Amish Paradise is only 90 minutes away, and you'd better come hungry.
Lancaster County, Pa. is home to Hershey Park, breweries, the legendary home cooking of about 25,000 Amish and an actual town called Paradise. October is peak tourist season in Lancaster, making it a prime destination for a fall break road trip.
Local Culture
IndependentTraveler.com listed Stoudt's Brewing Company as one of the great U.S. destinations for Oktoberfest year-round, but the real festivities hit the Adamstown brewery every Sunday in October. Feast on Bratwurst, spiced sauerkraut and Black Forest cake -- all to the tune of German music -- for $8 and enjoy Stoudt's award-winning drinks for $7 to $12 more.
Philly street corners may be packed with pretzels, but you can twist your own for just $2 on a tour of the 225-year-old Sturgis Pretzel House.
Above all, Lancaster is known as Amish country, where "on some of the back country roads, you're just as likely to pass a buggy as you are a car," according to Cara O'Donnell, the Pennsylvania Dutch Convention & Visitors Bureau's spokeswoman.
Tour a working farm built in 1805 and adjacent blacksmith shop while learning about the Old Order Amish at the Amish Farm and House for $6.95. For the full experience, take an $8, three-mile tour through scenic back roads and locations from the 1985 movie Witness with Ed's Buggy Rides.
Give your over-stuffed belly a break and find your way through a five-acre corn field at Cherry-Crest Farm's Amazing Maize Maze for $12.95.
Just for fun
Can't wait for Halloween? Festive visitors can find thrill rides and shows at Hershey Park in the Dark for 80 cents a ride. Dine with Count and Countess Dracula in the Catacombs at Bube's Brewery's "lively and bawdy" Halloween Feast for $16 to $24.
The Halloween spirit spreads to the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire in Halloween Daze & Spooky Knights, featuring mud pit battles, jousting, life-sized chess and stage shows, plus food from 26 shops and kitchens. Save $5 off the $25.95 gate price at PaRenFaire.com.
Still in a holiday mood? For $9.50, view The National Christmas Center's animated, life-size exhibits of yuletide history.
O'Donnell recommends reserving rooms in advance and assures visitors, "We promise you won't leave hungry!"
