43 Best Sights in Pennsylvania Dutch Country, Pennsylvania

A must-see in Lancaster City is the Romanesque Central Market, constructed in 1889. The market began as open-air stalls in 1742. Here, local people shop for fresh fruits and vegetables, meats, fresh flowers, and baked goods such as sticky buns and shoofly pie. In recent years, Central Market (which has the distinction of being the oldest continuously-operating farmers' market in the country) has added some decidedly modern vendors. In addition to Lebanon bologna and chowchow, you can also count on picking up great third-wave coffee and fresh pressed green juice made from local crops.

A former and singular monastic community, Ephrata Cloister was founded in 1732 by German immigrant Conrad Beissel. Originally set on 250 acres of Native American wilderness, Beissel and his believers built 30 structures, including a monastery and a printing press and named their community "Ephrata." The monastic society of brothers and sisters were celibate and lived an austere life of work, study, and prayer. In the 1940s, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania took over the property and has been running it as a museum, with 45-minute tours of three restored buildings, after which you can browse through several others, including the stable, printshop, and crafts shop. Self-guided cell-phone tours are also available.

There are few landmarks as touching as the Gettysburg National Military Park, where General Robert E. Lee and his Confederate troops encountered the Union forces of General George Meade. There are more than 1,300 markers and monuments honoring the casualties of the battle in the 6,000-acre park. More than 30 miles of marked roads lead through the park, highlighting key battle sites. In the first week of July, Civil War reenactors dress in period uniforms and costumes to commemorate the three-day battle.

Self-guided tours as well as tour guides for hire are both available, as are tours on horseback.

In 2008 the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center moved to a $103 million facility, which makes for an excellent starting point to understand the events leading up to the battle, its significance to the Civil War, and its impact on the town. The center includes a dozen interactive galleries, which feature a compelling mix of artifacts such as a wooden desk believed to have been used by General Robert E. Lee, paired with the latest in interactive video and audio displays. Each section takes its name from a phrase used in Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. It is also home to the 377-foot "Battle of Gettysburg" cyclorama painting from 1884, which has been completely restored including a 3-D foreground. The painting, a must-see in its colorful, life-like depiction of Pickett's Charge, along with a documentary film, "A New Birth of Freedom," are packaged together as a 45-minute ticketed experience. There is a restaurant and a bookstore on site. The Park Service also provides a free map with a 25-mile driving tour through the battlefield, walking-tour guides, and schedules of free ranger-conducted programs which range from walks and talks about the battle to the aftermath and the Civil War experience. Private, licensed guides may also be hired at the center. Value package information and online purchase specials are available on the Web site.

Friday is bustling at the Green Dragon Farmers Market and Auction, one of the state's largest farmers' markets, occupying 30 acres. The 400 indoor and outdoor stands run by Amish and Mennonite farmers sell meats, cheeses, fruits, vegetables, baked goods, flowers, and crafts. It's a traditional agricultural market with a country-carnival atmosphere. There's also a flea market, a household goods auction, and an evening auction of small animals.

A registered historic landmark, the Hans Herr House is the oldest surviving homestead in Lancaster County and the oldest original (and remaining) Mennonite meeting house in the Western Hemisphere.

The subject of several paintings by Andrew Wyeth, it was the Colonial home of the Herr family, to whom the Wyeths were related. Today the house is owned by the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society, which educates the public about the Mennonite religion. The 45-minute tour covers the grounds and the 1719 Mennonite meeting place. A separate 45-minute tour covers a reconstructed Native American longhouse.

Billed as the "Sweetest Place on Earth," Hersheypark offers 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. Founded in 1907 as a town park for chocolate factory workers, Hersheypark, set on more than 100 acres, 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. "Chocolatetown" is the latest park expansion that includes Candymonium, its tallest and longest roller coaster to date, a virtual-reality experience, a Hershey merch flagship store, and a full-service restaurant.

This open-air museum showcases Pennsylvania German rural life and folk culture between 1750 and 1940. Founded by brothers Henry and George Landis on their homestead in the 1920s, the farm and village are now operated by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. You can visit more than 15 historical buildings, with costumed guides providing interesting bits of history. There are demonstrations of skills such as spinning and weaving, pottery making, and tinsmithing. Many of the crafts are for sale in the museum shop.

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.

At this designated Lancaster County heritage site, take a guided tour of a replica nine-room Old Order Amish house, and attached one-room schoolhouse. Located on the Plain & Fancy Farm property, you'll learn about Amish culture, clothing, and day-to-day life.

The Super-Saver Tour Package ($47.95) includes a 90-minute mini-shuttle tour; a guided tour of the homestead; and a ticket to see the film Jacob's Choice.

At Plain & Fancy Farm, the Amish Experience is a multimedia theatrical presentation about the history of the Amish, using multiple screens, three-dimensional sets, and special effects. In Jacob's Choice, the teenage main character struggles between traditional ways and the temptations of the modern world. A $43.95 package includes the show, the Amish Country Homestead, and Amish Country Tours, a bus tour of the farmlands, and a buggy ride.

