SOLVANG, Calif. – — A Little Mermaid statue graces one street corner, a full-sized windmill on another. The aroma of freshly baked Danish rolls wafts over sidewalks, and you may see a streetcar drawn by two horses clip-clopping on Copenhagen Drive.
Capitalizing on its heritage, Solvang has turned itself into a sort of Danish theme park that draws about 1 1/2 million visitors a year. It’s a real town, with real people and real businesses, but layered overall with a Danish patina.
Many buildings are half-timbered, some with turrets and metal storks atop roofs. Restaurants serve Danish specialties like pickled herring, open-faced sandwiches and smorgasbord. Tiny lights outline rooflines and trees at night, giving downtown a fairy-tale look that reminds one of Tivoli, Copenhagen’s famous amusement park. There’s even a B&B called the Storybook Inn whose 10 rooms bear names like Princess and the Pea and Steadfast Tin Soldier — fairy tales written by Hans Christian Andersen.
But Danish ambience isn’t Solvang’s only attraction. Since 2004, when the hit movie “Sideways” was shot here in the Santa Ynez Valley, tourists have come to visit sites seen in the film — places like the Los Olivos Cafe in Los Olivos, the Santa Ines Mission in Solvang, the Hitching Post II restaurant in Buellton and many wineries scattered around the valley.
Indeed, you can hardly drive through the valley without coming upon vineyards and tasting rooms, as Miles and Jack did in the movie. There are 64 of them at last count, and the wines — at least the ones I tried — are excellent.
Most of the wineries are centered on five towns — Solvang, Santa Ynez, Los Olivos, Ballard and Buellton — all within a few minutes’ drive of each other. While Solvang is the largest of them, each is worth a visit.
In Los Olivos, Mattei’s Tavern retains the ambience of the 1880s stagecoach stop it once was. The Wildling Art Museum, a small but interesting facility stuck on a back road, specializes in wilderness art.
The historic Maverick Saloon in Santa Ynez, with its Old West decor, is a popular local hangout. A few doors away is another historic bar frequented by cowboys, the Longhorn Cafe. Ballard is the site of a locally renowned little red schoolhouse that dates to 1883, and Pea Soup Andersen’s restaurant in Buellton is a California landmark.
Wine and horse heaven
Nestling behind the Santa Ynez Mountains about 10 miles in from the Pacific coast near Santa Barbara, the scenic Santa Ynez Valley is a pastoral gem. Besides vineyards, it’s an equestrian heaven, with horse ranches offering trail rides and other equestrian activities. You can pet miniature horses at the Quicksilver Ranch, visit spreads that breed ostriches or llamas, sample locally grown green olives and breathe scented air at a lavender farm.
On a more elegant level, the 10,000-acre Alisal Guest Ranch offers 50 miles of riding trails, two 18-hole golf courses, tennis, fishing and boating on a lake, a large swimming pool and accommodations in ranch-design studios and suites with wood-burning fireplaces.
Back in Solvang, visitors keep busy taking in the charm of its Danish roots. Olsen’s Bakery, one of the city’s oldest, serves such tasty Danish pastries as kringle, kransekage and aebleskiver. Outside the Solvang Shoe Store, parents pose their children for a photo in a huge wooden shoe. An entire museum is given to the life and works of fairy tale writer Hans Christian Andersen.
Though the city was founded by Danes in 1911, today’s residents observe few Danish customs. Only about 10 percent of the city’s 8,400 residents are of Danish heritage.
“We wear traditional dress only at weddings and anniversaries,” says David Rasmussen, whose grandfather came to Solvang in 1915. One exception: Danish Days, the city’s big celebration of its Danish roots.
About 20,000 visitors attend that festival, which is held the third week of September. Another big event is Taste of Solvang in March, a wine and food fest with a wine walk visiting the city’s 16 tasting rooms, food tastings at 50 stores and tasty Danish desserts to top off the evening.
How often do you get to munch on a kringle for breakfast, lift a glass of local pinot noir in a cowboy bar and go to bed in a hotel room called the Ugly Duckling?
That’s Solvang, an ersatz little Copenhagen in the “Sideways” country of California. And it’s a hoot.
The details
Solvang Conference and Visitors Bureau, 800-468-6765 or .
