Town also earns top-five finish for ‘Best Small Town Food Scene’
Solvang, affectionately known as “The Danish Capital of America,” has been voted as the number one “Best Small Town in the West” in the 2025 USA TODAY 10Best Readers’ Choice Travel Awards, the results for which were publicly announced on Wednesday, April 9.
Solvang finished ahead of second-place Astoria, Oregon, and third-place Healdsburg, the only other California town to finish in the top 10
Solvang also came in at spot number five in the 10Best Readers’ Choice Travel Awards category of “Best Small Town Food Scene.” Solvang was the sole California town represented in that category’s top 10, as well as the only Western town represented among the list’s top 10 winners.
In 2025, Solvang was nominated by a panel of subject matter experts and USA TODAY 10Best editors before being voted on by the public in three different Readers’ Choice Awards travel categories: “Best Small Town in the West,” “Best Small Town Food Scene,” and “Best Main Street.” The travel awards contest and online voting launched for the “Best Small Town in the West” and “Best Small Town Food Scene” categories on Monday, March 3, and online public voting ran through Monday, March 31. (Results for the “Best Main Street” awards category, for which Solvang is also competing, will be announced on Wednesday, April 16).
No stranger to the USA TODAY 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards, Solvang, with a resident population hovering around 6,000, was one of the 10 Best Historic Small Town winners in the 2018 travel contest. Solvang was also one of the 10 Best winners for the same award category in 2016. In 2017, USA TODAY named Solvang as one of “10 great places to enjoy global Christmas traditions in the USA.” More recently, Solvang was nominated for the 2022 USA TODAY 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards in two different categories, “Best Historic Small Town” and “Best Small Town Cultural Scene,” securing seventh place in the 2022 winners’ listing for the latter category. In 2024, Solvang was voted second “Best Small Town in the West” in the USA TODAY 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards.
The fourth through tenth place winners in 2025’s “Best Small Town in the West” category are: Cody, Wyoming; Grants, New Mexico; Sedona, Arizona; Bigfork, Montana; Breckenridge, Colorado; Jackson, Wyoming; and Moab, Utah.
Dog-friendly and ideal for kids, Solvang, known for its Danish-American vibe, architecture and design details, pastries and bakeries, and array of wine tasting options, also boasts dozens of unique boutiques, restaurants, and gourmet food purveyors. Solvang’s foodie destinations offer everything from elevated street cuisine — like locally-sourced fish tacos on hand-made tortillas, and comforting ramen noodles — to European-style pretzels and sausages, to Italian standbys or iconic Danish dishes, to elevated new-Californian fare in the form of MICHELIN-honored menus. Solvang visitors sip small-batch, locally-roasted coffee, shop for exotic, hand-bottled spice blends, or enjoy Tiki cocktails and craft beer, all part of a playful, indulgent, and one-of-a-kind, year ‘round shopping and playing escape.
