Freshly baked pretzels, shining tree lights and sleds in the snow lend a ruddy warmth to an unlikely collection of Bavarian-themed chalets in the mountains of Washington state.

Leavenworth was a near ghost town on the eastern slopes of the Cascade Mountains, with abandoned mines and abandoned dreams. Then, desperate business owners made a far-fetched pitch.

Leavenworth, Washington, has become a holiday hotspot, transforming from a fading mining town into the Pacific Northwest's festive capital. View on euronews