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If you dream of escaping to an adorable small Bavarian town for Christmas, but don’t quite have the budget or time – Leavenworth, Washington is the place to go. This small village is nestled in the Cascade Mountains and transforms every winter into a holiday wonderland straight out of a Hallmark movie. To get your fill of Christmas magic, you don’t just have to visit in December – Leavenworth is filled with twinkling lights, music, events, performances, and shops from late November through February. Just a 2.5 hour drive from Seattle’s airport, Leavenworth is accessible but does require some advanced planning.

Where to Stay

Leavenworth is a small, very walkable town. Parking can get expensive if you need to drive into the town. I’d recommend staying in one of the many hotels within walking distance. Though I traditionally love a homestay, Airbnb or Vrbo, hotels are likely the best option for location. Hotel price and availability are dependent on time of year, with December being a lot busier and more expensive than January or February. Accommodation costs can range from $100 to over $800 for luxury stays. However, many luxury hotels, like the Posthotel are adults-only. We stayed at Der Ritterhof Inn, a relatively short walk to the downtown and quite affordable. There are few bad options around the town and most have been built to match the theme of the town.

We stayed for 3 nights which felt like the perfect amount of time. But if you just have 2 nights, you can fit in most things. In the winter, I would not visit for less than 2 nights as unexpected weather might cause you change your plans. We visited the second week of January. If possible, I’d also recommend choosing a hotel with free breakfast provided.

How to Get there

The closest major airport to Leavenworth is Seattle’s SeaTac Airport. Once you’ve gotten to Seattle, the two most popular methods are by car or train.

By Car:

There are two main routes - Highway 2 through Stevens Pass or taking I-90 to highway 97. If it is snowing or had been the day before, I’d often recommend I-90 to hwy-97 as that is typically plowed quicker. If there is no snow on the forecast from the day before and the day you are driving, I find highway 2 to be the more scenic drive. Both drives, however, are gorgeous through the Cascade mountains. For both though, it is required to have snow chains in your car and to put them on in case of snowy conditions. I’d also highly recommend visiting WSDOT’s website or downloading their app to look at road closures and love video cams of the road conditions.

If you are unfamiliar with driving in the snow, watching a video or two will help you prepare. When we visited, it was lightly snowing the morning we left but I-90 + hwy-97 route was dry. On the way home, we took highway 2. It had snowed the day before but it was sunny and the snow plows had time to clear it. It was mostly clear except for a small section that was slick but not enough to put on our snow chains. I’ve seen often people saying you need AWD or 4WD, however, we drove with our RWD car and it did great with prior planning to not drive when it was actively snowing.

It takes about 2-2.5 hours to drive to Leavenworth from Seattle. We drove our EV and charged at the Safeway in Leavenworth once we got there.

By Train:

Amtrak runs a daily route from Seattle’s King Street Station to Leavenworth’s Icicle Station. The train to Leavenworth leaves in the evening and the train back to Seattle leaves in the morning. The times might not be ideal for traveling with kids but can be an easier option for your family if you do not want to drive in the snow. It is a very beautiful train journey and takes about 3 hours if no delays. If you are visiting during one of the busier months, make sure you book your seats well in advance as they did book up.

The train leave Seattle from the King Street Station which is very accessible if you are coming from the airport or elsewhere in Seattle by light rail. Take the light rail to the International District/Chinatown stop and follow the signs to walk the short walk to the train station. Once in Leavenworth, Icicle station is about 1 mile from the middle of the town. You can walk the mile or there is a shuttle service that will drop you off at your hotel for $11 per person.

Itinerary Overview

On the drive to Leavenworth we stopped by Snoqualmie Falls – the most popular waterfall in Washington. However, it is not always visible during the winter months as we found out. Before you make a detour on your drive check the weather in Snoqualmie and if there is rain, fog or dense cloud cover, skip it.

