Leavenworth
Resort Area · Leavenworth, Washington
A town of about 2,300 in the Cascade foothills that rebuilt its entire centre as a Bavarian village in the 1960s, after the railway relocated and the sawmill closed and the place was facing extinction. The theming is total and unembarrassed - every shopfront, including the petrol station and the supermarket. It worked: Leavenworth now draws on the order of two million visitors a year, which makes it one of the most visited places in Washington and by a wide margin the strangest.
940 US Highway 2, Leavenworth, Washington, 98826, United States
A working town, open at all hours. Shops generally 10 AM to 6 PM, restaurants later. The Village of Lights runs from late November through much of the winter and is when the town is busiest. Oktoberfest weekends in autumn and the Christmas lighting weekends in December fill every bed for miles and gridlock US 2.