Most visitors to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, come hoping to see Amish life as it is actually lived: working farms, buggies on the road, and the families behind them. You won’t find much of that in the gift shops. You find it a few turns off the main roads.

This is the route through Lancaster Amish country that I give anyone visiting for the first time. It runs from Intercourse past Bird-in-Hand and Strasburg to Lititz, on the back roads where Amish families farm. Behind the wheel it takes about 90 minutes. With stops, it fills anywhere from two hours to a full day, and you decide when to leave the car: for a working dairy farm, an 1845 covered bridge, or a family-style dinner.

Drive It With a Narrator in Your Car

Walk’n Tours, the author’s company, has turned this route into a self-guided audio driving tour. The app follows your GPS from Kitchen Kettle Village through Intercourse, Bird-in-Hand, Strasburg and the covered bridges to Lititz and tells the stories as you reach each stop.

Good to know
Price: US$14.99, checked November 2026
Time: About 90 minutes of driving; most people take 4 to 6 hours with stops
How it works: Download before you go, and it works offline, so weak cell signal on the back roads is no problem
Suits: Travelers who want to stop where they like instead of following a group
Keep in mind: you need a smartphone and your own car, and the price covers the audio only. Farm tours, the museum, the train, and the pretzel tour are paid separately.

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