We left Seattle right before noon and got to Leavenworth at 3:30pm, with stops to charge our car, get snacks from Safeway and visit Snoqualmie Falls. Which was perfect timing to check into our hotel, unpack a bit and then walk into town. Our hotel was less than half a mile from Front Street Park and there were well-maintained sidewalks to get there. Depending on the weather, it is still a good idea to have waterproof shoes as there might be puddles from melting snow or it might be actively snowing or recently snowed.

@a.happy.passport A magical winterwonderland straight from a Hallmark movie. Leavenworth, WA is a bucket list travel destination for Christmas lovers or those seeking a unique Bavarian-inspired mountain escape in the USA. A cute Main Street with gingerbread and chocolate shops, a reindeer farm, the cascade mountains as a backdrop with the town right along a river, an adventure park. What more could you want? For our full itinerary and tips for traveling with kids, Visit our blog - A Happy Passport #leavenworth #cascademountains #washington #familytravel #winter ♬ An instrumental with a clear and refreshing sound(1412170) - Eto

Walking on Front Street

We ate dinner (scroll down to see our restaurant recommendations) and once we were done, the sun had set and all of the holiday lights were on. If it had snowed that day, bring your sled or buy one to sled in the Front Street Park. We visited the day after a snowstorm and the hill was completely muddy from lots of sledders the day before. We still saw a couple kids trying to sled in the few remaining snowy spots left. But don’t worry there are several other great sledding spots nearby to visit.

Leavenworth’s main and most picturesque street is called Front Street. It is lined with hotels, restaurants, cute shops, museums, and art galleries. It has pretty much everything you could want in a mountain Bavarian-themed small town – a sporting goods store to rent snowshoes or buy sleds or binoculars, winery tasting rooms for wines from locally grown vineyards, a gingerbread factory, a toy store, a multi-story Christmas store that stays up year round, a cheese monger’s shop, a chocolatier, gift shops, a bookstore, a pub and so much more. Dozens of locally owned and family-operated shops. You can also venture around the couple other streets off of front street to find more cute shops and restaurants. Take some time during your visit just to window shop or buy some souvenirs or gifts for friends. Or just walk down the street admiring the buildings, lights and the backdrop of the cascade mountains around you.

Leavenworth Reindeer Farm

The next morning, we visited the Leavenworth Reindeer Farm. The farm is about a mile from Front Street Park so if you are visiting without a car, it is possible to walk there if the weather is nice, or you can take a local taxi or shuttle service. If you do have a car, parking is free and should not be too busy if you visit in one of the first tour times of the day. However, note that the parking lot is not paved and can be muddy if you are visiting when snow is melting. You need to buy tickets in advance as they do book out during the more popular times. If you are visiting during November or December, the experience is a bit more expensive and includes a photo with Santa. Do check their Facebook page to see if there any promos going on, so you can get a bit off your ticket price.

If you are visiting with kids under 12, not everyone in your party will be able to go into the reindeer enclosure with the entire herd. However, you will be able to go into a smaller enclosure with just the younger and more gentle reindeer called “cupid’s corner”. An adult must accompany the younger kids into the “cupid’s corner” but if you have more than one adult in your group, you can have one go into the main enclosure. There is a lower price for those intending on just going with their kids but there is also a reduced number of tickets so these tickets might sell out before the rest. While we spent most of the time in the cupid’s corner, our family was able to visit the main enclosure escorted by one of the owners to take a picture with Queen Elsa, one of their most popular reindeer.

It is a bit expensive for a petting-zoo like experience, but for being a likely once in a lifetime activity, I found it worth it. It starts with an impressive professional quality video about reindeer, which we learned quite a bit from. It was also very clear just how much the family who owned the farm cared about all of the animals in the herd. It held the attention of the young kids in the audience – including my own – while also being humorous and educational for all of the adults. After the video, you are separated by whether you are going to the main enclosure or cupids corner and are led to the reindeer. You get about 15-20 minutes in the enclosure to feed the reindeer, take photos and pet them. If you are in the main enclosure, they give you fresh willow branches to feed to the reindeer and in the cupid’s corner, they gave us dry pellet like food in a small cup to feed them from our open palms.

