Leavenworth, WA

[Westernstar1]

Has anyone ever taken the Empire Builder to "Bavarian Village" of Leavenworth, Washington? It's something I would like to do, someday.

http://www.leavenworth.com/

The station or platform at Leavenworth:



Leavenworth is a little over 3 hrs east of Seattle. The train arrives, from Seattle, at 8 PM. The Amtrak station or platform is about 2 miles from town. There is a shuttle to town, but I don't know the shuttle meets you at the station, each evening, or if you have to call it. Also, for anyone who has visited Leavenworth, what hotels or motels could you recommend?

I never book coach, on Amtrak, for a variety of reasons. Has anyone heard of any rumors as to the possibility of the Builder adding Business Class?

WS

[hi55us]

I've been to Leavenworth, by car, not by Amtrak. It's a wonderful German town nestled in the Cascades and is easily accessible by foot. They do have uber and it looks to be ~$8-$10 for a ride from the Amtrak to the downtown area. Lots of good hotels, if you're looking for something unique I would recommend the Alpen Rose Inn. (https://alpenroseinn.com/) There's also your usual selection of Hampton Inn/Holiday Inns.

[Dick H]

Thanks to Trainweb, here's a bit more about the Leavenworth stop and city.
http://trainweb.org/usarail/leavenworth.htm

Leavenworth hosted 7,584 passengers in FY 18, the latest number I and find.

[Westernstar1]

Thanks for the information and links.

It sounds like a day or two in Leavenworth would be fun. Another possibility, if I didn't want to hop on the Builder, would be to fly for Seattle to Wenatchee via Alaska Airlines. Its only a 45 min flight. Then pick up a rental car in Wenatchee for about a half hour drive to Leavenworth.

WS

[hi55us]

Yeah that's an option, but keep in mind the traffic in Leavenworth can be bad at times, last time I was there in the fall you had to park at the high school and take a shuttle bus to the downtown area (which doesn't have much parking).

I would probably just drive from Seattle instead of flying to Wenatchee and renting a car. It's not that long of a drive and it's pretty scenic going through the Cascades (Assuming you're doing this drive in the summer and there's no snow in the pass)