A Perfect 2-Day Itinerary for Solvang, California (Christmas or Anytime!)

Solvang, California, is a small Danish-style town tucked into the Santa Ynez Valley. It’s a popular Christmas town, but it is really cute and charming any time of the year. 

Located about 2.5 hours north of Los Angeles, Solvang was settled by immigrants from Denmark, and it leans hard into its European roots. You’ll find half-timbered buildings, steep roofs, bakeries everywhere, and during Christmastime, lights wrapped around windmills and courtyards.

We spent two full days here in early December, and it was exactly the right amount of time. This itinerary focuses on walking the town, eating extremely well, learning why Solvang exists, and soaking up the Christmas atmosphere without rushing around.

Understanding Solvang

Solvang is compact and very walkable. Most of what you’ll do is centered in the downtown core, which is just a few blocks long but packed with restaurants, bakeries, stores, and attractions. It’s easy to park once and explore the town.

The two main shopping streets, Copenhagen Drive and Alisal Road, are lined with European-style businesses and half-timbered buildings. This is what gives Solvang so much charm.

There are a few interesting landmarks and replicas in town. Three decorative windmills are easily spotted as they are taller than the other buildings. Small replicas of Denmark originals are sprinkled throughout the town: The Little Mermaid Statue, the Hans Christian Anderson sculpture, and two Danish tower replicas: the Round Tower (Rundetaarn in Copenhagen) and the Old Stock Exchange tower (often called the Dragon Spire).

Note: The original Dragon Spire in Denmark burned in a fire in 2024, so Solvang’s small replica is now the only one – though Denmark plans to rebuild the original.

Outside of town, there are a handful of worthwhile stops, like Mission Santa Inés, Nojoqui Falls, and OstrichLand.

About This Itinerary

The strategy here is simple:

• Day 1: Immerse yourself in Solvang proper with food, walking, tours, and Christmas ambiance
• Day 2: Add nearby attractions, Solvang museums, and more food!

2-Day Solvang Christmas Itinerary

Day 1: Discovering Solvang (Food, Walking & Christmas Vibes)

Breakfast at Paula’s Pancake House 

Start your morning at Paula’s Pancake House, one of the most popular breakfast spots in town.

Danish pancakes are thinner than American pancakes. They’re more like crepes and aren’t made with buttermilk. The fruit on top makes them delicious. I actually liked the waffles a little more, but you have to try the Danish pancakes, of course. My sister got the Danish pancakes, and I got the waffle, and we split them. 

Visitor Center & Scavenger Hunt

The Solvang Visitor Center is tiny, but the workers were great, and they have a scavenger hunt designed to help you explore Solvang beyond the obvious streets. It takes about two hours, but you can go at your own pace and do it when you want.

The scavenger hunt is run by Susan, who grew up here, left, came back, and now pours her heart into the town. Her dad, sister, and daughter also help run the center and they were all a delight to chat with. They also run the evening walking tour (see below). 

Susan has put elves (called Nisser in Danish) all over the town, and that’s what you’re looking for in the scavenger hunt. 

If you complete the scavenger hunt, you get a small Christmas ornament at the end. More importantly, it gets you noticing details: nisse houses, roof décor, courtyard fountains, carved doors, and hidden corners you’d otherwise miss.

Box: Danish Architecture

Take a moment to examine the architectural details of the buildings in town.

• Half-timbered homes. The homes are most often facades, made out of cement instead of wood – cement is just more sturdy and easier to maintain – but they still look gorgeously European.
• Steep Roofs. The roofs are steep to resemble the steep Danish roofs designed for the snow.
• Rooftops. Many have crosses and storks on them, like in Denmark. There are no storks here, though, so they are cutouts.
• Windmills. There are three windmills in town that make nice photo ops.
• Elf Houses. Try to spot the little birdhouses on the buildings; these are actually traditional elf houses, and were once working speakers piping music into the village.
• Crowns. Notice the crown above the bakeries – a symbol that tells you they are part of the Danish Bakers Guild (authentic bakeries). 

Bakeries, Candy Shops & Shopping

Solvang is an absolute danger zone if you like sweets.

There are six bakeries in town, and five are officially certified Danish bakeries, indicated by a crown symbol above the door. All of them are amazing.

