The Magical Mountains of Leavenworth, WA
Before June, I had never even heard of Leavenworth, Washington. But that’s not saying much because I haven’t heard of the most towns in Colorado…where I’ve lived my entire life. But after experiencing Santa Ynez Valley and the adorable Danish town Solvang, I knew I would love Leavenworth. And I absolutely did. The mountains of Washington are beautiful and this quaint little town is the perfect place to visit in the summer OR winter.
If you’ve never heard of Leavenworth, it may be because this little Bavarian village is tucked back in the middle of the state of Washington, about 2 hours from Seattle. I took an Alaska flight to Seattle to meet up with my amazing friend Cassy of Fed and Fit, then we had a short flight to Wenatchee then it was about 40 minutes to Leavenworth. But I didn’t mind the travel since the traffic was clear and the views were beautiful. And once we pulled up to the Posthotel, we were welcomed with the most beautiful view of the mountains from our hotel room.
I’ve stayed in a good amount of hotels throughout my travels in the past couple years and this one is definitely high on my list. Maybe even my absolute favorite. It was stunning. And no detail was overlooked. The Posthotel was just opened in the past year after almost 7 years of creating this absolutely perfect space. This hotel is the most centrally located property that is set along the river with breathtaking mountain views. And it’s an adult-only spa hotel, which means is designed for the ultimate relaxing weekend. The Posthotel brings authentic wellness concepts from the Alps which means you’ll find soothing saltwater hydrotherapy pools, an array of steam baths and saunas with varying temperatures, cool plunge pools and Kneipp Stepping Pools, which all serve distinct purposes in healing, restoring, and relaxing the body. And the swim-out saltwater pool features massage nooks and bubble lounges for the ultimate soak year-round. They even have lounge waterbeds beds and nap areas scattered throughout to help you truly relax and take in every second of your vacation.
After checking in to the Posthotel and immediately not wanting to leave our room, we put our big girl pants on and made our way to the Watershed Cafe, which was incredibly easy since it was about a 1 minute way from our hotel. That’s one of my favorite things about small towns like Leavenworth – everything is easy to get to in no time flat.
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Watershed Cafe is an intimate restaurant that offers locally-sourced, farm-to-table dining with really incredibly food. And if you’re into wine, they have a HUGE wine list to choose from. We downed a couple glasses of champagne (which we regretted the next morning) then had an absolutely DELICIOUS meal (which we did not regret the next morning). We started our meal off with a Tom Kha soup that I could not get enough of. Then I ordered the most amazing salmon dish that came with Lemon Butter Roasted Wild AK Salmon, organic stoneground polenta, sherry shallot dressing, micro celery, and roasted red pepper coulis. It was OUTSTANDING. And I ate every last bite! This restaurant was so easy to eat gluten free and leave feeling satisfied without being overly full!
We left the overly full part to dessert back at the Posthotel. One of the many amazing things the Posthotel does is offer dessert and coffee every single night. And not just any coffee. They have a full espresso machine so they will whip up any coffee drink that suits your fancy! From an iced lavender latte to an americano with cream. They will make sure you have a coffee you love in one hand and an amazing dessert (or two) in the other. They even made paleo brownies while we were there! We snagged some treats to go and headed straight to our room to enjoy dessert in bed. The life.
Another thing you’ll find and love with you’re staying at the Posthotel is the European breakfast buffet you’ll find every morning. It features eggs cooked to order, German sausage and potatoes, freshly baked breads, specialty cheeses and meats, fresh produce, and more. And of course, specialty coffee drinks! Every morning we loaded up on their gluten free bread topped with homemade butters and jams along with fresh fruit and amazing cheeses. It was so good! And the scrambles were outrageous. If I did better with eggs, I would try to make breakfast exactly like the Posthotel every morning! And one of my favorite parts about this hotel is that since it’s a spa hotel, they promote you wearing your robe as much as possible. Which meant I wore mine all.the.time. To breakfast, to lunch, to dessert, to get water, to walk around the hotel. I never took it off. I’m honestly surprised I didn’t just steal it. But you know, class.
And even though I’ve obviously said quite enough about the Posthotel, I haven’t even gotten to the best part – the Spa. Errrrrmerrrrgerrrrd. This spa is absolutely fantastic. The spa offers European practices that specialize in facials, massages and body treatments. I enjoyed the most amazing massage EVER. I actually fell asleep at the end because I was so relaxed. My masseuse Nori made sure to work out all the kinks in my back beforehand then made the rest of the treatment incredibly enjoyable and just straight up lovely. I think I snorted myself awake at one point but Nori made sure not to laugh. What a gentleman.
