[Leavenworth, WA, Dec 23, 2024]

A former struggling logging town, Leavenworth, WA reinvented itself as a Bavarian-inspired vacation destination in the 1960s. It has since become incredibly popular, and not just for its quaint European charm. Leavenworth also offers a plethora of outdoor activities in the North Cascades. It is especially packed in winter, when festive lights transform the town from Thanksgiving all the way until the last day of February. The distance from Portland was small enough for a Christmas getaway and I couldn’t resist the temptation to visit!

We started out from Portland on Friday, Dec 22 and spent the night in Tacoma to break up the drive. Although we did get stuck in traffic near Tacoma, it ended up working out great because it gave us the whole next day to make our way to Leavenworth. I decided to utilize our extra time to visit Snoqualmie Falls.

The 268-foot waterfall was just east of Seattle and right on our way to Leavenworth. It is one of Washington’s most popular scenic attractions and is known internationally for its appearance in the television series Twin Peaks. I had watched Twin Peaks as a teenager in Bulgaria. It was one of the first US TV shows to make it there. I still vividly remember Angelo Badalamenti’s harrowing music during the show’s opening credits, which featured Snoqualmie Falls.

We got there just after 8:30 am and it was almost completely devoid of people. It was quite foggy but the rising sun was slowly burning the clouds off.

We took the short trail down to the river and enjoyed even more dramatic views of the waterfall. The Snoqualmie Tribe consider the falls to be humanity’s place of origin. The waterfall’s 268-foot drop has been used to generate electricity since 1898; one of the power plants was located about halfway down the trail.

We arrived in Leavenworth just after 1 pm and checked into our hotel. I had booked us the Bavarian Lodge, which was directly across the main square. I knew that the town would get super busy for the holiday, which meant a lot of traffic and no parking. Staying centrally in town was a key to our enjoyment, and the outdoor hot tub was an added plus.

We were starving, and we knew that all the restaurants would be busy, so we had snagged a reservation at Prusik’s Kitchen & Bar from the road as soon as we knew our approximate arrival time. The shrimp pizza and burger with fries hit the spot!

We then walked around town and took some photos. Sunset was super early on one of the shortest day of the year. The sun was about to descend behind the mountains and it wasn’t even 3 pm yet!

After some R&R in our hotel, during which we also took advantage of the hot tub, we took an evening walk to enjoy the town all lit up. It lived up to the hype for sure.