• Olsen’s Bakery is famous for butter cookies.
• Birkholm’s Bakery is the oldest and has a great timeline of the Danish royalty on the outside of the building.
• Mortensen’s is known for chocolate éclairs.
• Danish Mill Bakery is one of the most visually appealing and has little animatronics in the window.
• Brød & Kage is known for their princess cake and has outdoor seating in a nice courtyard.
• Solvang Bakery doesn’t have the crown, but it is famous for the amazing gingerbread houses (Hollywood celebrities like to order them). 

For sweets and chocolate shops, check out:

• Ingeborg’s, which has been around for 60+ years using original recipes. Try the Flødebolle! 
• Swedish Candy Factory, which makes traditional hard candy called polkagris. They claim to be the only place in the U.S. that still makes it the authentic way, and it was genuinely good.

A few shops I especially liked:

• Sock Harbor. I bought my entire family fun and silly socks.
• Valley Hardware. Surprisingly, this has the most Christmas decorations in town.

Solvang Trolley Tour

If you want a quick overview of town history, the Solvang Trolley Tour runs about 25 minutes. This is not a hop-on, hop-off trolley. It starts in one location and makes a loop through the town.

The narrator was knowledgeable but pretty dry in delivering her memorized script. That said, I still learned a lot about the architecture, Danish symbolism, and how Solvang intentionally rebuilt itself after World War II to reflect its heritage.

If you do the walking tour later, this becomes optional.

Dinner: Red Viking Restaurant 

For dinner, we ate at Red Viking Restaurant, one of three Danish restaurants in town.

Meals are on the pricey side (around $30), and you don’t need to do more than one Danish dinner while you’re here, but you should do one. The Danish sausage and pork meatballs were the biggest hits at our table. The red pepper soup was excellent. 

Evening Walking Tour

I did the Evening Solvang Walking Tour (about 2 hours). This was far better than the trolley and went much deeper into town history. It was given by the visitor center, and the guide dressed in Danish attire.

It was an interesting mix of Danish culture (including Christmas traditions) and Solvang history. You could tell they were passionate about it all. This tour was especially good at Christmas, when the town is lit up at night. They told me that at other times of the year, you can request a tour with them directly prior to your visit. 

Day 2: Beyond Town + More Solvang

Breakfast: Solvang Bakery

This bakery is known for its gingerbread houses, and is a must-stop just to see them. But of course, it had delicious pastries as well.

I thought the Almond Butter Ring was fantastic. I also got a small gingerbread man and ate him limb by limb.

OstrichLand USA

Who knew there were ostrich farms? OstrichLand USA has a small entry fee and an additional small fee for the food to feed the ostriches and emus. And yes, you’ll feed ostriches and emus up close. It’s quirky, fun, and set in a beautiful valley surrounded by mountains.

I recommend buying at least five bowls of food because it gets gobbled up fast. Also, hold the handle tight, because they like to try to pull it out of your hands (they got me on one of the bowls!). 

Nojoqui Falls

About 20 minutes from Solvang, Nojoqui Falls is a short 0.9-mile round-trip walk to a waterfall tucked into the hills. It’s a pretty drive to reach it and an easy and beautiful walk to reach the waterfall. The waterfall was kind of a trickle; I imagine it flows more in the spring.

This isn’t a must-do, but it’s a pleasant way to spend an hour if you want some light nature time.

Mission Santa Inés

There are 21 Spanish missions in California, and this one was the 19th constructed. I really didn’t know what to expect, and I was pleasantly surprised. 

The chapel is long and narrow, with 14 images of the Stations of the Cross on the walls. The beautiful gardens alone make this worthwhile. And there is a small museum inside with basic but helpful exhibits that add helpful context to California’s mission history. 

The experience is a self-guided one. They offer guided tours, but you need to contact them 2 weeks in advance. 

The parking lot has a great view of the valley as well. 

Solvang Museums

Solvang has several small museums. These are small and mostly uninteresting, but I did find a few things I liked.

California Nature Art Museum. The main thing here is the large troll, one of several around the world created by the well-known Thomas Dambo, who is in fact Danish. The troll is named Lulu and she ate so many Danishes that she got stuck inside the building. The museum has two other art gallery rooms.

