Lancaster County Pennsylvania, a.k.a. “Pennsylvania Dutch Country” is a fun, family destination. With a large Amish community, visiting here is both an educational and fun experience. Only 3 hours from most of Westchester County, Lancaster makes a perfect weekend getaway. Read on to see all the fun that can be had in two days. You can check out the links to read more detailed posts about each attraction. When planning your visit, it is important to note that many attractions in Lancaster are closed on Sundays. Two days didn’t give us enough time to see and do everything, but that’s only the more reason for us to return soon!
Stay: at the Hershey Farm Restaurant & Inn. This Inn is a great lodging choice for families, with several different types of sleeping accommodations. This is not a chain hotel and is situated on 23 acres that includes a pool, two playgrounds and even some farm animals. The property is spacious with walking paths and a pond. There is also a restaurant, garden shop and large gift shop onsite as well.
Eat: The Hershey Farm Restaurant & Inn has a restaurant on the property that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. Breakfast at the Smorgasbord is complimentary with an overnight stay and the front desk offers discount coupons if you choose to dine at the restaurant for lunch or dinner. We had a dinner and breakfast here and were highly satisfied with both. The buffet offers a plentiful variety of delicious options including fresh baked goods and desserts.
We also had a delicious meal at Federal Taphouse in Lancaster. This is a great restaurant for beer lovers, as they have 100 beers on tap. The menu is very family-friendly with wood-fired pizzas, sandwiches tacos and more. We tried the Sweet Corn Pizza with creamed spinach, sweet corn, bacon, house tomato jam and ricotta salata. Yes, it was as delicious as it looks and sounds. We then rounded out our meal with a variety of appetizers with a house made soft pretzel with beer cheese fondue, stuffed meatballs and poutine. It was a carb-filled feast!
Visit: The Amish Farm and House for an educational and fun experience. On the guided house tour you will learn about the Amish history and heritage. You can take a bus tour that will drive you through the Amish countryside. Make sure to leave time to enjoy the 15-acre farm. My kids could have spent all day here feeding the goats and visiting the different farm animals. They also had a great time riding the scooters and enjoying the newest attraction, Tractor Trails, where they pedaled cars around a track. The gift shop sells a variety of handmade Amish goods and on the weekends. (located approximately five minutes from the Hershey Farm Inn).
Kitchen Kettle Village – Kitchen Kettle Village is made for foodies! We had such a delicious time visiting all the different shops and eating our way through the village. There’s a reason why nearly a million people visit each year. There is something for everyone here, with 40 different shops selling everything from jams and fudge to quilts and Christmas ornaments. (located approximately 12 minutes from the Hershey Farm Inn).
Lancaster Science Factory – If you need a place for the kids to burn off some energy, this is the place. With over 60 different hands-on exhibits, kids will (and adults!) will have a great time at the Lancaster Science Factory. While smaller than many other children’s science museums that we have visited, the exhibits held the interest of my two tweens for quite some time. (approximately 15 minutes from the Hershey Farm Inn).
Turkey Hill Experience – Although not in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the Turkey Hill Experience is not to be missed. As fans of Turkey Hill ice cream, this attraction was a family favorite. We got to create our own ice cream flavor in the Taste Lab and learn about tea in the Tea Discovery. In the actual Experience, we had endless samples of teas and ice cream (approximately 25 minutes away from the Hershey Farm Inn).
(Thank you to Discover Lancaster and the above attractions for hosting NY Foodie Family. As always, all opinions are our own.)
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So much fun!! And I’m salivating over the food photos!!