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National Christmas Center Presents:
Lancaster County Tour Packages
Christmas All Year Long … What
a Wonderful Idea!
Following are some ideas to help you customize your group's tour to meet the needs,
schedule and interests of your guests.
If you like any of the suggestions presented here, contact each individual property
to book a date and time that suits your group**.
Follow the links for contact information.
Download pdf version
Suggested Tours:
All Aboard: Loco for Locomotives! - suggested properties**:
-
National Christmas Center (717) 442-7950 - See the 30' diameter
mountain of electric trains under a giant Christmas tree and treasured trains like
those from your own childhood
- Choo-Choo Barn (717) 687-7911-
Lancaster County in miniature; 1700 sq. ft. train display features animated figures
and 22 operating trains
- Strasburg Railroad
(717) 687-7522- Ride America's oldest short line railroad through PA Dutch Country
- Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania
- More than 100 historic locomotives and railroad cars, changing exhibits, exciting
special events
- National Toy Train Museum
(717) 687-8628- See original examples of hundreds of toy locomotives and cars in
five large operating layouts
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Visions of Sugarplums: Early Christmas Decorations - suggested properties**:
-
National Christmas Center (717) 442-7950- see how the earliest
Christmas trees in Pennsylvania were decorated using cookies, nuts, fruit, pretzels
and popcorn, then follow our suggestions to find these goodies for your own old-fashioned
tree!
- Intercourse
Pretzel Factory (717) 768-3432 - twist your own pretzel
- Bird in Hand
Farmers Market (717) 393-9674 - fresh produce includes yummy fruit and nuts
- Kitchen Kettle Village
(800) 732-3538 - sample kettle corn popcorn, then try your hand at decorating your
own gingerbread man
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Christmas in July - suggested properties**:
-
National Christmas Center (717) 442-7950- discover the magic,
memories, history & traditions of Christmas
- Landis Valley Museum
(717) 569-0401- visit with Belschnickle (the PA Dutch version of Santa Claus) and
enjoy a traditional holiday meal
- Flower & Craft
Warehouse (717) 355-9975- the Christmas shoppe offers a full line of artificial
trees, wreaths, and garlands for your holiday decorating needs
- Rockvale Square Outlet
Mall (717) 293-9595 - shop till you drop, then hop on the Red and Green trolley
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National Christmas Center Presents "A Lancaster Christmas"
- National Christmas Center, on location at the Lancaster Quilt and Textile Museum
(717) 299-6440
- See how Christmas customs and traditions evolved through the decades from the 1850's
through the 1960's, as you walk through historically-recreated room settings of
each time period, accurately furnished and decorated to represent a precious piece
of Pennsylvania Christmas history. Features a tribute to F. W. Woolworth's first
5&10 Cent Store, established 125 years ago in Lancaster, PA
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Miracle of Christmas
(tickets for this package may be purchased online at
www.bibleonstage.com)
-
National Christmas Center (717) 442-7950- take a realistic
journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem and, at the end, Behold the Birth of Christ!
Explore and celebrate the true meaning of the season!
- Sight & Sound Millennium
Theatre (800) 377-1277 - the nation's largest professional Christian theatrical
company presents the Christmas story; costumed characters will interact with guests;
enjoy Christmas carols and seasonal treats prior to the show
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Red Hot Lancaster - a special tour for the ladies who dress in purple and red
- National Christmas Center (717) 442-7950-
Red Hot Ladies … who is the original Red Hot Man? Why none other than Santa Jr.
himself, at the National Christmas Center. Don't be surprised if the Man in Red
is also sporting a bit of purple for the occasion! Walk through 15 galleries of
life-sized exhibits, an animated storybook village, Christmas around the World,
Toyland, trains, antiques and more. An unforgettable tour of the magic, memories
and traditions of the world's most beloved holiday!
- Landis Valley Museum
(717) 569-0401- Take a break with tea and cookies served in the village's 1856 historic
house, hotel and tavern. The tour the picturesque living history village. Your group
will delight in the live interpretation, craft demonstrations, special exhibits
and other programs held at Landis Valley.
