Prepping for Gettysburg

May 2022, the first time I landed in Gettysburg—that is to say, more than the quickie drive-throughs of the battlefield and related from the early aughts—I expected a sleepy little town with not much to do. I stayed in Gettysburg while house-hunting in nearby York. York is, after all, the White Rose City to Lancaster’s Red Rose City, a testament to deep British roots in Pennsylvania.

I just knew that my cross-country move would end in York, so our Center for White Rose Studies would have a White Rose address.

It did not take long to fall in love with Gettysburg.

The town offers more than battlefield and national cemetery. It’s even more than its charming town square with one-of-a-kind shops and eateries. It’s far more than the unbelievably good restaurants that locals frequent for celebrations and parties. The sum of those parts makes it a great place to live or study and an exceptional place to vacation.

But. You need to plan. If you intend to be in Gettysburg during the reenactment of the Gettysburg campaign, or the somber anniversary of President Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address or the annual Film Festival or World War II Week — or Bike Week, or America’s 911 ride, or Gettysburg College’s “First Year Walk” or (Alumni) Reunion Weekend or Commencement, or the Apple Festival — you should do some advance planning. Because the little town of 7500 balloons to many times that size for those events.

Following are my tips for having the best experience in Gettysburg.

Know what’s happening.

Check the events page of the Destination Gettysburg Web site to see what will be going on when you’re here. If you abhor Harleys, Gettysburg is not the place for you during Bike Week or America’s 911 ride (September 11, Shanksville, PA to the Pentagon via Gettysburg, then on to New York City). If you love the roar of those motorcycles, then you’ll likely want to schedule your trip FOR those dates.

Similarly, if you want to be here when locals are most likely to be the main attendees at events, come for the Apple Festival or the Wine Festival or any of the music festivals or for Christmas. But if you’re easily frustrated by locals getting preferential parking at e.g., Hollabaugh’s during the apple festival, come when the town caters to tourists.

Grill your hotel before reserving.

Gettysburg is much loved not only for its historical side, but also as a destination for youth sports. That means your hotel may be hosting Little League or AYSO events. If you have a high tolerance for teenagers running up and down the hall screaming, no problem. (Although to their credit, the Little League parents seemed to be much better about keeping their kids entertained outdoors with little disruption indoors. Soccer parents, not so much.)

So ask! Especially if you enjoy relaxing in a hotel pool or gym after hours. If several hundred teenagers are there, you won’t stand a chance.

Also ask if their breakfast bar-restaurant-bistro is fully staffed. Gettysburg’s hotels and restaurants are notoriously understaffed. I stayed at the Gettysburg Courtyard while house-hunting. Good hotel — more about it in a later post — but their bistro was only open on weekends.

If you stay at the Courtyard or Wyndham, ask if the FBI is training in the area before booking. Those training conferences are disconcerting the first time you see all the black FBI vehicles in the parking lot. They remind you just how close Gettysburg is to Washington, DC.

Download the National Park Service app.

It looks like this. I use mine on iPhone, but there’s a version for Android as well.

Before you come, spend a few hours reading the What to See section. Most people do not realize that Gettysburg has five National Park installations: The battlefield; the National Cemetery; the David Wills house; Eisenhower’s farm; and as joint project with the Gettysburg Foundation, the Museum and Visitor’s Center for the battlefield.

Their Things To Do section tells you about the Junior Ranger program, museum exhibits, where to bike, how to schedule a guided tour, and horseback riding.

Finally (and again, there will be more about this in a subsequent post), their auto-tour of the battlefield is better than most. Self-Guided Tours section contains not only that auto-tour, but shorter self-guided auto tours, including one on Black history in Gettysburg, and walking tours. Now that Little Round Top has been renovated and is mostly wheelchair accessible, there’s also a trail guide to that iconic stop on the auto-tour.

Lemma to “get the app…”

Learn a bit about Gettysburg’s history before you come. This is not a destination for entertainment, unless you specifically choose to book during Bike Week or the Apple Festival. Even the Film Festival is heavy on history.

National Park Service makes all five locations 100% free of charge. No entrance fees, period. The only part of the Visitor’s Center and Museum that is not free: The part managed by the coordinating nonprofit. Even Eisenhower’s farm is free.