Our 5 and 3 year-olds started off a bit nervous around the reindeer but quickly got comfortable with them when they saw how calm they were. With our 3-year old, she was only willing to feed them if her hand was in ours. The employees working in the enclosures were able to tell us all the reindeers names, when they were born, and knew all of their personalities. There were shedded antlers that we were able to pick up to feel their weight. After we got out of the enclosure, there was a small play area, a gift shop, places to take photos, and a little food truck. Everyone we interacted with were friendly and helpful.

Sledding at Enchantment Park

After a lunch break and change of clothes, we walked over to Enchantment Park to go sledding. We brought our sleds from home, but there are plenty of places in town to buy or rent sleds. Bring a backpack with lots of snacks as sledding makes kids far more hungry than I expected. Enchantment Park is close to town and should be an easy walk from your accommodations, even while carrying your sleds. In the summer months, Enchantment park is a large park with baseball fields, a playground, walking trails and a pump track. In the winter, all of those places get covered with snow and turn into a snowball fight fields and the most awesome sledding and snow adventure wonderland. All free.

We visited on a weekend and the park was filled, but not overly crowded, with families, both local and visiting, enjoying the park. There were snowboarders and sledders using the steep snowy sides of the pump track. There are large hills surrounding the park that were frequented by sleds and snow tubes. Forts were made out of snow on the field for snow ball fights. Bumps and ramps were made out of snow on the hills to let you catch some air as you sled down them. There were hills of various grades so you can take your pick on how adventurous you wanted to be.

Will there be snow when I go? Good question. Leavenworth gets snow between late October and March with an average of 95 inches of snow per year. If you are visiting in December to February, it is a very good chance there will be snow on the ground through the town to add to the vibes and for snow activities.

If you have a car and want to try snow tubing, drive over to Leavenworth’s Ski Hill. It is a bit pricey at $39 per person for 6 runs. The snow tube rental is included in the price. However, it is an exciting adventure that will likely be one of the highlights of your trip. The recommended age is 8 years old as it is required that only one person is allowed on the tube. However, it is not a firm age minimum and younger kids are allowed if supervised by an adult and the waivers are signed. You are allowed to have one free trial run to see if your kids would want to do 6 full runs. We skipped out on this experience as I thought that my almost 4 year old wouldn’t be up for being on her own tube. However, it is at the top of our list of things to try when she is older. The best part? There is a rope tow that will pull you to the top of the 100-foot hill so you don’t have to walk up yourself. If you are more adventurous, Leavenworth’s Ski Hill has, you guessed it, skiing as well but also snow shoeing trails, nordic ski trails, fat biking, and a few other exhilarating winter activities.

Walk through Blackbird Island

Right from Enchantment Park, there is a short hiking trail that you can take over to Blackbird Island. We loaded the kids on the sled and dragged them behind us as we walked. If you want to do the entire trail loop and end up back at Enchantment Park, it is 1.9 miles. We walked just one way towards waterfront park, through blackbird island, and it ended up being less than a mile. We stopped a lot to take pictures and enjoy the snow and the whole walk took 40 minutes. This is a well-used trail and you will encounter a lot of other people. We did not need snowshoes, just good snow boots, since it is so frequently walked, but we did see a few people using them. If there was just a large snow and you are going to venture out on the trail before everyone else or if the rest of the town is very icy, then snowshoes or microspikes might be more necessary.

This hike, despite being so close to town and relatively busy, felt like such a magical winter hike. It was gorgeous and peaceful and took my breath away. Worth it, even with my kids complaining that I didn’t bring enough snacks.