Elverhøj Museum. This is a Danish farmhouse built in the 1940s by two artists. They passed on and it has been turned into a museum. It is a gorgeous home – notice the wood carving on the door and the interesting brickwork. The kitchen is wonderfully colorful, and there is an educational room about Danish immigration (they mostly came to the Midwest and Utah, then some of them moved to Solvang). I had a hard time getting into this museum, though. 

Hans Christian Andersen Museum. This is located on the top floor of The Book Loft, a delightful bookstore. This is only one room, but it’s free, and I learned quite a bit about the famous Danish fairy tale author.

Viking Museum. I ran out of time to see this museum, so I don’t know what it was like. 

Solvang Vintage Motorcycle Museum. I heard this was neat, but we didn’t really have the time or the interest in it.

Dinner: Copenhagen Sausage Garden

We ate outdoors at this fun beer garden. They have several different kinds of sausage, so we got two of the sampler platters and tried several of them. They were all delicious. 

Fries come in massive baskets, and the atmosphere is relaxed and fun.

Day 3: Breakfast at Solvang Restaurant

We primarily spent two days in Solvang, but on the last day, I drove my family to the airport for them to fly out, and we snuck in one final breakfast treat – Abelskivers.

We wanted to try these, but our schedule just hadn’t worked out until our last morning. Abelskivers are like pancake balls, and they are not served in the bakeries – only in the restaurants.

So we tried Solvang Restaurant, and they were delicious. This restaurant had a homey cafe feel, like a place where the locals would go.

Julefest

If you’re visiting at Christmas, there are plenty of festive things to do during their month-long Julefest (pronounced YOO-la-fest) celebration.

Solvang Tree Lighting Ceremony. This is held on the first Friday of December at 5:00 pm (it gets dark that early in California in the winter). We heard 2,000 people will cram into the small open park downtown for this. They have a large pine tree in the park, and they decorate it with tons of ornaments and lights. They turn it on during the lighting ceremony and leave it on for the rest of the month.

We didn’t attend this because my mom didn’t want to deal with the crowds, so we just popped in 3 hours after the lighting to see the tree and park lit up.

Light Show. Every night, the park lights up with flashing lights set to music. This happens for about 10 minutes at the top of every hour.

Solvang Julefest Parade. On Saturday, the morning after the tree lighting, the town has a large Christmas parade. Stake out your seats first thing in the morning!

Maker’s Market. Each Wednesday evening, they have a Maker’s Market where locals set up tent shops to sell their creations.

Other events. There are other events, including Christmas caroling, New Year’s Eve countdown, and the Christmas Tree burn. See their Julefest website for more.

More Things to Do

There are more options for fun. These really didn’t interest us.

• Solvang Theaterfest. This outdoor theater looked fantastic! Unfortunately, it does not operate during winter. But if you’re visiting during the summer, put it on your list to watch a show here.
• Jeeps. Solvang has strange little jeeps you can rent to cruise around the town. 
• Bike & Surrey Rentals. Wheel Fun Rentals rents surreys for group bike rides.
• Zip Line. Highline Adventures has a zip line adventure.  

Where to Stay in Solvang

There are plenty of small hotels, inns, and resorts in and around Solvang.

Solvang. Staying in Solvang would be amazing, especially waking up and walking to a bakery or just around town. But it was too expensive for us. If you do stay here, my recommendation is to avoid staying on busy Mission Street, which has a ton of cars and can be loud. As I walked around, I thought the Mirabelle Inn looked incredibly charming, and the Hygge Tower is one of the Danish tower replicas and looked fun.

Chumash Casino Resort (book here). This is where we stayed, which was about 5 minutes from town. This is a popular resort in the area and is more affordable than staying in Solvang. The rooms were very nice: solid wood finishes, large walk-in showers, and no smoke smell in the rooms themselves. It also had a great sports bar for dining, with tons of food. The downside is that you have to walk through the smoky casino to reach the restaurants, and the walls felt a bit thin.

More. Buellton and Lompoc are two nearby towns with lodging, and you can even make day trips from Santa Barbara if you’d like.

How to Get to Solvang

By Plane:
Santa Barbara Airport is the closest option and was one of the nicest small airports we’ve used. It was easy, clean, and beautifully designed. From there, it’s about a 45-minute drive to Solvang.

By Car:
Solvang is located in California’s Santa Ynez Valley and is easily accessible from Highway 101.