Did you know that there is a little bit of Denmark in California?

Oct. 15, 2021

I was in California a few years ago and even thousands of kilometres away from my adopted country I found some of it there. I knew it in advance, but I couldn't imagine it would have been looking like a Danish kitsch wonderland. If you haven't guessed what I am talking about yet, well, it deals with Solvang, California's little Denmark. Solvang is a city in Santa Barbara County, that we visited after having spent a wonderful time in San Louis Obispo and before heading to Santa Barbara, indeed. It is located about 25 km from the coast and it is quite near to the huge Los Padres National Forest. Solvang was founded in 1911 by a group of Danes and 5800 people still live there. It is 18 times bigger than the free town Christiania (in Copenhagen).

After having parked our car next to the reproduction of a Danish royal guard's red cabin, we couldn't wait to taste a "wienerbrød" pastry at one of the several bakeries in the town. We chose one and had a fun experience. The managers didn't speak any Danish, that's maybe why we got something else than what we ordered, and the taste of the pastries was not that authentic, not at all similar to what we are used to in Copenhagen.

We hadn't really felt like home until then if it wasn't for the houses built after Danish typical architecture. Nevertheless, something we hadn't discovered yet, was hiding. I am not referring to any ghost or witch - Halloween had passed already! As soon as we started to walk around, we found ourselves surrounded by Danish symbolic monuments: the Dybbøl windmill and the Round Tower. We have been said there were also copies of two well known sculptures, one representing the little Mermaid, the other depicting H.C. Andersen.

Personally, I think that Solvang is a rather touristic place, which is fun to have a stop by while driving in that area of the country, but I will not recommend to make a detour to visit it in case your trip will be focused on another part of California.

I would like to hear from you whether you have ever happened to be in Solvang and what was your read. Please let us know more in the comments below and share with us your experience! Find our pictures below!