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Solvang Essential Info

Overview

Solvang is in the Santa Ynez Valley of Santa Barbara County in Southern California. The city is Danish-themed as if it were the Danishland section of Disneyland, since it was founded by Danish immigrants and quite a few Danish descendants live here. While the tourism industry does try to import genuine Danish culture and architecture, it can be just skin deep. If you have a last name that is common in Denmark, still expect the desk clerk at the hotel to be unable to spell it.

If you are vaguely interested in shops selling Danish wares, or interested in seeing Americans pretending to be Danish, by all means visit.

Description is available from Wikitravel under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 license. A list of contributors is available at the original article.

Basics

Best Time To Go

Year round

Current Time

Current Weather

45 °F

Mostly Clear

Fun Facts

  1. Solvang was founded in 1911 on almost 9,000 acres of the Rancho San Carlos de Jonata Mexican land grant, by a group of Danes who traveled west to establish a Danish colony far from the midwestern winters.
  2. Solvgang ishome to a number of bakeries, restaurants, and merchants offering a taste of Denmark in California.
  3. There is a copy of the famous Little Mermaid statue from Copenhagen, as well as one featuring the bust of famed Danish fable writer Hans Christian Andersen.
  4. On April 7, 1939, Danish Crown Prince Frederik and Princess Ingrid visited Solvang,
  5. The Hans Christian Andersen Museum in Solgang,is devoted to presenting the author's life and works. Displays include models of Andersen's childhood home and of "The Princess and the Pea".

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