Winter driving conditions Leavenworth
 

Coming to Seattle on Christmas with no definite plans. Leavenworth sparked some interest but I don't think more than a day or two is needed. Seems motel prices are cheaper in Wenatchee than in Leavenworth. Is the commute between the two towns do able in the winter?

Any suggestions on how to spend a week in WA would be greatly appreciated. No desire to go to Canada, done southwest WA coast.

Leavenworth is beautiful in the winter! Wenatchee is fairly close, but I much prefer Leavenworth and for us, it is worth any extra cost in hotels. Coming from Seattle take HWY 2 over Stevens Pass and you arrive right in Leavenworth. Make sure that you have chains to go over the pass. How much time all depends on your interests. There is amazing cross country skiing as well as snowshoeing all over that area. We recently moved away from the Seattle area, but spend several Christmas holidays in the Leavenworth area and thoroughly enjoyed it. Two places that I can personally recommend are Blackbird Lodge, which is right on the river, and then the other place is Pension Anna. Both are wonderful and we have stayed at both several times.


Cafe Mozart is a nice restaurant, and for more casual try Andreas Keller. There is a wine and cheese store called The Cheesemonger Shop which is always a hit with us. The owners are very friendly and just bought the store a couple years ago. They do close down in the winter for a couple days each week as the man is a big skier, so if that is a store you want to visit make sure of their days and hours. Other good restaurants are Visconti's, the Soup Cellar, and then Home Fires Bakery for breads. We have eaten at all these places many times over the years.

I must say that we are quite sad about not getting to spend Christmas there this year.

Both towns are on the leeward side of the Cascades, so it should be pretty dry and you usually shouldn't find much snow. The tricky part, like mms said, is over Stevens Pass.

Not much snow? Then how are people going cross country skiing and snowshoeing? The Leavenworth area is in the mountains, and is known for it's winter snow sports...

There ought to be snow in the area, certainly there will be at the summit. If you're not used to chaining up, or - check this - if you're renting a car and the rental car agency is not thrilled with you putting chains on their rig - you might think about Plan B.

Wenatchee is cheaper for a reason. If you don't want to stay in Leavenworth proper (or if like us you find the yodel-ay-hee-hoo thing a tad grating, no, more than a tad....) then look at Cashmere, a fairly cute small town halfway between Wenatchee and Leavenworth.

Otherwise, you might want to make it a more urban time, plenty of places to shelter from likely wet weather (and short days). Hit the sales, try out a bazillion restaurants, museums. Watch the New Years fireworks off the Space Needle, things like that. The city can be lots of fun.

Alki Tours offers trips by train to Leavenworth during the Christmas season. You might look into that (http://www.alkitours.com/december.html). This is a very popular excursion, so you will want to book ahead if you decide to do this.

You can of course simply book your own trip via Amtrak, but the Leavenworth website (http://www.leavenworth.org/gethere.html#train) says the train actually stops in downtown Wenatchee, which is 25 miles from Leavenworth. However, if you click on the "TRAIN SERVICE" link on the LEavenworth site, it appears that a new service called the "Icicle Express" actually provides service between Seattle and Leavenworth itself. I guess you you'll have to contact those services directly to get the real story.

Ken

With a week there is no reason you can't do both Seattle as well as the Leavenworth area. Cashmere is ok...but there really isn't anywhere to stay. We have been there in the late summer and fall, but never had a desire to go in the winter. Don't worry, there is usually plenty of snow in the Leavenworth area.