5 Pacific Northwest Towns That Could Easily Pass For Europe, According To Experts

The Pacific Northwest has lots going for it. From the wave-bashed rocks that line the Oregon coast to one of the largest rainforests in the U.S., all the way to the snow-capped volcanic peaks of the Cascades, it's a chunk of the country brimming with eye-watering vistas and natural wonders. But there are also plenty of enchanting towns to be found here, many of which you'd be forgiven for thinking belong in Europe rather than the U.S.

These places in the PNW (as the region is often known) will transport you across the great Atlantic to the Old World, with architecture, festivals, food, and drink that recall the towns of Switzerland, Germany, and Norway. They are the sole focus of this guide. To compile it, we trawled through a selection of leading publications, local blogs, and visitor testimonials to discover five Pacific Northwest towns that could pass for Europe that you should consider putting on your next itinerary.

Each location has its own unique feel and history. Some are outdoors hubs nestled in the mountains, where beer gardens give way to epic forested hiking trails. Others are coastal escapes home to Nordic bakeries lining pretty main streets. Others still remain under the radar, offering a taste of Europe away from the tourist crowds, unexpected Oktoberfest celebrations, or enchanting festive markets come the wintertime.

No list of the most European-feeling towns in the Pacific Northwest region could possibly be complete without Leavenworth. One of the most mentioned towns in our search, Leavenworth is an underrated West Coast gem that's got the feel of a real German mountain town. And that's no accident, either. Its townspeople deliberately transformed the former frontier town on the eastern flank of the Cascades into an homage to all things southern Germany in the 1960s, all to lure the eye of would-be tourists.

It worked. Leavenworth draws in more than 2 million visitors each year, who come for the town's blend of charming Bavarian cultural fests, handsome architecture, and adventures in the great outdoors. For the European feel, you'll want to mosey down to the pedestrianized main drag, where German-style beer gardens spill onto the sidewalks, gingerbread bakeries beckon alongside pretzel stands, and rows of classic Alpine-style building facades rub shoulders.

Things go off the proverbial hook at Christmas time, too, when Leavenworth is usually blanketed in snow, and the Village of Lights event adds a festive cheer to the street scenes. Summer, meanwhile, is high time for hikers, who have loads of paths at the foot of their boots, from the 8.7-miler to Colchuck Lake to the moderately challenging route along the crest of Icicle Ridge.

Another top mention alongside Leavenworth is Poulsbo, another Washington town. But, if Leavenworth is Washington's homage to all things Bavaria, Poulsbo is an ode to another corner of Europe: Scandinavia. Hailed as Washington's "Little Norway," Poulsbo can teleport you straight to European charm with its handsome Front Street, lined with timber-clad buildings strewn with Norwegian flag bunting.

The State of Washington Tourism highlights the center of town as a fine place to stroll around and soak up the continental vibe. Travelers should head to the Poulsbo Heritage Museum, where they can unravel the story of the founding of the town by Scandinavian settlers. Then there's the raucous Viking Fest, an annual blowout of all things Scandi that takes over the town on every third weekend of May. Expect parades with colorful costumes galore, and authentic Norwegian food cooked by local bakers and chefs.

And it's not just the downtown that recalls Norway here. The surrounding natural setting also does a great impression of the coastal reaches of northern Europe. The saltwater of the Puget Sound sloshes out front; the peaks of the great Olympic Mountains spike the horizon in the distance. During the warmer months, you can set off by kayak around Liberty Bay to spot seals on the shoreline. Or channel a little of what the Norwegians call "friluftsliv" (a life in connection with nature) by escaping to Poulsbo Wilderness Park and immersing yourself in the wild evergreen forests of the PNW.

Follow Interstate 5 south from the big city of Portland for around 50 minutes, and you'll whiz right through little Mt. Angel. It's home to fewer than 4,000 people in all, but it hardly feels like it come September when the annual Oktoberfest celebrations get into full swing, when, according to some estimations, a whopping 350,000 people show up to partake in dancing, beer drinking, and even hotly contested wiener dog races.

