Historic Site · Bethlehem, Northampton County
Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites
The 18th-century Moravian settlement at the heart of Bethlehem, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with museums and guided tours.
11 places
Lehigh Valley
Moravian Bethlehem, steel history and the Lehigh River
The Lehigh River winds through a valley of three old cities, Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton, with farmland and wooded hills all around and the long wall of Blue Mountain along the northern edge, the Appalachian Trail on its crest. Bethlehem was founded by Moravian settlers in 1741, and the stone buildings of their colonial community still stand in the middle of town. Since 2024 they have been part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Across the river, the idle blast furnaces of Bethlehem Steel tower over the old mill site, and the National Museum of Industrial History tells the story of the factories that built the valley. Easton, where the Lehigh meets the Delaware, is home to the Crayola Experience, a sure hit with children. Lost River Caverns near Hellertown makes a cool outing on a hot afternoon, and Dorney Park in Allentown has been entertaining families for more than a century.
Highlights
Don't miss
Museum · Bethlehem, Northampton County
National Museum of Industrial History
A Smithsonian affiliate in a former Bethlehem Steel building, telling the story of American industry.
Family attraction · Easton, Northampton County
Crayola Experience
Kids can mold, name and wrap their own crayons, melt wax into art and lose hours in hands-on color activities at this attraction run by the crayon maker.
Show cave · Hellertown, Northampton County
Lost River Caverns
Guided tours follow an underground stream through crystal-lined chambers, one of them used for weddings, and the Gilman family's museum of minerals, gems and fossils waits above ground.
Amusement park · South Whitehall Township, Lehigh County
Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom
Towering steel roller coasters, family rides and the Wildwater Kingdom water park fill this long-running amusement park on Allentown's western edge.
Environmental education center · Bushkill Township, Northampton County
Jacobsburg Environmental Education Center
For more than a century the Henry family made rifles here; their homestead and gun-making story are preserved at the Boulton site, surrounded by woods, meadows and trails for hiking, riding and biking.
Photo: Jerrye & Roy Klotz, MD, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The full list
Everything in Lehigh Valley
Museums 7
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Allentown Art Museum
European Renaissance and Baroque paintings from the Kress collection and American art, along with a complete Frank Lloyd Wright library rescued from a Minnesota house.
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America On Wheels Museum
Cars, trucks and motorcycles tell the story of over-the-road travel at this museum beside the Lehigh River, from an 1889 gas-powered carriage to Mack trucks built in the Lehigh Valley.
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Crayola Experience
Kids can mold, name and wrap their own crayons, melt wax into art and lose hours in hands-on color activities at this attraction run by the crayon maker.
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Da Vinci Science Center
A big hands-on science center that moved downtown in 2024, where families can explore physics, the human body, engineering and more through interactive exhibits.
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National Museum of Industrial History
A Smithsonian affiliate in a former Bethlehem Steel building, telling the story of American industry.
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Sigal Museum
The Northampton County Historical and Genealogical Society's museum of local history in downtown Easton, across the river from Phillipsburg.
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Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites
The 18th-century Moravian settlement at the heart of Bethlehem, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with museums and guided tours.
Historic Sites 1
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Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites
The 18th-century Moravian settlement at the heart of Bethlehem, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with museums and guided tours.
Public Parks 1
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Jacobsburg Environmental Education Center
For more than a century the Henry family made rifles here; their homestead and gun-making story are preserved at the Boulton site, surrounded by woods, meadows and trails for hiking, riding and biking.
Theme Parks 1
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Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom
Towering steel roller coasters, family rides and the Wildwater Kingdom water park fill this long-running amusement park on Allentown's western edge.
Zoos & Aquariums 1
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Lehigh Valley Zoo
Set within the 1,100-acre Trexler Nature Preserve, this zoo has African penguins, red pandas, kangaroos and giraffes, while herds of bison and elk roam the surrounding preserve.
Show Caves 1
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Lost River Caverns
Guided tours follow an underground stream through crystal-lined chambers, one of them used for weddings, and the Gilman family's museum of minerals, gems and fossils waits above ground.