Leavenworth

Markus posing in front of the Front Street Park Gazebo in Leavenworth

About Leavenworth

If you've ever had the desire to visit Belgium, but haven't had the opportunity to do so, we have a fun little update for you this week. We spent the Thanksgiving long weekend (the US one, that is) in Leavenworth, Washington and it was a special getaway from the cities of the Pacific Northwest into a vacation that's within driving distance, but felt overseas. Located within the Cascade Mountains, Leavenworth is a Bavarian-styled village and a hidden gem in the Pacific Northwest.

Markus in a quiet morning in Leavenworth in front of the Danish Bakery and a pretzel-filled tree

Established in the late 1960's, Leavenworth gives tourists around the world, but especially in our backyard a taste of Bavarian life, which includes all the sausages, schnitzels and German beer that you would expect! Decorated in Alpine-style buildings, walking through the village really makes you forget that you're in the middle of Washington.

Leavenworth's tourism is known to explode during Christmas season and they've been nationally recognized as a holiday town. The town goes all-in with full displays of Christmas lighting and decorations throughout the streets. When we were there, we seemed to have hit a sweet spot where the Christmas decorations were up already, but it wasn't technically "Christmas season" so it wasn't packed with people just yet. If you wanted to have a getaway with your family over Thanksgiving, Leavenworth is absolutely worth checking out. Consider this your warning to book your accommodations early!

Markus standing along the streets of Leavenworth on a cold winter morning

We spent the weekend here with Markus and it was extremely cold. We were lucky because while we were there, it snowed just enough to lightly cover the town with a white dust, but not enough to make driving dangerous. Since the Christmas lights and decorations were already up, this made for a real winter wonderland. If you're coming around the winter time, just be warned that it'll be cold and you don't be allowed indoors with your dog. Make sure to check driving conditions on the way to Leavenworth.

The village itself is dog-friendly and there were plenty of dogs that we came across. Markus was in his element, but if your dog has short to medium fur, be sure to pack something that'll keep them warm. Had it been warm enough, though, I'm sure that the restaurant patios would've allowed dogs, but I can't say for sure. The only reservation that I have is that during peak season, the streets can be packed with people and cars in the evening, so if your dog isn't great with big crowds, this is something to consider (but the mornings were fairly quiet).

So with that, there's a list of a few of our favourite things that we did with Markus in the Leavenworth area!

Obertal Inn

Type: Inn (2-star)
Pet Fee: $20/pet, per night

A critical part of travelling with a dog for us falls on the accommodations. The Obertal Inn didn't just meet our needs for Markus, but they were also consistent with the theme of the rest of the town. Located right in the village, the Obertal Inn is steps away from all the fun, but also just far enough that we and the dog could get a quiet night's rest.

Our room included a full kitchen, a living room space with a TV and a separate bedroom where we kept Markus while we were out in the village. Our bathroom was massive and had both a shower and a massage bathtub, which was a pleasant surprise. For a reactive dog who gets territorial and tends to growl or bark when he hears other voices or footsteps, we had an easy time with Markus at the Obertal Inn since it wasn't as busy as a hotel. Having a separate room that creates space between the front door helps with this.

The one negative comment that I had with the space was that we could hear our next door neighbours very clearly and it was obvious we shared a wall. This got to an extreme when it was Sunday morning and their favourite football team was playing, but that's more on the neighbours than it was the inn. When we travel to Leavenworth again, we'll definitely be checking the Obertal Inn out again.

Our Recommendation for Reactive Dogs

Since you get an entire kitchen, bedroom, living room and bathroom (a massive one) to yourself, the stay here was absolutely great. The proximity to the busier areas were convenient as well. I will say that we were able to hear our next door neighbours almost word for word for their conversations. I’m not sure if the walls are just paper thin or if they were speaking loudly, but it triggered Markus into barking a couple of times. We were also able to hear the noise from the streets in the evening when we were trying to sleep, which caused him to bark a couple of times as well.

