The Culture Lover

Flock to Danish-settled Solvang for its history and culture. Here, boutique hotel, The Landsby, is “hygge” personified with its sleek Scandi design. Luring aromas waft out of authentic Danish bakeries, Aebleskiver breakfast counters, and hip coffee joints, with walkable downtown thoroughfares lined with European-style buildings and architectural façades. Elverhøj Museum of History & Art showcases modern and classic art, and Solvang’s Danish heritage, while the California Nature Art Museum, home of Danish artist Thomas Dambo’s first indoor troll sculpture, focuses on where art and nature meet. Indie book store, The Book Loft, comes complete with an antiquarian book section and an attic museum dedicated to Hans Christian Andersen. The open-air Solvang Festival Theater hosts stage performances and concerts, and rows of boutiques and galleries provide retail therapy offering everything from sophisticated Danish brands and sculptural design pieces, to toys, hand-crafted candy and chocolates, to carefully-curated cheeses and spices, to locally-made, artisan goods. Just beyond town, world-class golfing, tennis, and horseback riding. In town, horse-drawn trolley or guided Food & Photo tours educate and entertain, with a windmill-ed backdrop.