Things to Do in Lancaster, United States: Walking Guide

The best things to do in Lancaster include exploring historic Penn Square, visiting museums and churches, discovering the city’s tobacco heritage, and walking among buildings shaped by Lancaster’s religious, artistic, and political past. Lancaster is also a convenient place to experience these stories on foot: Neywo offers a free audio guide for the city with 14 narrated places.

What to see in Lancaster

Central Market and Penn Square

Lancaster Central Market is a historic public market in Penn Square, downtown Lancaster. Its stalls offer a way to discover the foods and traditions connected with the community. The market also holds an important place in American history: until its transfer to a trust in 2005, it was the oldest municipally operated market in the United States.

Penn Square is also home to the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, a 43-foot Gothic Revival memorial dedicated on July 4, 1874. It honors Lancastrian Union soldiers who died during the American Civil War and also represents those who served in later American military conflicts.

The square’s history extends well beyond the monument. A Lancaster courthouse once stood here, and the 1744 Treaty of Lancaster between the British and the Iroquois was signed on the site. The Second Continental Congress also met here on September 27, 1777, during the American Revolutionary War. The monument has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since April 2, 1973.

W. W. Griest Building

The W. W. Griest Building is one of Lancaster’s historic skyscrapers. It is also known as the Lancaster Federal Building and the PP and L Building. Its listing on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places dates from June 25, 1999.

Historic churches

Lancaster’s religious history appears in several buildings around the city.

Historic St. Mary’s Church, also known as the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, has been part of Lancaster’s story since 1741. The parish served German-speaking Catholics for most of its history and occupied three church buildings over time. The present structure was completed in 1854. Its Gothic Revival design and brick construction give it a distinctive appearance.

Holy Trinity Lutheran Church is another historic place of worship and is considered one of the oldest churches in the commonwealth. Its cemetery contains the remains of Thomas Mifflin and Thomas Wharton, adding another layer of historical significance.

The Unitarian Universalist Church of Lancaster reflects a different religious tradition. Its congregation is rooted in Lancaster’s history and open to a broad range of religious perspectives, while the church building forms part of the Historic District of the City of Lancaster.

Demuth Museum

The Demuth Museum occupies the former home and studio of American Modernist painter Charles Demuth. The setting creates a direct connection between the artist and the collection: the house, studio, family tobacco shop, a snuff mill, and part of the garden maintained by Demuth’s mother, Augusta, remain part of the experience.

The house and adjoining tobacco shop were built in 1750 and form part of the Lancaster Historic District. The exhibitions draw on about 60 original works by Charles Demuth, described as the largest Demuth collection in the world. The museum also preserves around 800 historical objects, including letters, documents, photographs, and family keepsakes.

Lancaster Museum of Art

The Lancaster Museum of Art is an art-focused museum in the city. It provides another stop for visitors interested in Lancaster’s cultural scene after exploring the historic streets around downtown.

North Museum of Nature and Science

The North Museum of Nature and Science explores the natural world and the wider field of science. It was formerly part of Franklin and Marshall College and remains a place to discover natural history through its collections and displays.

Basch & Fisher Tobacco Warehouse

The Basch & Fisher Tobacco Warehouse represents Lancaster’s tobacco-industry heritage. This historic warehouse has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1990, making it a particularly relevant stop when exploring the city’s industrial past.

Lancaster Arts Hotel

Near the city center, the Lancaster Arts Hotel combines a former tobacco warehouse with contemporary art. The building was developed in 1881 by New York entrepreneur Arnold Falk for Lancaster’s growing tobacco industry. It remained a tobacco warehouse until 1945, later housing a paper and twine business and an electronics company.

Redeveloped as the Lancaster Arts Hotel in 2006, the building retains exposed brick walls, wooden beams, and original hardwood floors. Its gallery displays more than 260 original works by 36 local artists, using 15 different mediums. Rotating exhibitions make the art an evolving part of the historic setting.

Rock Ford Plantation

Historic Rock Ford Plantation is surrounded by Lancaster County Central Park but remains privately owned and operated by the Rock Ford Foundation. The property includes the General Edward Hand Mansion and the John J. Snyder, Jr. Gallery of Early Lancaster County Decorative Arts.

The mansion was owned by Edward Hand, who served as an adjutant general to George Washington during the American Revolutionary War. Rock Ford was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

The Trust Performing Arts Center

The Trust Performing Arts Center is a Lancaster venue dedicated to the performing arts. It is included among the city’s cultural stops and forms part of the downtown walking experience.

Constitution Party

The Constitution Party is one of the lesser-known national parties in the United States. Founded in 1991 by conservative activist Howard Phillips after President George H. W. Bush broke his “read my lips: no new taxes” promise, it was originally called the U.S. Taxpayers’ Party and adopted its current name in 1999.

Its platform draws on the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, the Constitution, and the Bible. The party has repeatedly fielded candidates for president, while its first state-level electoral breakthrough came in Montana in 2006, when Rick Jore became the first Constitution Party candidate elected to a state legislature.

A Lancaster self-guided walking tour

For a compact introduction to the city, Neywo’s walking tour follows a 3.65-kilometre route through Penn Square, the market area, historic churches, museums, tobacco heritage, and Lancaster’s arts scene. The route includes the Central Market, W. W. Griest Building, Soldiers and Sailors Monument, St. Mary’s Church, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Demuth Museum, Lancaster Museum of Art, Basch & Fisher Tobacco Warehouse, Lancaster Arts Hotel, and The Trust Performing Arts Center.

If you are comparing a free walking tour in Lancaster with a self-guided option, the main difference is flexibility. Neywo’s audio guide does not require a group or a fixed departure time: each story plays as you reach the place, at your own pace.

Explore Lancaster with Neywo

Download Neywo to explore Lancaster with one walking tour covering 3.65 km in 108 minutes and 10 narrated stops. The app tells the story of each place as you reach it, so you can walk at your own pace, with no group and no schedule. Narration is available in 11 languages, and the free Lancaster audio guide includes 14 narrated places.

Lancaster is part of Pennsylvania, in the United States.