solvang | our own little europe

“For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.” – Robert Louis Stevenson

Since we were camping nearby in Santa Barbara on El Capitan State Beach, we thought we'd take a day trip up to Solvang. It was pure charm. When I was just a little girl, around the age of two, my mom brought me here. I visited again when I was six or so, when we brought my baby sister.

If you've ever been to Solvang, CA you will know that everyone who visits must take the obligatory Dutch shoe photo. I now have three of these photos. One at two. One at six. And now one at thirty one.

Solvang is a town that celebrates the culture of Denmark. The architecture, food and even it's residents, hail from the small European country and it transports you from the seaside to the charming historic city. I didn't have high hopes for finding gluten-free or paleo eats, so I had packed a lunch just in case, although I was pleasantly surprised!

When we arrived, full from a campfire breakfast of scrambled eggs and bacon, we set out to shop. We found an adorable pet shop where we picked up some treats for our fur babies and spent most of the afternoon taking photos with the various buildings and windmills and taking in the cute trinkets at the giftshops. 

One of our favorite shops was the toy shoppe! It had SO many toys from our childhood, including a Skip It, silly string, old Hot Wheels cars and collectible dollhouse items. We became big kids again and played in that store for quite a while. 

We spent almost five hours in Solvang, which makes it worth a day trip, and started to get quite hungry abou halfway through our visit. I spotted some adorable cafes when we arrived and parked and told Mr. Charming I wanted to scope them out before I ate what I brought with, and I'm SO glad we did!

There were actually quite a few restaurants that offered allergen-free & gluten-free options, and we decided to dine at Fresco, because it has a gorgeous patio with courtyard view and a great salad selection. Mr. Charming sipped on an Arnold Palmer and I ordered a hot water for the organic peppermint tea I brought with. When the salads arrived they were definitely photo worthy. YUM!

The lettuce mix was SO fresh, and it was topped with fresh tomato, avocado and carrots and I drizzled it with fresh olive oil and a sprinkle of sea salt. 

I had packed a gluten-free brownie in my bag that Mr. Charming and I split for dessert. It was the perfect lunch. 


All in all, a perfect day in one of the cutest cities on our travels thus far! Have you been to Solvang and have any memories or good eats to share? Or have any questions about an up-coming visit? Leave it in the comments!