You don’t need to be a history expert before your trip here. It’s just that it will be more meaningful if you have an idea about what happened here in July 1863.

I will also write more about events and locations during the Revolutionary War, and why Eisenhower settled in Gettysburg. But the predominant leitmotif of Gettysburg is indeed the Civil War and what happens when our country breaks apart. The death and destruction in this small town 162 years ago should serve as a wake-up call in 2025.

Bring good hiking shoes.

Although a great deal of Gettysburg is wheelchair accessible, it’s not a vacation to take if you want to drive from place to place. Yes, the auto-tour (or bus tour if you want to waste your money) requires driving from one well-marked stop to the next. But those stops are only meaningful if you get out at each one and explore. This is such a good vacation destination for families. You will hear that often in subsequent posts.

If you want the best experience, also practice climbing stairs. No joke. There are numerous stops in the battlefield where you can climb sturdy towers to get a better view. You’ll want to do that if at all possible. Once repairs to the Pennsylvania monument are completed, it’s also climb-worthy.

And walk trails! Take the mown pathway at Pickett’s Charge. Walk down the densely wooded track on Culp’s Hill or up the one at Spangler’s Spring. Climb the rocks of Devil’s Den where allowed. The National Park Service guides are incredibly well-done, but they should be your starting point.

Walk Gettysburg into your soul.

To pay or not to pay.

The National Park Service offers paid guided tours of the Gettysburg battlefield. The advantage to these tours (which I intend to do one day): If you have specific, drill-down questions, especially if you’ve been here before, this is a great option. I’d recommend going with a certified NPS guide, not a local with a storefront. It generally takes about two years to become a certified NPS guide. They know their stuff. (I’ve eavesdropped on a few and have been enormously impressed.)

Note: With doge budget cuts, I’ve noticed that NPS seems to be relying on volunteers or non-certified guides who read from scripts for some tours. I assume that these are not the more expensive certified tour guides. They are wearing NPS uniforms. So ask. It may be worth calling to reserve your guide to ensure yours is top-notch.

Requires minimum 24-hour advance reservation. Summer or July 1-3 or November 15-19, plan on longer advance time.

Note that the above link takes you to the Gettysburg Foundation, the nonprofit that partners with the NPS for the Museum and Visitor’s Center. You may also book via the NPS app.

Eats.

The most popular places to dine in Gettysburg require a reservation. Again, more on these later. Just know that your planning should include dinner reservations.

Good restaurants that require or recommend advance reservations: Olivia’s; Mansion House 1757 in Fairfield; Mason Dixon Distillery; Historic Cashtown Inn in Cashtown; Farnsworth House Inn; Sign of the Buck; Appalachian Brewing Company; The Livery; One Lincoln Food & Spirits; and, Dobbin House (upstairs – the downstairs tavern does not accept reservations, so go early or go late).

If you can go after rush hour and don't mind a bit of a wait, I highly recommend Dobbins House's Springhouse Tavern. It never disappoints.

Plan before you go.

In Gettysburg, it helps to have a plan before you arrive. Do you want to focus on the battlefield? A little battlefield, a little shopping, a museum or two or three or four or five? Room for kids to run and play?

If you sort of know what you want to see, how much walking you can tolerate, your kids’ attention spans, fast food or good dining, interactive or look-don’t-touch, your visit will be more productive and enjoyable. Have a backup plan for rain or unbearably hot weather or blizzards.

There’s really no good mass transit like trains or buses to cities like Harrisburg, DC, or Lancaster. So if those are your backups, know you’ll have to drive.

I am a spontaneous traveler. I like to know just enough and then explore once I’m there. That works in many locations. It’s not a great idea for Gettysburg.

But if there is a place that should be on the list of One Hundred Historical Locations Every American Should Visit, Gettysburg is easily in the top five.

See you soon? See you soon!

Questions? Comments? Go to our Chat Room!

Return to Travelogue index.

No part of this post may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the copyright holder, except for the “fair use” of quotations that are properly cited and credited, including identification of the translator if applicable. No part of this post may be included in any Large Language Model without proper licensing from the copyright holder, Denise Elaine Heap.