This 12-acre historic homestead offers guided tours of an authentically furnished house and one-room schoolhouse. The property includes a barn, blacksmith shop, smokehouse market, and outdoor picnic grounds when the weather permits. Mini-shuttle-bus tours of the area are also available.

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.

Built in 1869, the Columbia Market House is one of the oldest farmers' market sites in the state. The basement was once used as a dungeon; from the outside, you can still see the ground-level windows through which prisoners were shoved down a chute into the darkness, and guided tours are available by appointment.

The David Wills House is where Abraham Lincoln stayed and completed his Gettysburg Address on November 18, 1863. The restored building features seven galleries, including the bedroom where Lincoln slept and worked on the final versions of his speech, as well as the office of Wills, a prominent lawyer who helped direct the city's cleanup after the battle and was a leading force behind the creation of the national cemetery.

This museum includes the restored 18th-century home, studio, and garden of Charles Demuth (1883–1935), one of America's first modernist artists, who lived in the city of Lancaster for most of his short life. A watercolorist, Demuth found inspiration in the geometric shapes of machines and modern technology, as well as the flowers in his mother's garden. Several of his works are on display. The gallery also features a changing exhibit of regional and national artists. The complex includes the former oldest operating tobacco shop in the country, which dates to 1770.

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. From Thanksgiving to Christmas, the park is open for its "Dutch Winter Wonderland," with holiday-themed rides and a light show.

The country-estate residence of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who bought it in 1950, he and First Lady Mamie Eisenhower used it as a weekend retreat and a meeting place for world leaders. From 1961 until the president's death in 1969, it was the couple's full-time residence. The brick-and-stone farmhouse is preserved in 1950s style. The farm adjoins the battlefield and is administered by the National Park Service, which sells daily ticketed tours by way of shuttle bus on a first-come, first-served basis at the Gettysburg National Military Park Visitor Center.

The Gettysburg Tour Center is the departure point for two-hour narrated tours of the battlefield. Dramatized audio guides are provided for open-air double-decker bus tours, while guided tours on enclosed buses depart more often. At night, costumed guides offer a ghost-themed walking tour.

Renovated in recent years, the Gettysburg Heritage Center presents the story of the Civil War era and the Battle of Gettysburg through artifacts, a 20-minute film, 3-D programs, and interactive exhibits that include an educational scavenger hunt. There are several ways to tour the battlefield, including Victorian carriage, horseback, electric bike, and 90-minute walking tours (prices vary). Complimentary living-history camps that demonstrate what life was like for the Civil War soldiers are offered most weekends from May to November.

Hershey Gardens opened with a single 3½-acre plot of rosebushes at Milton Hershey's request and over eight decades has grown to include 11 theme gardens on 23 landscaped acres. Home to more than 3,000 roses and 28,000 tulips, the gardens come to life in spring as thousands of bulbs burst into bloom. Flowering displays last until fall, when late roses open. The year-round butterfly atrium hosts hundreds of pollinators from around the world. A gift shop is on site.

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.

The Historic Lancaster Walking Tour is a two-hour stroll through the heart of this Colonial city by costumed guides who impart anecdotes about notable points of interest. Tours of the area depart daily at 1 pm from the downtown visitor center across from the Central Market; there's an additional tour at 10 am on market days (Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday).

One of the largest caves in the northeastern United States has a 45-minute guided walking tour of its underground wonderland. The temperature is always around 52°F, so bring a sweater; strollers are not allowed. The children can enjoy panning for semi-precious stones at Gem Mill Junction. There's a gift shop with gemstones and souvenirs, petting barnyard and picnic area. The caverns are about 3 miles west of Hershey.

In 1861, pretzel man Julius Sturgis opened the country's first pretzel bakery. These days, the original site, a stone house on the National Register of Historic Places, operates guided tours and a hands-on lesson in pretzel twisting. An on-site bakeshop has souvenirs and fresh pretzels.

The Lincoln Train Museum re-creates Abraham Lincoln's journey from Washington to Gettysburg in November 1863. A 12-minute ride simulates the sights and sounds and features actors portraying the reporters and officials on the train. You can also see the 1890 caboose, model train display, and military rail collection.

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 National Watch and Clock Museum exhibits more than 12,000 timepieces and time-related items, including early sundials and water clocks; a 19th-century Tiffany globe clock; a German Black Forest organ clock with 94 pipes; moon-phase wristwatches; and the showstopper, the Engle Clock, an 1878 timepiece intended to resemble the famous astronomical cathedral clock of Strasbourg, France. You can also see what a century-old clock shop and a modern watch factory look like.

At the 52-acre Nissley Vineyards and Winery Estate, you can review the grape-growing process on a self-guided tour. This scenic winery, which produces award-winning vintages, has tastings and a shop with bottles for sale. You can picnic on the grounds. In summer there's a concert series with rock, soul and jazz music. The winery is northwest of Marietta near Bainbridge.