The ULTIMATE Eastern Pennsylvania Road Trip Guide (100+ Day Trip Destinations)

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Pennsylvania Day Trip Ideas

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

Knoebels Amusement Resort

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

Bushkill Falls
Dingmans Falls

Schuylkill County

Pioneer Tunnel and Steam Train

York County

Codorus State Park
Harley-Davidson Factory Tour

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5 thoughts on “The ULTIMATE Eastern Pennsylvania Road Trip Guide (100+ Day Trip Destinations)”

  1. 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.

    Reply
  2. 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.

    Reply
  3. Thanks for this great list! We are in Lancaster county with family in Columbia and Luzerne counties, so this is a wonderful resource.

    Reply

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