These 7 Towns In Washington Were Ranked Among US Favorites In 2026

Travelers keep voting the same seven Washington towns onto their favorites lists in 2026. Leavenworth reinvented itself as a Bavarian village and now draws crowds for its 9,000-nutcracker museum. Cougar sends hikers into Ape Cave and out toward the Mount St. Helens blast zone. Port Townsend fills its streets with Victorian architecture and orca-watching charters on the Salish Sea. Chelan pours vintages from more than 30 wineries above a glacier-fed lake. Each town earned its spot on the strength of one thing visitors cannot get anywhere else.

Port Townsend

Port Townsend is an Olympic Peninsula community just two hours away from Seattle. It regularly ranks highly for its Victorian architecture, museums, and beaches. Visitors often pick between different itineraries. A historic route goes by the Coast Artillery Museum, set in a 1904 barracks, and the Port Townsend Aero Museum, with more than 30 rare aircraft on display. It also takes in the Commanding Officer's Quarters Museum, where the commander for Fort Worden lived in the early 20th century. A maritime itinerary will include multiple beachside parks, such as Fort Worden State Park Beach and North Beach County Park. The waters are known for orcas, humpbacks, gray whales, and other marine creatures. Several tour companies offer wildlife sightseeing experiences, such as Olympic Tours, which goes through the Salish Sea.

Friday Harbor

Some of Washington's best towns lie off the mainland, on its islands, such as Friday Harbor, the largest town on San Juan Island. The name suits it, as it's a great place to spend a long weekend, especially for hiking the trails in San Juan Island National Historic Park. It gets its historic title from the various British and American army camps established in the 1850s during a tense border dispute between the two countries. The park includes several beaches, such as the choppy waves of South Beach and the gentle tide pools of Granny's Cove. Friday Harbor also celebrates Washington's large and diverse population of whales through The Whale Museum, located close to the ferry port, and through exhibits of fine art, sculpture, and photography at the San Juan Islands Museum of Art.

Stevenson

Stevenson is a favorite escape for Portland, Oregon, residents looking for a quieter vibe in the Columbia River Gorge and heart-pounding water activities, such as kiteboarding. The winds of the Columbia River stay consistent, which keeps kites afloat for windsurfing and kiteboarding at spots like Pebble Beach and Bob's Beach Family Park. Exploring the gorge itself is another popular outdoor activity, with a 3.4-mile loop leading to the three-tiered waterfall at Falls Creek Falls in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, and a more strenuous hike up Dog Mountain, 6.8 miles long. The town keeps this outdoorsy energy downtown with the appropriately named Walking Man Brewery offering food and beer for tired travelers.

Cougar

Cougar is filled with natural beauty. It was named after the cougars that were once so prevalent in the region. The big reason folks come here is due to its close proximity to Mount St. Helens, a volcano that erupted in 1980. Today, visitors can hike through a dark Lava Tube, or get close to the blast zone on the east side of the mountain. Cougar has its own draws, such as Ape Cave, a 2.5-mile lava tube that ranks as the longest continuous one in the continental United States. It has short, easier hikes and a 1.5-mile upper cave trail leading to an eight-foot rock wall climb. For above-ground adventure, Cougar is close to the Trail of Two Forests Interpretive Site, which was split in two 2,000 years ago by lava flow from Mount St. Helens.

Chelan

Chelan is a highly ranked wine town on the shores of Lake Chelan. The lake itself runs a clear, crystal blue color. This color comes from the glaciers up above in the Glacier Peak Wilderness. Lake Chelan State Park is the primary entry point to see the lake and take in its mountain views from its sandy beach. The waters support the growing conditions for the grapes used in Chelan's wine industry. The town has more than 30 wineries to visit and sample vintage wines, including Amos Rome Vineyard and Benson Vineyards Estate Winery. Mountain hiking is easily accessible from Chelan, with 250 miles of trails accessible from the Lake Chelan-Sawtooth Wilderness Area and Glacier Peak Wilderness.

Leavenworth

Leavenworth's story is inspiring. Formerly a timber community in the Cascade Mountains, the population had declined significantly by the 1960s. In response, the Leavenworth community started a project to revitalize the city as a Bavarian Alps-style village. The success of this project speaks for itself, with its many Bavarian attractions, such as the more than 9,000 nutcrackers on display at the Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum, and Bavarian-style stores like the holiday-themed Kris Kringl and The Hat Shop, which sells German and novelty hats. The most popular time to visit Leavenworth is in the fall for its signature Oktoberfest, a three-weekend event held across early and mid-October each year.

Port Angeles

Port Angeles sits next to one of the most ecologically diverse national parks in the U.S.: Olympic National Park. In this park, one can hike up mountains, relax on Pacific coast beaches, and hike through a rainforest. Each environment has its own draw, such as hiking the trails of Hurricane Ridge, known for its high winds, visiting the wide, sandy beach at Kalaloch, or escaping into the quiet wilderness of the Hoh Rainforest. In the rainforest, there is a small marker called One Square Inch of Silence, which acoustic ecologist Gordon Hempton designated as one of the quietest places in the country. In Port Angeles proper, art lovers regularly attend the Port Angeles Community Playhouse or listen to a classical music show at the Port Angeles Symphony.

These towns are geographically unique

What sets these towns apart is a single feature no ranking could ignore. Port Angeles lets a visitor climb a mountain, walk a Pacific beach, and enter a rainforest without leaving Olympic National Park. Stevenson turns the steady winds of the Columbia River Gorge into a kiteboarding season that runs all summer. Culture carries the rest. Leavenworth built Bavarian attractions into its streets, while Friday Harbor preserves the 1850s border-dispute history that gave the island its army camps. Visitors who spend a weekend across these seven towns tend to start pricing real estate.