What to do/not to miss?

Hello,

Energetic couple, age 50%26#39;s, staying 3 full days in Bird-In-Hand. How to spend time to get a taste, culinary %26amp; sites, of the area? No smorgasbords, please! Is there a lot to do and see within a 30 minute radius? Visit downtown Lancaster? Which small towns?

Many thanks in advance,

Maggie

What to do/not to miss?

The bih, and intercourse area is beautiful. There are also a few nice shops in Strasburg. Try Dienners, for the real thing. They have a small buffet, and order off the menu. They close at 6, so you are better off going for lunch... Lapps is also very good. Hershey farm also has a buffet, or order off the menu, and the food is also very good. These are my 3 favorites. I also love El Serrano, mexican, a short 15 min. drive from bih. There is a farmers market in bih, and one downtown lancaster. If that%26#39;s not enough, there is always the outlets.. I just got back, and already have booked the revere inn for my feb. trip. .Enjoy

What to do/not to miss?

I think a day trip to Lititz would be fun. You can walk around downtown. Lots of nice shops, Wilbur chocolate tour, Pretzel tour, On route 501 outside of town is a really great place to eat. Not a PA dutch, good food at a good price. It is Scoters. Always full of local people. General Sutter Inn is on the corner and they serve a very good meal. Lunch there would be good and they do have a neat patio right on the square. fi you decide to do downtown Lancaster, You would have lots of options, what price point and type of things are you looking to do? We have the new baseball team that may be in town. Wheatland is the home of James Bucanan and that is a good thing to do.

For a traditional Amish meal, go to the Stolzfus Farm Restaurant in Intercourse - quite close to Bird-In-Hand. This restaurant was recommended to us by a tour guide in Philadelphia and we were not disappointed. stoltzfusmeats.com/stoltzfus_farm_restaurant鈥?/a>

For theatre, don%26#39;t miss the Sight and Sound Theatre in Strasburg. The special effects alone are worth the visit. www.sight-sound.com/WebSiteSS/getlanguages.do

We spent almost a full day in BIH just shopping. There are tons of little stores all over the place.

Intercourse was probably our favorite stop. Kitchen Kettle Village is a great place to stop for shopping - and to get some homemade Amish preserves. We had fun just watching the Amish ladies make huge batches of jam. It was even more fun to take part in the taste tests!

Finally, don%26#39;t forget to take a horse and buggy tour!

AvonRealtor, Hi, just a quick question.. I have gone through lititz many times, but never noticed. Do they have the same type of shops as bih? Those are my favorities, and if they do, is there a main street, and is this where they are? Thanks a million, I%26#39;ll be back in a few months..

Some sites I%26#39;d recommend are the Amish Farm and House tours. One on Rt .30 next to the Target store and one on Rt. 896 north of Strasburg. The Strasburg Railroad is fun for all ages. You can ride the dining car on Saturday and enjoy wine and cheese (extra charge). Stop by the Visitors Center and pick up a map and some brochures. Don%26#39;t forget to clip out the coupons, too. Ephrata has an upscale shopping center and the Ephrata Cloister museum. After you pick up the map get lost on the back roads, but watch out for the buggies and horse doo-doo.

Enjoy you trip, Steve

Everyone listed such great suggestions. Lititz is a neat little town and we enjoyed the Wilbur chocolate store. However, in April the pretzel factory was not opened. Hopefully it has reopened.

The Tanger and Rockvale Outlets are fun too. We visited the office of each mall and received a coupon booklet. Also, we had an excellent lunch at a quaint tea shop (Sugarplum and Tea I think) that was in the outlet mall. Deiners is one of our favorite resturants. We love the fun store behind Deiners called The Outhouse. Definitely good for a laugh or two. Next to Deiners is the yellow building that is a big windmill - my husband loves their shoefly pie. Have a great time!

to mittmott %26amp; OP:

Yes, Lititz is one of our oldest and most historic towns, founded by Moravians in the early 18th century. Besides other attributes already mentioned, it%26#39;s home to Linden Hall, oldest female academy in the US (alumnus include ';Maude'; Bea Arthur), oldest pretzel manufactory, %26amp; historic Lititz Springs Park.

Lititz has a healthy business district; most of the shops are on Main St. which turns off from 501 at the ';square'; @ General Sutter Inn (RT. 772 W). The Sutter is a great place for lunch on the patio. From there the park %26amp; Wilbur museum are almost just across the street.

Other towns worth a visit are Strasburg %26amp; Marietta.

If you visit downtown Lancaster take a walking tour (free!) and have a meal at the Pressroom, Carrs, Belvedere, Annie Baileys, etc.