Pennsylvania Region Guide
Why Plan a Trip to Pennsylvania the Smart Way
Nowhere else in the country puts the founding documents, the war that nearly ended it and a Frank Lloyd Wright masterpiece within one state's borders — and Pennsylvania is cheap by East Coast standards once you leave Philadelphia.
The friction is distance. The two cities are 300 miles and five hours apart with mountains in between, and visitors routinely plan a trip that assumes they are close. The famous sites are also scattered: Gettysburg, Lancaster County and Fallingwater sit in three different directions.
The smart approach is to pick one end and go deep. Base in Philadelphia for the founding history and the southeast, or in Pittsburgh for the Wright houses and the mountains, and drive out from there. If you want both cities, take the train between them and accept the day it costs — or fly.
Cities and Areas
How to Experience Pennsylvania
If you travel slowly
Take a week in the southeast: Philadelphia, the Brandywine valley and the Amish farm country, all within an hour or so of each other.
If you want to see the essentials
Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, a full day at Gettysburg with a licensed guide, and Fallingwater if you can reach the southwest. Book Fallingwater well ahead — it sells out.
If you seek local character
A cheesesteak argued over in Philadelphia, a Primanti sandwich in Pittsburgh, and a farmers' market in Lancaster County on a weekday when it is not staged for visitors.
If you want to go beyond the obvious
The Pine Creek Gorge and the wild elk herd in the north-central forests — a genuinely remote part of the eastern United States that almost nobody visits.
Travel Profile
- Cities and Areas 5
- Best Known For Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell • Gettysburg • Amish country • Fallingwater • Cheesesteaks and Primanti sandwiches
- Travel Styles History • Road trips • City breaks • Food and drink • Architecture
- Getting Around Amtrak along the eastern corridor; a car for everything else — the two cities are 300 miles apart
Responsible Travel Tips
The Amish are not an attraction. The Old Order communities of Lancaster County are living religious communities, and most members object to being photographed — a belief about graven images, not shyness. Photograph the landscape, not the people, and buy directly from farm stands rather than from the tour operations built around them.
Buggies travel at around 8 mph on public roads. Pass wide and slowly; collisions are a regular and serious problem in the county.
Gettysburg is a burial ground. Some 7,000 men died on it. Removing anything from the field is a federal offence, and metal detecting is prohibited.
The state's coal and steel history left real environmental damage — acid mine drainage still affects thousands of stream miles — and the restoration work is publicly funded and ongoing.
When to Visit Pennsylvania
September and October are the best months: warm days, low humidity, and foliage that peaks in the north in early October and the south around the third week.
May and June are green and pleasant, and the Gettysburg anniversary in early July brings large crowds and living-history events.
July and August are hot and humid, and the cities empty out while the Poconos and the lake shore fill.
Winter is cold with real snow, heaviest in the northwest where the lake effect delivers serious accumulations. Museums and the cities carry the season cheaply.
Early spring is grey and muddy and the least rewarding time to come.
Travel Cost Levels in Pennsylvania
What a day costs, by how you travel
Pennsylvania is markedly cheaper than the states either side of it, and the rural areas are cheaper again. Turnpike tolls across the state are the one expense that surprises people.