Lancaster: City & Amish Country Tour with Ice Cream Stops

4.96

(120 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

“Wait, that’s really where Milton Hershey started?” I blurted out before I could stop myself. Our guide just grinned—he’d probably heard it a hundred times—and pointed at this unassuming storefront in downtown Lancaster. You don’t expect candy history to pop up between old brick buildings and the kind of hardware store that smells like wood shavings and metal oil. We’d started the day right in Penn Square, surrounded by architecture that felt both grand and lived-in, and honestly, I kept getting distracted by little details—like the way sunlight hit the stone or how people nodded hello as they passed. There’s something about walking these blocks that makes you feel like you’re borrowing someone else’s hometown for a bit.

The tour van ride out into Lancaster County was quieter than I expected—fields rolling past, barns with their paint just starting to peel. Our guide talked about the Amish families he’d known since childhood, not in a showy way but more like he was sharing stories over coffee. At one stop, we met an Amish woman who handed me a cone of homemade ice cream (I picked black raspberry—no regrets). The air smelled faintly of grass and cows, which sounds weird but felt honest somehow. She laughed when I tried to say thank you in Pennsylvania Dutch; I think I butchered it. There was this gentle hush all around except for birds and the occasional buggy clopping by.

Back in town, we ducked into the Central Market—if it’s open on your day, don’t skip it. The mix of voices and produce smells is kind of dizzying in a good way. Someone handed me a sample of sharp cheese; my friend went straight for pickles. We wandered past stalls that looked like they hadn’t changed much since forever (in a comforting way). Later we stopped at one of those covered bridges you see on postcards—I leaned against the wood railings and just listened for a minute while everyone else took photos. You know when you realize you’re somewhere you’ll remember? That.