There are several river beaches on the Waterfront trail that are definitely worth walking down to see. We somehow timed it that, we were there a little before sunset which just added to the magic. If my kids see water, they have a strong overwhelming urge to go into it. It doesn't matter the season or if they already feel cold. They had waterproof boots on so we let them go at it. They happily played in the water for an hour while the sun was setting. Next to us on a beach, us adults watched a surprise proposal being set up and the couple come down with a photographer. After about 30 minutes of the kids playing, without any incident, we figured our luck would run out soon. So one of us walked back to the hotel to get the car so there would be a quick exit in the case water seeped to their socks and they had enough. Sure it enough it happened and I walked with a couple wet kids, to a main road close to town and got picked up and drove to our hotel. Despite the ending, they had a great time tossing rocks and jumping around in the shallow water around the beach.

After another change into warm clothes, we walked back into town for dinner. Scroll down to see our restaurant recommendations. Post-dinner, we watched some of the performances that were taking place in front street park - including fire dancers and magicians. You can check the calendar for Leavenworth events here.

Nutcracker Museum

The next day, after eating breakfast provided by our hotel and building snowmen at the grounds of our hotel. We walked to the Nutcracker Museum in the middle of town. It opens at 11am, so if you are ready to go earlier, you can stop at some of the other shops nearby that are already open. The museum has a small fee of $5 per adult, $2 for kids 6-16 years old, and free for kids 5 and under. It is worth it for the novelty of seeing thousands of nutcrackers in one place. You can get a scavenger hunt for kids that is adjusted based on age level. If they are able to complete it, bring it back to the front when you leave for a small prize. You can even ask for an adult version of the scavenger hunt.

It starts with an area of the most important, historical nutcracker artifacts from numerous cultures and periods of time. They have extra rules in this section to keep the nutcrackers well preserved - like no photos. Beyond that are the more fun and unique nutcrackers, like Nutcracker versions of all the characters of the Nutcracker ballet or the presidents. If you collect nutcrackers, you might recognize pieces from different nutcracker makers. There is also a gift shop at the entrance and exit of the museum. We spent about 45 minutes in total here.

Leavenworth Adventure Park

After lunch and a bit of a break in the hotel for the kids, we walked over to the next spot. One of the newer attractions in Leavenworth, is the Leavenworth Adventure Park that is a combination of 3 different attractions. The most notable being the alpine coaster winding on a mountain, that you can spot even from town. Despite being a mountainous state, this is Washington’s first alpine coaster just recently built in 2023. The track is 2,700 feet long and you ride on a self-controlled sled. Kids as young as 3 years old are allowed to ride with an adult. Once kids are at least 54 inches tall, they can ride alone. You can buy tickets for one or two rides and I’d highly recommend the 2 ride option. The first ride gives you a chance to get used to operating the sled and learning the course. The second ride allows you more of an opportunity to enjoy the scenery around you and feel the thrill of the ride.

I’d also recommend reserving tickets in advance as times do sell out. You can buy tickets the day of if there are any available. The coaster runs rain or shine so if you don’t want to ride when it is rainy or snowy, you can wait to buy tickets a week before so you can have a better idea of the weather on the day of. In the winter though, I think it might be a bit magical to ride in the snow - although visibility might not be the best if that is your goal. It is a bit expensive for the amount of time you are on the ride but we felt it was worth it to do at least once.

Once you get there, there might be a bit of a wait before checking in even if you have signed the waiver in advance. After being checked in, getting your wristband and going up the stairs to the coaster, there will likely a line for the ride. While in line, you will be watching an instructional video. We were in line long enough to watch it 2 or 3 times. Once you get up to the front, you and your partner (if you are riding with someone else) or you by yourself will be weighed to make sure you are within the weight limits (between 330-375 lbs depending on weather). Then it is time to ride!