Wallace Falls State Park

On the way into Leavenworth, we stopped by Wallace Falls State Park to stretch our legs a little bit. This hike ended up being longer than we thought it would be (spent too much time doing Black Friday shopping) and since we arrived later than we should've, we had to cut it short. We'll be sure to do this hike again in the future and we did a breakdown into our experience hiking the Wallace Falls State Park.

Lake Wenatchee State Park

While we were in Leavenworth already, we took a few hours out of our day and drove out to Lake Wenatchee State Park. We got extremely lucky because it began to snow while we were there so the park was completely empty except for us and it was fully blanketed in untouched snow! It was a unique experience at Lake Wenatchee State Park, which we documented here.

Christkindlmarkt

Markus posing in front of the Christmas lights at Front Street Park in Leavenworth

Leading up to the Christmas season, Leavenworth hosts the Christkindlmarkt every year on Thanksgiving weekend. The market is filled with Bavarian foods, handmade arts & crafts and other things for the family to do. We just so happened to be there on the last night of the market and it is also outdoors right next to Front Street Park, so we were able to take Markus through it! Keep in mind that Christkindlmrkt is only there for one weekend, so you might want to book ahead of time.

Leavenworth Sausage Garten

So this isn't exactly a dog activity, but when the weather is cold and you're hungry and out with your dog, you want to make a stop to warm you up. The patios aren't open, so what do you do? You head to the Leavenworth Sausage Garten. Here, you can have your choices of Bavarian-style sausages (I discovered Bockwurst, which quickly became my favourite) served on bread and your choice of toppings, German beer and pretzels! Dogs are allowed in the seating area, which is warmed up with electric heaters and the live music playing in the corner.

Other things to do in Leavenworth

There are plenty of things you can do in Leavenworth, but not all of it with a dog. Here are a few more of our favourite things that we enjoyed, but couldn't do with Markus.

J5 Coffee (on 9th St.)

I love waking up in the morning with a good cup of coffee. J5 Coffee not only satisfied my nagging need for a quality cup, but they also let Markus wait indoors while we waited. The coffee and the staff there were both fantastic!

Tumwater Bakery & Pizza

After grabbing coffee from J5 Coffee, we headed a couple doors down to Tumwater Bakery & Pizza for some pastries for breakfast. Their croissants (multiple variations) were so good and I regret not having found them earlier and then not having purchased more to take home with us! I generally like chocolate croissants, but I highly recommend the almond croissant.

Andreas Keller

There are plenty of places to try out Bavarian food while you're in Leavenworth, but we were recommended to try out Andreas Keller and it didn't disappoint. Well, the only disappointment we had was that we were at the end of a huge line up roughly estimated for 2 hours. We didn't wait around (because again, there's plenty of good food in Leavenworth), but we did make it a point to go extra early the following day! Do note that they don't take reservations.

The food and the experience was so fun. If you've ever sought out restaurants where the servers are in full lederhosen serving you platters of a giant fried hock with a knife through it, look no further. Aside from the Schweinshaxe, we also ordered their Schnitzel Cordon Bleu and everything was absolutely delicious. I would make a trip to Leavenworth again just for this!

Picture of the Schweinshaxe at Andreas Keller in Leavenworth. Markus wanted some, but sorry, bud.

If you're in the Pacific Northwest area, Leavenworth is worth experiencing. It's a great spot for the family and even for dogs!

Disclaimer

Markus is a reactive, but not aggressive dog. His instinct is to avoid other dogs and he may growl, bark or lunge if provoked, but will not attack. We normally do not have issues with leashed dogs when both sides are controlled, but we will be on guard when an oncoming dog is not leashed. There are varying levels to a dog’s reactivity and only you can decide if this park, trail or hotel is appropriate for your dog. Our visits generally will not include off-leash areas; most experiences shared on The Markus Project are within leashed or undefined areas.

Please remember that our past experience visiting a park, trail or hotel may not be the same as your experience at the same park, trail or hotel. We have no control of who visits the park and whether they adhere to park rules - like leashing their dogs on leash-required paths - or not. Please use your discretion with the information provided and with your personal knowledge of your dog’s reactivity when visiting these parks, trails or hotels.