One-Day Itinerary in Lindsborg, Kansas

At Hemslöjd, a Scandinavian gift shop, a painter applies white brushstrokes to a fire-engine red Dala horse. Passersby peer at her handiwork as she adds detail to the wooden piece, a traditional symbol of good luck. You'll find these lucky charms in sculpture form throughout Lindsborg (an hour north of Wichita). Not that this village needs much luck—it's already loaded with charm. 

Välkommen to Little Sweden, where European traditions make the 1869 town a year-round draw in the Smoky Valley. A stroll through downtown reveals bright two-story buildings adorned with ornamental tiles. Shoppers tote lattes laced with maple bourbon syrup or ice cream cones heaped with lingonberry swirls while browsing away. 

Swedish-centric events fill the local calendar. During the June Midsummer's Festival, folk dancers whirl under a Maypole in Heritage Square to the tune of violins. Take it all in, and you might feel as though you've been blown across the plains, over the Atlantic and into the heart of historic Scandinavia.

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At Blacksmith Coffee Shop and Roastery, sip perfect crafted coffee inside the town's oldest building, a blacksmith shop built in 1874. In addition to chai and brown sugar lattes, try buttercream cinnamon rolls and applesauce made with lingonberries.

Art is a big deal in little Lindsborg. Sneak a peek inside Lester Raymer's Red Barn Studio Museum or admire colorful landscape paintings at Birger Sandzén Memorial Art Gallery. Go global at Small World Gallery, filled with stunning scenes captured by National Geographic photographer Jim Richardson. 

Popular Scandinavian dishes at Crown and Rye include Swedish meatballs served over noodles with cream sauce, and pan-seared potato sausage alongside beets with capers. For an early afternoon buzz, sip the Red Lingonberry Sangria or a Cosmo.

Follow a brick sidewalk to Indigo Moo'd Ice Cream, where one of the top flavors is infused with Blacksmith cold brew. (And yes, they often have that flavor if you aren't lingonberried out yet.) At 350 Degrees Bakery, Swedish Tea Ring cakes, fruit-filled tortes and orange cardamom rolls tempt from the display case.

A winding dirt road ascends to breezy Coronado Heights Park, where Spanish explorer Francisco Vásquez de Coronado and his men viewed the Smoky Hills in 1541 (or so locals say). Park the car to enjoy a 360-degree view of the native prairie and explore a 1930s shelter resembling a hilltop fortress.

Swedish for "beer cellar," Öl Stuga is where townies have toasted friends since 1977. Ask the bartender to shake up a Lindsborg Lemonade made with vodka and … wait for it … lingonberries! Rest easy in one of the 18 rooms at Scandi-style Dröm Sött Inn. 

The Lindsborg Old Mill and Swedish Heritage Museum showcases the bread-making process from seed to loaf. Across the street at Heritage Square, tour the 1904 World's Fair Swedish Pavilion, which was dismantled and shipped to the U.S. by boat, then reassembled like a puzzle. 

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