When we FINALLY decided take our robes off and leave the hotel, we made the short walk to Enchantment Park to meet with Wildwater River Guides for a private downriver Icicle Creek SUP Excursion. We had the sweetest guide who took us on our 2-3 hour trip down the river. We took a quick shuttle to an area near Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery, then paddled down back to Enchantment Park. Both Cassy and I fell in at one point and it’s definitely called Icicle Creek for a reason. I’ve paddle boarded mostly on lakes and a little in the ocean, but the river was pretty easy through the areas we went. This would be an awesome excursion to do with the whole family! There is also kayaking, but I think paddelboarding is way more fun!
After drying off and warming back up, we headed to lunch at Sulla Vita. This restaurant had a great outdoor patio for a little people watching during the day. And it was super easy to get in a delicious meal with some extra veggies while we were there. We enjoyed the steak with kale and a blue cheese dressing along with a side of parsnips and cauliflower, which was sooooooo good!
Then dinner was straight up insanity. If you’re ever in Leavenworth, Mana is an absolutely must. Mana offers a multi-course culinary experience on Fridays and Saturdays. It’s a completely unique experience that I had never had before. Three hours, eight courses, and wine or non-alcoholic elixirs pairing with every dish. You can see one of their sample menus here. We had everything from quail eggs to carrot soup to lamb meatballs. And every single non-alcoholic elixir was FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC. Mana uses local and organic ingredients to create their meals and it truly shows. Everything was flavorful, fresh and truly a thing of beauty. This restaurant is a step above the rest. I loved it so damn much!
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The next morning, we headed to the Kingfisher Restaurant at the Sleeping Lady Resort for a delicious breakfast. The Sleeping Lady Resort is definitely the place to stay when you’re traveling with your family because there are endless things to do. This resort is tucked back into the mountains so there are trails everywhere, a spa, mercantile, fitness room, library, different restaurants to choose from, and everything for the outdoor lover. And something that’s so cool about the resort is they really want all of their guests to eat well while they are there while still being able to stay healthy and eat clean. So all the restaurants use local ingredients from their own two-acre garden! While we were there, we loaded our plates full of amazing food, including the BEST EVER gluten free scones. They were truly a thing of magic. I could have eaten 87.
After breakfast, we went to the Leavenworth Reindeer Farm. The thing about Leavenworth is that it truly comes alive in the winter around Christmas time. Leavenworth really goes all about with Christmas lights everywhere, Santa, sleigh rides, and of course, reindeer. But luckily you can still visit the reindeer in the summer time as well! At the Leavenworth Reindeer Farm you can feet and pet the reindeer and see the little baby reindeer with their moms. And they also have draft horses, ducks, geese, and pigs! The family who runs the farm was so incredibly friendly and sweet! If you have kids, this is a great spot to take them because they will be entertained forever!
After our reindeer date and escaping with absolutely no poop on our shoes, we decided hopped on a tract tour with Wedge Mountain Winery! The owner of Wedge Mountain Winery leads a tour through the orchards and vineyards on a straw bale tractor while you sip wine and enjoy the view. Then he also showed us where they make a store the wine! The owners were absolutely adorable and the wine was delicious. Just make sure to watch your head because the apples don’t give AF where your head is at on the tour.
And for our last night in Leavenworth, we visited Icicle Ridge Winery to experience their annual “White Party”! Everyone comes dress in white and the event features four white wine releases paired with small bites. Then as the evening goes on and the sunshine dims, the music turns up and there is dancing all night long. We sadly didn’t make it that late because the temperature got real cool and we didn’t come prepared for the chilly wind. Instead we exchanged our dresses for robes and ate dessert back in bed at the Posthotel.
If you haven’t been to Leavenworth, WA yet, plan a trip. Book a few nights at the Posthotel, dine at Mana, paddle board down the river, and soak up every single view while you’re there. It’s a stunning place with a small town vibe that has about a million things to do while you’re there. Whether you’re into the outdoors or just interested in the spa, Leavenworth has something for everyone! And I’m so glad I got to experience it all with Cassy!
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Quick Summary of Leavenworth:
- Where to Stay
- Posthotel – Stay here for a couples getaway
- Sleeping Lady Resort – Stay here when you’re with your family
- Where to Eat
- What To Do
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This trip was hosted by Leavenworth, WA, but all opinions and experiences are my own!
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