It was such a fun experience and was the highlight for my kids. The views were stunning and you can really get your adrenaline going. The first ride I ended up using the brakes more than the second, once I got more confidence. If you think you will be using the breaks a lot, you can let the ride operators know so they will delay the people behind you a bit. Alternatively, if you know you want to go fast, you ask to be delayed a bit to prevent getting stuck behind someone. We did not have any issues however with sleds either before or after us.

We typically don’t buy ride photos, but we did ended up buying these. We were able to buy all 6 photos for $21 total, or $3.50 a photo which seemed like a good deal. They are digital photos and were sent to us pretty soon after buying them. You are allowed to film on the ride if you have a camera that is securely attached to your person like a chest harness.

Waterfront Park

We finished our trip to Leavenworth with a final sunset at Waterfront Park. Followed by dinner in town. We drove back home to Seattle, the next morning.

Where to eat

Along with being a Winter Wonderland, Leavenworth is amazing for foodies. As you’d expect it has several bavarian style breweries but there are also food options from many other cultures. The most popular restaurant by far is München Haus, which serves German sausages, craft brews, big pretzels and more. It is kid-friendly and they can accommodate different diets. We are vegetarian and got a veggie wurst, Bavarian pretzel, and a vegan chili. Along with the great food, the restaurant itself is quite charming. The mural around the courtyard has several hidden pictures that kept our kids entertained. There will likely be a line to get in and order.

Some other great options for lunch or dinner:

Yodelin Broth Company – comfort food including soups, salads and sandwiches. Our favorite meal of the trip. They had kids menus, drawing pads and TVs around the restaurants that kept the kids busy. Reservations are recommended.

Coned Bros. – unique concept for a pizza restaurant that was honestly quite good and had plenty of options.

Andreas Keller Restaurant – for a more upscale option with traditional German food. There are kid options.

South Leavenworth – modern Mexican food restaurant with fresh ingredients.

Crepe Cafe Sisters – has both sweet and savory crepes and accommodates different diets.

There are many more options throughout the town that are well reviewed if you are looking for a different type of cuisine.

Where to eat for dessert:

Gingerbread Factory – adorable bakery with both gingerbread and non-gingerbread options.

Whistlepunk Ice Cream Co – delicious ice cream that is worth the line.

What to bring

Visiting a mountain town in the winter, does require some gear even if you aren’t skiing or hiking through the snow. The weather in winter typically sees highs right around freezing and in the 20s F at night. On sunny days, it doesn’t feel too uncomfortable. Multiple layers will be your friend, along with good winter boots.

Snow chains for your car if you are driving. If you see a snow storm on the forecast and you still want to drive, bring a blanket, extra food, phone batteries in case you get stuck in your car for a few hours.
Warm winter coat
Base layers – either merino wool if you are planning more winter excursions, for just Leavenworth, you can get by using multiple layers of whatever clothes you already have.
Snow Pants – highly recommend if you are sledding or planning to play in the snow. I like these snow pants for young kids over the overall style ones because they are easier for quick bathroom stops.
Winter Boots
Waterproof Gloves/mittens
Winter Hat
Sleds/Tubes if you aren’t planning on renting locally
Sunglasses
Reusable shopping bags – I love these everywhere I travel, but especially in countries and states like Washington with bag fees or plastic bag bans.
Chapstick
Face Sunscreen since snow reflects UV rays

What to read

PNW Bestsellers board in Leavenworth’s bookshop, A Book for All Seasons

If you have time on your drive or train ride to read a book or listen to an audiobook, here are some recommendations to get you in the mood. These books are either set in Leavenworth or a similar small town.

Death on Tap: A Mystery by Ellie Alexander. A fictional cozy mystery.

Ghosts of Leavenworth and the Cascade Foothills by Deborah Cuyle. Non-fiction, local history book of ghost stories.

Christmasland by Anne-Marie Meyer. Small town romantic comedy.

Beartown by Fredrik Backman. Fictional small community with hardships but a strong bond.

The Gingerbread Bakery by Laurie Gilmore. Cozy romantic novel with enemies to lovers dynamic in a small town.