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Pennsylvania! More specifically, Eastern Pennsylvania! We love to travel, that’s no surprise. But as much as we love an overnight trip or camping weekend, sometimes it’s really fun to do the day trip thing. You pack up the car, head to a destination within, what? 3 hours or less? You spend the day visiting and exploring and then head home before bedtime.
We are gearing up for Summer fun over here and the other night Bob and I were brainstorming some possible daytrip destinations. We are located in the NW Philadelphia Suburbs, so we focused our ideas on PA destinations no more than 3 hours from home. This gave us a general travel radius of anything east of Harrisburg/Gettysburg and south of the Scranton/Lackawanna area.
Here is our list – filled with over 100 destinations to explore in PA. Some of these attractions will keep you and the kids busy for the entire day. Others are great places to spend an hour or 2, so we suggest combining them with another stop (or two) nearby!
Adams County
Eisenhower National Historic Site
Gettysburg National Military Park (Battlefield and Visitor’s Center)
Land of Little Horses
Liberty Mountain Ski Resort
Berks County
Allegheny Aqueduct Historical Park
Antietam Lake
Bear Creek Ski & Recreation Area
Blue Marsh Lake
Crystal Cave
Daniel Boone Homestead
French Creek State Park
Hawk Mountain Sanctuary
Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site
Kutztown Folk Festival (June/July)
Mid-Atlantic Air Museum
Oley Turknpike Dairy
Reading Public Museum and Planetarium
The Pagoda
Bucks County
Bowman’s Tower and Wildflower Preserve
Bucks County Children’s Museum
Bucks County Horse Park
Byers Choice LTD Museum and Store
James A. Michener Art Museum
Mercer Museum and/or Fonthill & Moravian Tile Works
Middletown Grange Fair (August)
New Hope, PA (Shops, Barge Rides, Bucks Co Playhouse)
New Hope & Ivyland Railroad
Nockamixon State Park
Peace Valley Lavender Farm
Peace Valley Park
Peddlers Village & Giggleberry Fair
Pennsbury Manor
Ringing Rocks County Park
Sesame Place
Shady Brook Farm
Tabora Farm and Winery
Tinicum Arts Festival (July)
Tyler State Park
Washington Crossing State Park
Chester County
Chester County Balloon Festival (June)
Devon Horse Show (late May/early June)
Herr’s Snack Factory Tours
Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site
Longwood Gardens
Marsh Creek State Park
Mushroom Festival (September)
Valley Forge National Historical Park
Blob Fest at The Colonial Theatre (July)
Columbia County
Dauphin County
Hersheypark Amusement Park & Hershey’s Chocolate World
Hershey Gardens
Lake Tobias Wildlife Park
National Civil War Museum
Pennsylvania Farm Show (January)
Pennsylvania National Fire Museum
Pennsylvania State Capitol
The Antique Automobile Club of America Museum
Tröegs Independent Brewery Tour
ZooAmerica – North American Wildlife Park
Delaware County
American Helicopter Museum
Brandywine Battlefield
Brandywine River Museum
Linvilla Orchards
Tyler Arboretum
Lancaster County
Amish Village
Cherry Crest Adventure Farm
Choo Choo Barn
Dutch Wonderland
Mount Hope Winery
Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire
Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania
Strasburg Railroad
Turkey Hill Experience
Lackawanna County
Lackawanna Coal Mine
Lehigh County
America on Wheels Museum
Da Vinci Science Center
Dorney Park
Lehigh Valley Zoo
Luzerne County
Ricketts Glen State Park
Monroe County
Camelback/Camelbeach Mountain Resort
Kalahari Indoor Water Park
Paradise Fishing Preserve
Pocono Raceway
Montgomery County
Elmwood Park Zoo
Freddy Hill Farm
Merrymead Farm
Ryerss Farm for Aged Equines
Spring Mountain
Wings of Freedom Aviation Museum
Northampton County
Lost River Caverns
Moravian Museum of Bethlehem
The Crayola Experience
Philadelphia County
Academy of Natural Sciences
Betsy Ross House
Boathouse Row and Fairmount Water Works
Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul
Citizens Bank Park Stadium Tour
Eastern State Penitentiary
Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site
Fireman’s Hall
Franklin Institute
Independence National Historical Park & Liberty Bell
Independence Seaport Museum
Lincoln Financial Field Stadium Tour
Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania
Mummers Museum
National Constitution Center
NEST
Philadelphia Mint
Philadelphia Museum of Art (complete trip with a run up the “Rocky” Steps!)
Philadelphia Zoo
Reading Terminal Market
Smith Memorial Playground & Playhouse
University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
Pike County
Schuylkill County
Pioneer Tunnel and Steam Train
York County
Codorus State Park
Harley-Davidson Factory Tour
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This is such a great list! The only thing I would add is Sesame Place.
A great list, I’ve saved it to Evernote so I can always have it!
Something you missed that is absolutely wonderful and that you need to add to the list is Steamtown USA, the National Park Historical site for steam trains! Scranton, PA, Lackawanna county (https://www.nps.gov/stea/index.htm)
You are missing out if you do not check out boyertown, berks county, pa.
Bear hunt, rail road, apple orchards, hidden gems on every corner of the town.
Please consider listing Ryerss Farm for Aged Equines in the proper county listing. It is in Chester County and not Montgomery County. The 19465 zip code of Pottstown is Chester County and the 19464 zip code of Pottstown is in Montgomery.
Thanks for this great list! We are in Lancaster county with family in Columbia and Luzerne counties, so this is a wonderful resource.