Amish Farm and House
4.5(4.4K)google
4.4(205)yelp
KidsSenior-FriendlyOutdoorGuided TourEducationalFolk Culture
Overview
The Amish Farm and House in Lancaster County offers an authentic, educational look into the unique culture, history, and daily lifestyle of the local Old Order Amish community. As America's very first Amish-themed heritage site, it features an expertly guided tour of a historic 1805 farmhouse filled with traditional clothing and artifacts. Visitors can then explore the 15-acre active farm at their own pace, interacting with farm animals, viewing a traditional one-room schoolhouse, and purchasing fresh, homemade pretzel mix and handmade crafts from local Amish artisans who set up shops on site.
Practical Info
Every day9:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Suggested Duration2-3.5 hours
Best TimeBest visited on weekday mornings (Monday to Thursday) around 9:30 AM from April to October. As America's first opened Amish living history site, entering early grants you direct access to tour the 15-acre historic farm and heritage home, capturing authentic horse-drawn plow action and livestock interactions under crisp morning sunbeams.
Getting TherePerfectly positioned along the main corridor in Lancaster at 2395 Lincoln Highway East. Drive east along the historic Route 30 (US-30 E); the heritage attraction is prominent on the north side of the highway. Turn directly into the farm gates, which open into a large, complimentary paved asphalt lot.
Travel Tips
- As Lancaster's pioneer Amish cultural site, the property offers separate packages for farmhouse access and Country Bus Tours; out of strict respect for Amish religious tenets and privacy, photographing or filming Amish individuals (especially full-face shots) is strictly forbidden. Civil drone use is universally banned across the acreage.
- Sundays serve as the traditional Amish day of rest, triggering a 100% total operational shutdown of authentic homestead bakeries, quilt shops, and craft workshops across the wider county; while Sunday bus tours still roll, they cannot access operational home businesses, making Monday-Saturday itineraries much more optimal.
- Navigating major regional corridors like Route 30 or rural secondary arteries like Route 340 requires extreme alertness for horse-drawn buggies cruising at 5-10 mph; state regulations mandate a minimum 5-foot horizontal clearance when passing, and sounding your vehicle's horn is strictly illegal as it spooks horses.
Reviews
Positive
- This is America's first open-to-the-public Amish heritage site; the traditional non-electric farmhouse and farming life are authentic, offering peerless cultural value.
- The guided walkthrough of the historic house is highly engaging, and feeding baby goats and alpacas on the farm adds great interactive fun for families.
- The park's infrastructure and maintenance are stellar; restrooms are abundant and pristine, and flat paths offer easy access for strollers and seniors.
- Transport is highly convenient, located right off the main Lancaster highway with an expansive front lot, and the staff's service is genuinely warm and patient.
Heads up
- The basic admission is somewhat pricey, and experiencing the signature countryside bus tour requires forced bundles with more expensive packages, adding an hidden spending wall.
- Being a commercially packaged attraction, it leans heavily into commercialization compared to non-tourist pristine Amish farmlands, missing some raw rustic peace.
- Between noon and 2 PM, massive tour buses drop peak crowds, overloading visitor density inside the house and making rooms feel like a noisy, packed bazaar.
- The informational displays currently lack multi-lingual or Chinese translations, presenting a slight hurdle for international tourists unfamiliar with local history.