP. There's also Cafe Angelica on 490 First Street. There are more restaurants and accommodations, all on Mission Drive with the same zip code, 93463.

Accommodations

Some of the best places to stay overnight are The Best Western Kronberg Inn, The Holiday Inn Express Solvang and Svendsgaard's Danish Lodge. All three of these hotels are on Mission Street as well. During my last stay we chose a nearby hotel in Buellton called The Santa Ynez Valley Marriott. This hotel is at 555 McMurray, Buellton, CA. 93427. It is in sight of the village and we had a special deal on our room, (it was free actually). We liked the fact that there was a movie theater you could walk over to and enjoy a relaxing movie after your rigorous day of shopping. You can also walk over to McDonald's restaurant if you want a quick, inexpensive breakfast for the kids or something for yourself.

Shopping

Solvang is really the place to be if you love shopping. There are stores with strictly Christmas decorations, a Thomas Kincaid Art Gallery, beautiful antique stores, shops featuring all leather items and shops featuring all wood crafts. There is a Lang Store which carries Lang calendars, stationary, notepads and Christmas cards. There are so many shops you cannot possibly see them all in one day. The shops do close early, around 5:00 p.m., so you need to start shopping early in the morning. Whatever you like they'll probably have it! You can do all your Christmas shopping there, birthday shopping, Mother's Day and Father's Days gift shopping, and shopping for yourself.

Revisiting

I am sure I will go again. I've been three times over the years. It's a fun place to go for anyone who likes to shop! If you're not able to make the trip, you can do an online search for Solvang and many of the shops there do have web sites. You can also Google Solvang about other near by attractions for when you are able to visit. You can't beat it for shopping, that's for sure!