12 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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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 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.

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.