Pennsylvania Dutch Country
We’ve compiled the best of the best in Pennsylvania Dutch Country - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.
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We’ve compiled the best of the best in Pennsylvania Dutch Country - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.
Aaron & Jessica's Buggy Rides offers four tours of the Amish countryside, lasting between a half-hour and more than an hour, taking passengers through a covered bridge and into a variety of local sites in an authentic Amish carriage. The rides depart from Plain & Fancy Farm. You can also book a private buggy ride.
Abe's Buggy Rides offer tours ranging from 2–7-mile spins down country roads in an Amish buggy with a real Amish driver, who provides a friendly chat about the customs of the Pennsylvania Dutch and the sights along the way.
What started as a family hobby in 1945 with a single train chugging around the Groff family Christmas tree is now the Choo-Choo Barn, Traintown, USA. This 1,700-square-foot display of Lancaster County in miniature has 20 trains, mainly in O-gauge, with 150 animated scenes, including an authentic Amish barn raising, a huge three-ring circus with animals and acrobats, and a blazing house fire with fire engines rushing to the disaster. Periodically, the overhead lights dim and the scene turns to night, with streetlights and locomotive headlights glowing in the darkness.
A self-proclaimed "Kingdom for Kids," this 44-acre amusement park features rides and activities suited for families with younger children. Most rides, such as the roller coaster, merry-go-round, and giant slide, are quite tame. The adjacent water park (no separate admission), Duke's Lagoon, is open weekends, Memorial Day through Labor Day.
At Hershey's Chocolate World, a free 30-minute automated ride takes you through the steps of producing chocolate, from picking the cocoa beans to making candy bars in Hershey's kitchens. The Chocolate Tasting Adventure (separate admission) offers a multimedia overview of chocolate history and other trivia, as well as samples of Hershey's chocolate. Those with a more creative sweet tooth can now concoct their own chocolate inventions at the new Create Your Own Candy Bar attraction (additional fee). This is the town's official visitor center, so you can get information while tasting your favorite Hershey confections and buying gifts in a spacious conservatory filled with tropical plants.
At Hersheypark you can enjoy thrilling rides and socialize with 6-foot-tall Hershey Bars and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Advertised as the "Sweetest Place on Earth," the park's 100-plus acres has more than 65 rides and attractions, a "Boardwalk" with a lazy river and wave pool, a wildlife park called ZooAmerica with hundreds of animals, as well as tons of live entertainment options. Begun in 1907, Hersheypark is prized as one of America's cleanest and greenest theme parks. Among its historical rides are the Comet, a 1946-vintage wooden roller coaster, and a carousel built in 1919 that has 66 hand-carved wooden horses. For thrill seekers, some of the newer rides include the exciting Lightning Racer double-track wooden racing coaster and the Great Bear steel inverted coaster. There are also big-name concerts and sporting events at Hersheypark Stadium, the Star Pavilion, and Giant Center.
At the Julius Sturgis Pretzel Bakery, the first commercial pretzel bakery in the United States, guests can see the brick ovens and other equipment used by Julius Sturgis back in 1861 during a 25-minute guided tour. You can also try your hand at pretzel-twisting and sample the fresh-baked goods at the bakery store.
The National Toy Train Museum, the showplace of the Train Collectors Association, displays antique and modern toy trains. The museum has five huge operating layouts, with toy trains from the 1800s to the present, plus nostalgic films and hundreds of locomotives and cars in display cases.
The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania and the Railway Education Center, across the road from the Strasburg Rail Road, holds 75 pieces of train history, including 13 colossal engines built between 1888 and 1930; 12 railroad cars, including a Pullman sleeper; and memorabilia documenting the history of Pennsylvania railroading. The museum features a railroad town, a gift shop, and a learning center.
The Strasburg Rail Road marks more than 175 years of history, and visitors can step back in time to travel the rails on a scenic 45-minute round-trip excursion through Amish farm country from Strasburg to Paradise on a rolling antique chartered in 1832 to carry milk, mail, and coal. Called America's oldest short line, the Strasburg run has wooden coaches pulled by an iron steam locomotive. Eat lunch in the dining car or buy a box lunch in the restaurant at the station and have a picnic at Groff's Grove along the line. Visit the Reading Car No. 10, a restored business car that carried the top brass of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad back in the early 1900s. Kids are crazy for the Thomas the Tank Engine shop and special events. Trains usually depart hourly. Dinner trains run April to December.
Offering a first-hand lesson in the process of making ice cream, this new walk-through attraction in a former abandoned mill gives visitors the opportunity to milk a mechanical cow, climb aboard a vintage milk delivery truck, or even concoct a flavor, design its packaging, and shoot a commercial. . Grown-ups may find the facts and figures about dairy farming and the family-owned Turkey Hill company interesting, but mostly this one is for the kids. Reservations are required for the Taste Lab – the make-your-own portion of the Experience.
While the Wilbur Factory has closed and is being sold, you can still get your sugar kicks at the Candy Americana Museum and Factory Candy Outlet, a small museum of candy-related memorabilia with a large retail store filled with brand-name chocolates made with Wilbur Chocolate and signature Wilbur Buds.
The People's Place is a "people-to-people interpretation center," providing an excellent introduction to the Amish, Mennonite, and Hutterite communities. There's a gallery showcasing the paintings of local communities by P. Buckley Moss and an extensive bookshop with cookbooks and other titles. Across the street you can find the People's Place Quilt Museum and the Olde Country Store, with handcrafted furniture, quilts, folk art, and other items.
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