Exploring Leavenworth, WA during Christmastime

                        

Right after we moved to Washington so many people told us that we needed to visit the city of Leavenworth. It is a Bavarian city in the cascades mountains. It is know for its beautiful scenery and Christmas market during the month of December. Normally we had a tradition of going to Chicago in December for its Christmas Market but obviously we weren't going to be able to do that this year, so we decided to take a weekend getaway trip to Leavenworth during December. 

                    

Visiting the City 

The major downtown area is located just of highway 2. Front street has the majority of the shops and they close the street down to cars during Christmas time due to the amount of pedestrians in the area. There are many shops and restaurants to explore. 

                                                            

There are quite a few German restaurants because it is a Bavarian town- but there are some other non-German restaurants as well. Many of the restaurants are outdoor seating- so make sure if you are visiting in Winter that you dress warm enough to eat outside. Also none of the restaurants take reservations and therefore you will wait in line for a table.- I would recommend doing two things to prevent this  1. Eating at odd times- either late lunch or early dinner  2. If you have a big group maybe be willing to split into two groups- I saw many groups of 10 waiting forever.  If you want to eat inside Gustav's has indoor seating. We ate here Saturday night because I didn't want to eat in the bitter cold. 

The christmas lights are very pretty in the downtown area. Apparently they used to have a daily lighting ceremony but got rid of it due to covid. Instead the lights are on all the time- but obviously are prettier at night. 

                                                                                                           

One of the shops that we really enjoyed was Kris Kringl- which was a Christmas shop. It is a two story shop filled to the brim with Christmas décor.  We got a Leavenworth ornament from here. There were a lot of fun boutiques to explore. 

Tips and recommendations for visiting the downtown area during christmas time. Keep in mind this is the most popular time to visit this town. 

1. Be prepared to park far away and walk or pay for parking. We did find free parking but it was over a half mile away from the downtown area. On Saturday the going rate for all day parking was $20. 

2. Hwy 2 will be fairly congested during the weekends in December- be prepared- it moves very slow. 

3. They say kids can sled on the "hill" in the downtown area. I would say don't waste your time. I'm from the flattest part of the Midwest and I've still seen hills bigger there than in the downtown area. Plus it was so over sledded that it was just a GIANT mud pit. If you actually want to go sledding there is a place to go tubing and honestly you are surrounded by mountains. I saw many people just pulled off on the side of the road and just let their kids sled down the mountain instead. 

4. If possible I would recommend visiting on a week day instead of weekend during December. The weekends just get so congested. Unless you love being packed in with other people then go for it. We explored the town on a Friday afternoon and it was so much better than when we went the next day. I was so done with people after a half hour. 

Hiking Icicle Gorge Trail 

So we were in this weird period of time where there is somewhat too much snow to hike but not enough snow to snowshoe or cross country ski. This was disappointing because I really wanted to go snowshoeing.  We decided to try a popular hiking trail in the area called the Icicle Gorge Trail. This trail is about a half hour drive from downtown Leavenworth- the last bit of the road is a dirt road. It had just snowed the night before so we were very happy that we had an all wheel drive SUV. The drive was beautiful though- it follows the Icicle creek for the majority of the route. We were one of the only people on the road so we took our time. 

The Trailhead and parking for the Icicle Gorge trail is a half mile from the Chatter Creek Ranger Station. There is a lot of parking here but I could imagine that it would fill up quickly during the busy season. There is also pit toilets here and at Chatter Creek Ranger station. 

The trail itself is a 4 mile loop. We didn't do the whole thing because of the wetness and the cold but we completed about half of it before turning back. We were the only ones on the trail and it was so pretty!! We saw a wood pecker at the end of the hike. 

I'm hesitant to recommend doing this. Yes it was gorgeous but I would be very worried about someone without all wheel drive attempting the drive and the hike. We are also out of cell phone reception so if something happened then we would be in trouble. If you do decide to do it proceed with caution if there is this much snow. Max said that this was the most amount of snow that he would've been willing to tolerate- anymore and he said he would've turned back. Obviously when you hike always have plenty of food, water, and first aid. Also have a basic idea of where you are and where you are going. 

We really want to come back in summer and complete this hike- it was so pretty!!

Reindeer Farm 

One of the things that I was most looking forward to with this visit was going to the Leavenworth Reindeer farm. I had heard many good things about this place and the reindeer looked like so much fun. 

Information about the farm: 

-The farm is a few minutes away from downtown Leavenworth. 

-It is very important that you schedule your visit to the farm ahead of time- especially if you are going in December! They are very popular and the spots fill up very quickly. For December they recommend a month or two ahead of time! 

-Tickets to visit the farm are $25 for ages 3+. Ages 2 and under don't require a ticket. 

- They are open all year round except for the month of March when they close for farm repairs. 

-At your timed entrance time they provide a great informational session and educate you all about reindeer and their role in history. I thought it was very interesting!

- Once they let you into the reindeer enclosure you are allowed to stay in there as long as you want (or until the farm closes)

-Make sure you wear boots- and not cute boots I mean waterproof boots. It is very muddy all over the farm 
- They provide you with reindeer food in small cups for you to feed them. Most of the reindeer are not afraid to come right up to you and beg for food. A few followed me around until I fed them. 

- The staff is very nice about taking pictures for you and they are very informative about the reindeer. 

This is a baby Reindeer (born this March) Aren't his little antlers adorable!?!

Overall I would highly recommend the reindeer farm for people of all ages! We really enjoyed it and would love to go back!

Overall Leavenworth thoughts

We had a great little getaway- we really want to come back to this area during the summer. If you aren't super attached to coming during the Christmas season I would recommend coming in January or February instead- then you have less crowds and more snow to do outdoor activities. Our plan is to possibly come during that time next year and possibly go skiing. 

Things that I considered doing but didn't get to:

- Snowmobiling- I really wanted to do this but never actually pulled the trigger- again I don't think there was enough snow- but would for sure do it in January or February. 

- The Nutcracker Museum- this is in downtown. We didn't get to it because it was packed every time we walked past it. Again perhaps during and off peak time 

Other things that you can do:

Skiing and tubing at Stevens Pass- this is not technically in Leavenworth but nearby 

Sleigh Rides- unfortunately these are super expensive. The only way I could ever see affording it is to find at least 10 people to come with me