Lancaster County 19
19 places to explore in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania — part of the Dutch Country Roads region.
Museums 9
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Amish Farm and House
A Lancaster County farm presented as an Amish homestead, with guided tours of an 1805 farmhouse, a one-room schoolhouse, barnyard animals, and bus tours of the surrounding countryside.
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Landis Valley Village & Farm Museum
Pennsylvania German rural life, shown in a village of historic homes, shops and farm buildings where costumed interpreters demonstrate old crafts and tend heirloom gardens and livestock.
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Demuth Museum
The home and studio of early modernist painter Charles Demuth, where changing shows of his watercolors and paintings hang steps from the garden that inspired his flower pictures.
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National Toy Train Museum
The Train Collectors Association's museum, packed with toy trains from the 1800s to today and big operating layouts where push buttons set tiny scenes in motion.
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Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania
More than 100 historic locomotives and railcars, many gleaming under one vast roof, trace the story of railroading in Pennsylvania, across the road from a working steam railroad.
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Strasburg Rail Road
Chartered in 1832, this short line still pulls passengers behind steam locomotives through Amish farmland, in open cars, a dining car or a plush first-class parlor car.
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Lancaster Museum of Art
Changing exhibitions of regional and contemporary art in an 1840s Greek Revival mansion in downtown Lancaster.
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National Watch & Clock Museum
Thousands of timepieces, from tower clocks and grandfather clocks to pocket watches and early electric clocks, gathered by the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors.
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North Museum of Nature and Science
A family-sized natural history and science museum with fossils, live animals and a planetarium, a short walk from Franklin & Marshall College.
Historic Sites 5
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Amish Farm and House
A Lancaster County farm presented as an Amish homestead, with guided tours of an 1805 farmhouse, a one-room schoolhouse, barnyard animals, and bus tours of the surrounding countryside.
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Ephrata Cloister
Home of a celibate religious community founded in 1732, whose steep-roofed, medieval-looking wooden buildings, narrow halls and plank beds recall a life of devotion, music and ornate calligraphy.
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Hans Herr House
Built by Mennonite settlers in 1719 and thought to be the oldest building in Lancaster County, a stout stone farmhouse with exhibits on early Mennonite life and a re-created Native longhouse.
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Landis Valley Village & Farm Museum
Pennsylvania German rural life, shown in a village of historic homes, shops and farm buildings where costumed interpreters demonstrate old crafts and tend heirloom gardens and livestock.
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Wheatland
The Federal-style country house of James Buchanan, the only president from Pennsylvania, kept with period furnishings and shown on guided tours that tell his story.
Small Towns 2
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Lititz
A Moravian town founded in the 1750s, with a stately church square, a spring-fed park and a lively main street long associated with pretzels and chocolate.
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Strasburg
A small town amid Amish farmland that is a magnet for train lovers, with a steam heritage railroad, the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania and a toy train museum on its doorstep.
Public Parks 3
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Susquehannock State Park
From clifftop overlooks such as Hawk Point, the Susquehanna spreads wide below, dotted with wooded islands where bald eagles are often seen, and trails drop through steep ravines toward the river.
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Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area
Each late winter, tens of thousands of snow geese and tundra swans crowd the lake here on their way north, a spectacle that draws birders from across the region to the visitor center and trails.
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Chickies Rock County Park
A quartzite cliff rising about 200 feet above the Susquehanna, reached by a short woodland walk, with the Northwest River Trail running along the shore below for cyclists and walkers.
Hiking Trails 2
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Chickies Rock County Park
A quartzite cliff rising about 200 feet above the Susquehanna, reached by a short woodland walk, with the Northwest River Trail running along the shore below for cyclists and walkers.
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Horse-Shoe Trail
A yellow-blazed path for hikers and horseback riders, running about 140 miles from Valley Forge to the Appalachian Trail over wooded ridges and through farm valleys and old iron-furnace country.
Theme Parks 1
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Dutch Wonderland
Entered through a storybook castle, an amusement park built for young children, with gentle rides, a family-sized wooden coaster and splash areas for hot days.