One of the oldest towns in all of United States, Lancaster Town in South Central Pennsylvania, is a place with a rich history, a diverse, ethnic population and a whole list of awesome attractions to keep visitors busy for weeks. If you have plans to visit Lancaster, PA anytime soon, here’s a list of five places in the town which should be on top of your list.
1. Dutch Wonderland
A popular attraction for kids, but adults and teenagers often find themselves enjoying Dutch Wonderland a little more than they might have anticipated as well! After all, the 30+ rides in the amusement park are not just meant for children. There is also stage entertainment for everyone, which changes depending on which time of the year you visit.
To top things off, Dutch Wonderland even has a huge water theme park called Dukes Lagoon in there, but the park is only open during the summer months, for obvious reasons.
2. Long’s Park
The eighty-acre park turns almost into a musical convention center all throughout the summer, but whenever you might be visiting, you will likely find enough entertainment in Long’s Park to make the visit worth it.
Even on the most ordinary day, there’s the children’s petting zoo, tennis courts, barbecues and multiple family-friendly lakesides to sit and spend some time in beautiful surroundings.
There are also multiple tennis courts and for those that are feeling up to the challenge, a whole range of enjoyable trekking trails across the eighty-acres of parkland.
Before you decide to take on any of the trails, though, ensure that you are wearing clothes appropriate for the season because depending on the time of the year, the Long’s Park trails can get pretty cold or hot.
3. North Museum of Nature and Science
The North Museum of Nature and Science brings the best of both worlds to its visitors within the SciDome Theater. After seeing the night sky, distant stars, planets and various astronomical phenomena in vivid, awe-inspiring details, it is hard not to appreciate how the SciDome Theater truly does bring the cosmic wonders of nature to us, with the help of modern science. Aside from that one, there are about three main exhibitions every season, which change with the time of the year.
Cosmic wonders are not the only attractions inside the North Museum of Nature and Science though. There are also interestingly weird fossils, live animal interaction events, exhibitions, and so much more to explore during any time of year in North Museum of Nature and Science.
4. Amish Farm and House
If you are even remotely interested in knowing a little bit about the Amish culture firsthand, the Amish Farm and House is likely the best place to get acquainted in the entire country, given that it is also the only Amish Tourist Attraction in the US.
The property is over two centuries old at this point and the guided tour is all about the Amish lifestyle and culture, as well as buried treasures, apparently! The tours are conducted by guides of Amish origin and they often have some very interesting local legends and historical stories to share during the 45-minute tour.
5. Rock Ford Plantation
The thirty-three acres of Rock Ford Plantation is directly associated with the town’s founding history and actually, the founding history of the United States itself!
Initially inhabited by Adjunct General of George Washington and war hero Edward Hand, it was almost demolished at one point by the garbage disposal companies to be used for landfill! Thankfully, that was prevented and today, it’s an area of tremendous historical significance and, of course, a tourist hotspot.
Expect to lose yourself in time as the caretakers have gone through a lot over the decades to preserve every detail of what the lifestyle inside the mansion and the Rockford Estate were back in the time of the American Revolution.
Although we have not even mentioned half of the attractions that make Lancaster, PA such a great place to visit for everyone, we are already out of slots for the top five! Nevertheless, each of the places mentioned here holds special significance to the entire Lancaster county and you will enjoy them all.
As you go on your tours and wander through the various locations, you will come across many more attractions along the way, and if you do have time, don’t hesitate to explore them as well. You may just have a whole new list of your own to augment this one and make it truly complete.