All that beer drinking and lederhosen-wearing should offer a clue to the particular continental theme of this Oregon town: Bavaria. Only here, unlike in Leavenworth, the European heritage reaches all the way back to its founding days in the late 19th century, when it was settled by Benedictine monks out of Engelberg, Switzerland. You can now take a heritage walk around the old center of Mt. Angel, which takes you past the town's charming Glockenspiel clock and the Mount Angel Abbey, where the monks settled more than 140 years ago.

Wine lovers will also rejoice, for this European-flavored spot comes with a side of award-winning labels. They're courtesy of the greater Willamette Valley, which is home to upwards of 700 wineries. Hanson Vineyards is one of the closest to town, less than a 10-minute drive to the northeast along the Cascade Foothills wine trail, a route of dozens of wineries encompassed by the bucolic backcountry of north-central Oregon.

A taste of the European Low Countries awaits in Lynden, a small town in the rural heartlands of northern Washington state that mimics the feel of a bona fide Dutch village. It's a place where you can look up to see the creaking arms of a vintage windmill above the sidewalks, and where you might even hear a little bit of Dutch spoken in the local cafes and bakeries.

Lynden's beating heart is Front Street, which also happens to be the main drag of a self-guided historic walking tour that moves past some of the most iconic buildings in town, many of them with that charming, Old World Netherlander look. You'll see shops that are over 100 years old as well as handsome Dutch Revival-style frontispieces. Visitors should also peer behind the façade of the Dutch Village Mall, where they'll find artisan craft stores, Thai kitchens, and even an indoor fish pond.

The surrounding countryside is another important part of Lynden's identity. This is a famously agricultural corner of The Evergreen State — by some estimations, a whopping 90% of the frozen raspberries grown in the U.S. hail from here. There's even a culinary route planned out for the food buffs who want to sample the farm-to-table goodies Lynden can offer. It's called the Eat Local Lynden Loop, and it begins at Bellewood Farms & Distillery, an apple and pear orchard that boasts views of Mount Baker, and an onsite cafe.

Although it's less well known, Oregon's Ashland still squeezes into last place on this list of the most European-feeling towns in the Pacific Northwest. It does so largely because this so-called "Broadway of the West Coast" has one of the largest theater scenes outside of New York, and a big part of that is down to its annual Shakespeare festival. That festival has been going for nearly a century, bringing the repertoire of the English master to the stages of the PNW.

Speaking of stages, there's one that stands out from the crowd among those seeking a taste of old Europe: Ashland's handsome Allen Elizabethan Theatre, a playhouse built to mimic the look and feel of one from the age of Shakespeare himself, complete with half-timbered period design, jutting terraces, and an open roof. Of course, the plays will help teleport you to another place. Expect reproductions of works from the whole of Shakespeare's body of work, with classics like "A Midsummer Night's Dream" alongside more niche productions like "Coriolanus."

The other bonus to Ashland? When you're done with all that historic English make-believe, you return to the present and realize you're right on the cusp of the rugged Oregon Cascades, with ski runs and hiking on offer depending on the season. 

To identify the top five Pacific Northwest towns that locals love for their European feel, we reviewed a wide selection of leading blog posts, publications, and testimonials to see which places provided visitors the greatest chance of feeling transported to the continent. These articles and lists were sourced from publications like the Smithsonian Magazine, the family travel blog Cascadia Kids, the Washington-based magazine 1889, Best of the Northwest, and the Portland-based travel blog Land of Marvels.

We also trawled through pages of search results for terms related to European towns in the Pacific Northwest, assigning each town a single point for each mention. The list above shows the towns with the most points overall. In the event that several places tied for last place, the author drew on their knowledge of travel along the Pacific coast to pick the most European-feeling place in the bunch.