SPEND A WINTER WEEKEND IN LEAVENWORTH
Courtesy: Visit Leavenworth
You don’t have to travel far for a taste of Bavaria
Leavenworth, WA, just 2 hours from Seattle, is a charming, storybook village straight out of the Alps. With restaurants, breweries, shops, museums, festivals, snow-capped peaks, and outdoor recreation in every direction—you’ll feel like you’ve stepped into a Bavarian snow globe. As its timber industry faded in the early 1960s, Leavenworth decided to rebrand itself as a tourist town and rebuilt the entire urban area in the iconic, German farmhouse architectural style. The village glows with holiday lights and festive cheer every night during the winter months.
We’re here for it.
If you’re looking for a weekend getaway in a winter wonderland, Leavenworth, WA is the spot.
Friday
If you take HWY 2 over Stevens Pass, consider stopping at Scenic Hot Springs for a rugged hike and soak experience. The trail to access the hot springs is a 2-mile, 1,200-foot climb (about 1.5-2 hours). In the winter, spikes or crampons may be necessary. But, it’s worth every step to relax in three steaming tubs overlooking a vast forest of Ponderosa Pines with the Cascade Mountains. Scenic Hot Springs is on private property, and advanced reservations are required. Soaking is allowed until sunset. There’s no overnight camping at the hot springs, so give yourself plenty of time to pack up and hike out before the sun goes down.
If hot springs aren’t your thing, skip the Stevens Pass stop and head to the Icicle River Trails for 8 km of groomed Nordic ski trails plus 5 km of snowshoe trails. Journey through dense woods, across open meadows, and along the Icicle River for your first taste of winter recreation in Leavenworth.
Head to Yodelin for locally sourced food to fuel your adventures. Yodelin’s mission is to cook the healthiest food to inspire the mind and body, build a restaurant that creates community and equality for all, and cause no unnecessary environmental harm. We can get behind that. Their mouth-watering artisanal bone broth soups take center stage, but you’ll also find rice bowls, sandwiches, and manila clams on the menu from our friends at Hama Hama.
Lake Wenatchee State Park is the best spot to winter camp around Leavenworth. The South Park Area is where you’ll find winter camping, the sledding hill, and groomed ski trails. Set up next to a fire ring on the shore of the lake, where the views are stunning, and enjoy the comfort of a clean, heated restroom, hot showers, and cleared roadways.
If you’d like to take a break from camping, check out Loge Camps, an outdoor lovers boutique hotel with two Leavenworth locations, Riverside or Downtown. Rent snowshoes or sleds at the Downtown location and stop by the cafe for breakfast, lunch, or specialty cocktails.
Saturday
Start your day at Argonaut Coffee & Biscuits. Newly expanded and reimagined from a sidewalk espresso bar, Argonaut Coffee & Biscuits serves tasty house-made pastries, biscuit breakfast sandwiches, toasts, breakfast burritos, and a variety of coffee and tea drinks.
Experience a little slice of the North Pole at Leavenworth Reindeer Farm. Particularly great if you’re traveling with kids, this is one of the only places you can go inside the reindeer enclosure and interact with the herd. Reindeer are semi-domesticated caribou, and the farm supports caribou conservation initiatives—a nice perk to have a portion of your admissions help these majestic animals thrive in the wild.
Since you’re in “Bavaria,” grab a house-made bratwurst and dunkel at the aptly named Leavenworth Sausage Garten. Try the Currywurst made with yellow curry, pork, and heavy cream. Vegetarians, they’ve got options for you too, like the tasty Smoked Apple Sage made with apples and yukon gold potatoes.
Part of Leavenworth Winter Sports Club’s expansive network of groomed Nordic trails, the Golf Course boasts intermediate terrain tucked along the scenic Wenatchee River. Wide sweeping curves lead through open groves of huge pines surrounded by jaw-dropping views of the Cascades. You’ll likely be sharing the area with the resident deer. If you prefer a lower center of gravity, hit up the Golf Course’s sled hill.
While Leavenworth is full of German-imported beer at pubs like Stein Leavenworth and Rhein Haus, taste what the local pros are brewing at Icicle Brewing Co. Their Alpenhaze hazy IPA just won silver at the Great American Beer Festival (and that’s a mighty competitive category!). They also brew pilsners, ambers, and a decadent milk stout called Dark Persuasion German Chocolate Cake Ale.
Don’t let the cold weather stop you from indulging in a scoop at Whistle Punk Ice Cream Co. You’ll find some of the best ice cream in the state here. Sample seasonal flavors like Caramel Apple Pie or Candy Cane Lane, or go with the always popular Cookies-N-Dreams or dairy-free Chai.
If you’re looking to learn how to alpine ski or snowboard, the Leavenworth Ski Hill is a great place to start. This beginner-friendly hill features two groomed runs accessible by a rope tow and a moving carpet. They even have a terrain park if you like practicing those jibs. But there’s more. Ski Hill offers a 6-run tubing hill, fat biking, snowshoeing, and a Nordic ski network of groomed trails through the forest. End at the historic Ski Hill Lodge—an ideal spot to cozy up for après. For a fun evening activity, head to Ski Hill after dark and enjoy lighted alpine and Nordic night skiing until 10 pm every night during winter operations.
Check out Larch for dinner. Open since 2020, chef Ben Herreid creates a menu focusing on the bounty of the Pacific Northwest combined with the many shapes and flavors of fresh pasta. Much of Larch’s pasta noodles are bronze die-pressed, perforated bronze plates that cut and shape the pasta. This method produces a finished noodle with a rough, porous texture that cooks better and absorbs sauce more effectively—improving the mouthfeel and flavor of pasta dishes. They offer a kid’s menu for the smaller, pickier eaters.
Courtesy: Visit Leavenworth
Sunday
Pack up camp and explore Lake Wenatchee! Wander around the lakeside trails, gentle hills, and nearby Nason Ridge and Chiwawa Sno-Parks for a premier, non-motorized winter playground complete with mountain views. There are over 30 miles of beginner to advanced groomed cross-country and skate ski trails, a groomed sled hill, and 12 miles of marked snowshoe trails. Don’t forget a Special Groomed Sno-Park permit for your van (Note: Discover Passes are not valid during the Winter Recreation season).
A newer Leavenworth joint, La Javelina, opened in 2020, much to our foodie heart’s delight. This trendy cafe and wine shop serves thoughtfully and locally sourced ingredients and offers breakfast and lunch. It’s tough to pick one thing! With loads of breakfast sandwiches, breakfast tacos, and bialys (a traditional Polish Ashkenazi Jewish bun that’s stuffed with savory or sweet ingredients), you’ll want to add this eatery to your Leavenworth favorites list for your next trip.
Before you leave town, stop at the Nutcracker Museum, a place you won’t find anywhere else. The museum is home to more than 9,000 nutcrackers, including one of the first commercially carved nutcrackers by Wilhelm Fuchtner from 1880, as well as a 6-foot Bavarian beer-drinking nutcracker carved in Germany by Karl Rappl. It’s pretty cool to see the complex artistry and sheer diversity of nutcrackers, all developed for a very important task: to efficiently crack a nut for consumption!
Ready to explore Leavenworth this winter?
Check out our fleet of rental vans or Metris camper van conversions for sale!