- Flower and
Craft Warehouse (717) 355-9975- Seeing is believing! Boasting over 135,000 square
feet of merchandise, the Flower and Craft Warehouse is sure to be a Red Hotter's
shopping paradise. A huge assortment of Red Hot items can be found in one of the
country's largest craft stores. Thousands of other items are available, all at incredible
prices you won't find anywhere else.
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Christmas Lights and Holiday Sights - suggested properties**:
-
National Christmas Center (717) 442-7950- 20,000 square feet
of indoor Christmas displays open year round for groups of 20 or more; 15 main galleries;
life-sized scenes, antiques, toys, memories!
- Longwood Gardens (610)
388-1000- a premier horticultural display offering exquisite gardens, conservatories,
concerts, educational opportunities, illuminated fountains, holiday displays
- Hershey, PA 1 (800) HERSHEY-
Christmas Candy Lane amusement park rides and entertainment; Hershey Sweet Lights:
600+ illuminated, animated displays on 2 miles of wooded, drive-thru trails
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Wrapped Up in Quilts - suggested properties**:
- National Christmas Center (717) 442-7950- see our Santa quilt comprised
of 16,000+ one-inch squares, and ornaments made from quilt patterns from the 1800's;
open year round (special Christmas exhibition at the Lancaster Quilt and Textile
Museum)
- The Peoples Place Quilt
Museum (800) 828-8218 - "A Showcase of Quilts: Dazzling Contemporary Creations"
- Lancaster Quilt and
Textile Museum (717) 299-6440- a rich and diverse collection that celebrates
the role of textiles in the past, present and future
- Quilters' Heritage Celebration - a convention for quilt makers
and quilt lovers. Spring 2009. More info at
www.qhconline.com
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Museum Tour - suggested properties**:
Consider combining any of the following to make a fascinating itinerary for museum
lovers:
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Family-Friendly Fun - suggested properties**:
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A Potpourri of Gardens - suggested properties**:
-
National Christmas Center (717) 442-7950- not your typical
garden! Come see the "Christmas garden", a Moravian tradition that evolved into
the practice of putting villages and electric trains under the Christmas tree -
part of "A Pennsylvania Christmas", one of 15 main galleries in this 20,000 sq.
ft. exhibition of Christmas magic and memories, open year round for groups of 20
or more
- Longwood Gardens (610)
388-1000 - a premier horticultural display offering exquisite gardens, conservatories,
concerts, educational opportunities, illuminated fountains, holiday displays
- Flower & Craft
Warehouse (717) 355-9975- one-stop shopping for all your home décor needs; choose
from an endless variety of familiar and exotic dried and silk florals and greens
- Hershey Farm Restaurant and
Inn (800) 748-8042- situated on 23 acres of thousands of flowers, walking trails,
shaded wooded areas, and fruit and vegetable gardens
- Landis Valley Museum
(717) 569-0401- Spring Herb and Garden Faire, heirloom seed sales, Harvest Days,
daily tours of grounds
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Lancaster County History Tour - suggested properties**:
-
National Christmas Center (717) 442-7950- discover how the
seeds of America's Christmas celebrations were planted in Lancaster County! View
"A Pennsylvania Christmas"; learn of local Moravian influences on Christmas celebrations;
see a recreation of PA's first publicly-documented decorated Christmas tree; enjoy
a life-sized replica of the original F.W. Woolworth's 5&10 Cent Store storefront,
Lancaster, PA, circa 1891; and walk into a 1940's-1950's Woolworth's at Christmas
time
- Landis Valley Museum
(717) 569-0401- authentic Pennsylvania Dutch village and farm; historic buildings,
heritage-breed farm animals and gardens, diverse collection of early farm, trade
and household objects
- Wheatland (717) 392-8721-
Lancaster's historic residence of the 15th president of the United States, James
Buchanan - the only Pennsylvanian to occupy the White House
- Cornwall Iron Furnace
(717) 272-9711- a once-thriving iron plantation where iron was made into cannons
for the Continental Army during America's War for Independence; only cold-blast
iron furnace to survive intact in the Western Hemisphere
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A Taste of Christmas
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