… which is roughly a 2 1/2 hours’ drive to the north. A charming journey to be sure, but not really nearby. 
Solvang’s got three things that I like; Danish bakeries, Ostrichland, and a world class motorcycle museum. It also has three things I hate; a shit ton of tourists, a million shops selling junk, and terrible traffic.
Los Alamos, Los Olivos and maybe even Buellton are more interesting to me.living nearby, I hit all of those regularly and only go to Solvang to look at motorcycles or freakishly large birds.
I’ve been going to Solvang since I was a kid, and I’m receiving Medicare. Haven’t been in years though. It was smaller, more rural and less touristy 50 years ago. Love the pastry. Yum.
The drive is beautiful, and the wineries are decent. The valley (Santa Inez) is small enough to do in a day.
When I was in my early 20s a group of friends and I drove up from L.A., planning to have a picnic lunch we’d packed. We took the coast route up, and it was foggy and cold. We all decided to pass on the picnic lunch and eat at Andersen’s. I like their pea soup. Well, months later I was cleaning out my car trunk…
I had been there a number of times in the past, as part of seeing other sights in the area (wine!). We went at the end of July this year and wow were there a lot of tourists! It might not be like that at different times of the year, but we hit a very busy time. Ugh.
Oh, and they guy standing next to the chocolate shop handing out small purple candy looking things? Those are soap, from a different shop altogether, just be warned!
If you get tired of wine-tasting/drinking, find a Danish tavern that sells Carlsberg beer on tap. When I still drank, this was one of my very favorite beers. It’s not half as good in the bottle, though.
I wish I could remember the name of the restaurant/beer hall we used to go to after we did a road bike ride in the area. It had pleasant outdoor seating and my husband and I would drink deeply of ice-cold draft Carlsberg.
The weather is nice, there are some actually unique shops (including one that sells custom knives that closes on weekends as he doesnt care for too many tourists), two decent bookstores, some nice eateries, and one bad and one good bakery. VERY walkable.
If you are passing thru, it’s worth a stop, and maybe even a overnite.
Yep. I’ve been there several times and this is my take away. The mission is nice and there are some nice food spots but the kitch and traffic get old quick.
During the day, it’s all Danish pastry shops. After about 6pm, it’s all wine bars. Other than the cute architecture, there’s not too much going on there. A few art galleries, a bunch of tourist shops… If it’s just a day trip, I’d say it’s kinda cute but I can’t imagine wanting to spend more time than that.
We rode through there a bunch of years ago on a motorcycle ride. I forgot all about it until Andersen’s was mentioned - we definitely stopped there. I’ve always wanted to go back to check out the Motorcycle Museum, but all the guys I used to ride with have moved on. I think we went through there before Sideways came out, which upped the touristy factor a bit.
My Beloved has decided that a full week there wouldn’t be worth it(and I agree with her), so we switched plans and are booked at the Ocean Sands at Virginia Beach on May 1st for a week.
I lived there for 3 years as a kid (5th - 7th grade). Well, in Santa Ynez, about 10 minutes away if my kid’s sense of time/distance is accurate.
Even 40 years later, the way it is described in this thread seems like not one thing has changed. Except for maybe traffic. I don’t recall a lot of traffic or tourists back then.
I’m a Dane, and my gf and I are going to CA for a roadtrip next year. I’m curious to see how the danish culture is portraited, so I might go just to have a good laugh.
Sideways was more about Los Olivos, which has turned itself into wine-tasting spots, antique stores, and B&B in the wake of the movie. With all due respect, I didn’t find the movie all that funny. [The weird part was that I recognized the San Diego apartment-front where the movie is supposed to start.]
The wife and I did an overnighter in Solvang and traipsed along the tourist shop street. Nice, quaint, nothing purchased.
The wife and I also took her father up there when he visited from Santa Fe. Apparently he used to preach at an ancient Lutheran church up there. Lunch was nice; can’t remember the name of the place but it did proudly server Carlsberg… Ye Olde something something.
It’s worth a half-day visit. If you’re coming all the way from the east coast to visit Solvang you’re either a huge Dane-lover or you’ve got scads of cash to burn on vacations. It seems like the entire town is living off the tourist dollars. And when we took the bus tour, the narrator quickly debunked the Danish myth. Sorry.
Dean R. Koontz’ Cold Fire takes a visit up there and is set in the ‘central coast’ region.
Head north out of Solvang toward Buelton and you’ll see more wineries and wine-tasting spots to savor. And, of course, if you keep heading north on the coast, you’ll find yourself passing Vandenberg AFB (alternate Space Shuttle landing site), and Santa Maria (great steaks and birthplace of the Tri-Tip BBQ) and then Cambria & Paso Robles (even more wine!) if you want to drive that far.
Quite frankly, though, if you’re hitting the left coast, there’s more to do in Los Angeles and Orange counties.
–G!
The clock shops were kind of cool. The danish is yummy too. The mission was sort of interesting.
It will eat up at least 3 hours of your life.
Two movies I’ve recently watched (and reviewed in CS) have brief scenes in Solvang for no reason other than getting that fake windmill shot, apparently. I guess some movie people love that.
(Movies: Paddleton and Funny Story.)