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Solvang Is a Danish Fairytale
Windmills spin above half-timbered buildings. Bakeries sell puffy Danish pancake balls dusted in powdered sugar.
A bronze mermaid sits in a fountain on the corner. And somehow, you’re still in California, surrounded by vineyards and sunshine.
Solvang looks like a storybook village dropped into wine country, but the reason this town exists at all starts with three schoolteachers who were tired of Midwestern winters.
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Best Small Town in the West
Solvang keeps collecting awards. In April 2025, USA Today’s 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards named it the number one Best Small Town in the West, beating out Astoria, Oregon, and Healdsburg, California…