Lancaster County: Amish Village & Buggy Country Day Trip from Philadelphia

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Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/11

Duration8h

GroupUp to 14

LanguagesEN

Mobile ticketAccepted

A morning drive into Lancaster County's working Amish farms, then inside their preserved homes and kitchens.

You ride out from Philadelphia to Lancaster County's farmlands, tour a preserved Amish homestead and working blacksmith, eat a traditional lunch and bakery treats, and browse quilt shops and craft stands—all with a local guide handling the route and the context. Plan for a full day out, which is what fits all three stops and the drive time into one departure.

Step-by-step itinerary

Explore Amish Country in Lancaster

Travel from Philadelphia to Lancaster County
Observe horse and buggies on roads
Visit Amish Village Museum
See schoolhouse, barn, and blacksmith shop
Enjoy homemade Amish lunch
Sample whoopie pies and shoo fly pies
Shop for Amish-made goods and quilts

The Experience

The van leaves Philadelphia in the early morning and heads out toward Lancaster County, about an hour's drive into the rural farmlands where the second-largest Amish settlement in the world operates. You'll start seeing horse-drawn buggies on the roads and farmers working the fields before you arrive at the Amish Village Museum—a preserved homestead open to the public that walks you through how the community actually lives. The museum includes a working blacksmith shop, a schoolhouse, and a barn, so you're not just reading about their way of life; you're standing in the spaces where it happens.

Lunch is homemade Amish cooking at a local restaurant, the kind of food that tastes like someone's grandmother spent the morning on it. After that, you stop at a bakery for whoopie pies and shoo fly pies—the real versions, not the tourist versions—and then you have time to browse quilt shops and roadside stands selling Amish-made goods. Your guide recommends which purchases actually support the community rather than just moving inventory, which changes how the shopping feels.

The whole day runs around eight to nine hours from pickup to return. The van is air-conditioned, and the pace is steady but not rushed. You're not hiking or climbing; it's mostly walking through the museum and the small towns, so it works for families with strollers and for people at different fitness levels. The drive itself is part of the experience—your guide talks through the history and the details of Amish life as you pass through the landscape, so you're learning the whole time, not just at the stops.

What’s included

Your day includes hotel or central pickup in Philadelphia, round-trip transport in an air-conditioned van, admission to the Amish Village Museum with access to the homestead, blacksmith shop, and schoolhouse, a local English-speaking guide for the full day, and stops at a local bakery and quilt shops in small towns. Lunch at a local restaurant and any purchases are not included but are available during the tour.

Good to know

Easy physical levelStroller friendlyPets welcomePublic transport nearby

Operated by WeVenture

Is this one for you?A good fit if you want to understand Amish life and farmland culture without arranging transport from Philadelphia—the van pickup and the guide's context are what make a full day of stops possible in a single departure. Plan for eight to nine hours out, which is what fits the museum, the drive, lunch, and the shopping stops.