How does one – as someone who loves travelling and German culture – live this close to Leavenworth (Washington’s Christmas Village) and I never visited until now? We loved Leavenworth and it will be an annual trip from now on! It’s only 2.5 hours away, over snowy Stevens Pass.

Those wonderful friends we like to travel and camp with are back in for this adventure. We rented a log A-frame near Leavenworth and packed up the snow pants. And thank goodness, as it turned out we needed them. The A-frame rental was quite reasonable and an Airbnb find. We spent the first night playing board games and making dinner together and heading to bed so we could have a proper adventure Saturday.

Things that we did (little approved): 

1. The fish hatchery so the kids could explore and learn a little. The hatchery has been there for more than 75 years and at one time was the largest salmon hatchery in the world. They currently raise 1.2 million salmon fry and release them into Icicle Creek. There is a cute visitor center there, activities for kids and of course the fish viewing.

2. Next stop was to Leavenworth’s main drag. It’s adorable! Faux-Bavarian everywhere. First stop was exploring the Christmas shops and coffee.

3. The Nutcracker Museum. There are so many nutcrackers – more than you could ever think a nutcracker museum could have. There is a scavenger hunt for kids and the history and displays are enjoyable (but slightly creepy) for adults.

4. We did the Aplets and Cotlets tour. If you are from Washington, you will be familiar with the strange candy (?) that is made here. I’m not sure if “tour” is the right word, but it was a hit with the kids for the free samples and machines.

 

5. We came back to town at night and enjoyed the Christmas lights in the town center, which were just being put up.

Places to eat: Of course there were tons of German options and I can’t wait to try more!

• We were on the lookout for an authentic German sausage stop that would include veggie options. We found a great one in Munchen Haus. The food was great, we sat outside in the beer garden (family friendly, at least during the day). The only thing missing was Gluhwien! Get on that, Leavenworth!
• Looking for a place to pick up something to bring home (bratwurst and currywurst), we checked out Cured. We found what we wanted in their tiny shop plus they had lots of samples to try.
• Sunday we had planned on more but we woke to a good snow coverage and the passes closing. We were out the door when the sun came up and over the pass, stopping at the Maltby Café for a famous cinnamon roll on the way back.