Planning a Gettysburg day trip and wondering what to do beyond the famous battlefields?
While history is everywhere here, the town offers so much more.
Think cozy taverns, boutique shops, wine tastings, and even spooky ghost tours.
After visiting Gettysburg, I’ve put together this one day itinerary to help you experience the best mix of history, food, and fun without feeling rushed.
In this guide, you’ll discover how to:
- Stroll through the historic downtown for shopping and wine tastings
- Try themed experiences like escape rooms and ghost tours
- Dine in atmospheric taverns that make you feel part of the past
Whether you’re a history buff or just looking for a unique getaway, this Gettysburg itinerary shows you how to make the most of your day.
Gettysburg Day Trip Itinerary
On a recent road trip to New York, JP and I decided to take a day to stop by Gettysburg.
I didn’t know much about it other than the battlefield before we visited, but this place has literally everything that we love in a destination:
Historic dining, wine tasting, self guided driving tours, escape rooms, and historic downtowns.
To summarize the itinerary, you’ll spend the morning in downtown Gettysburg exploring the shops, wine tasting, and dining at a classic diner.
Then, you’ll spend the afternoon exploring the battlefields, cemeteries, and a little known national historic site in the area.
You’ll end the day with dinner in a historic tavern, an 1863 themed escape room, and a ghost tour through downtown.
Morning: Downtown Gettysburg
You’ll want to start your day in the historic downtown Gettysburg.
You can park pretty much anywhere and just walk around.
It’s only a few blocks in each direction, all centered around a fountain square.
Downtown Gettysburg Shops
Gettysburg has a variety of shops from themed souvenirs, to year round Christmas shops, and novelty stores.
When we travel, we always get one souvenir – a Christmas ornament.
It serves two purposes:
- We get a souvenir that will last forever that represents the place we visited.
- We don’t have to buy random Christmas ornaments to decorate our tree.
Wine Tasting at Adams County Winery
One of the downtown shops is the Adams County Winery tasting room.
They offer whites, reds, and specialty wines (which are mostly fruit wines).
We prefer more traditional style wines, so I tasted some whites and JP tasted some reds.
We always take home bottles of our favorites from all the wineries we visit and this one had a few.
If you love sweet whites, I highly recommend the Moscato or the Tears of Gettysburg: “our hallmark wine since 1988 is a smooth union of Vidal, Seyval, and Niagara.
If you love sweet reds, I highly recommend the Rusty’s Red: a fruity and light blend of Steuben and Concord with pleasant, soft notes of berries and honey.
My sister has a dog named Rusty, so we got that one to share with her.
If you love dry reds, I highly recommend the Turning Point or Harvest Blend: “notes of pinecone, eucalyptus, and Macadamia nuts from the oak, followed by aromas of red berries, red plum, and cherries.
They also have wine sorbet flights in the tasting room!
Lunch at Lincoln Diner
Lincoln Diner is a classic, retro diner with affordable prices and specials.
It’s been around for over 60 years and they serve breakfast all day long.
We shared a couple different entrees including:
Lincoln’s Special – philly steak sub served with french fries
Open Face Roast Turkey Sandwich with onion rings
Afternoon: Battlefields and Historic Sites
After lunch, it’s time to head out to the battlefields.
The best way to visit is by downloading a self-guided audio driving tour.
It syncs to your GPS to tell you where to go and automatically plays the corresponding audio story.
It’s like having your own personal tour guide while also being able to go at your own pace.
This tour will take you to the battlefields, the cemetery where Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address, and the Eisenhower National Historic Site.
Gettysburg Historic Battlefields Self Guided Audio Driving Tour
The tour starts at the Gettysburg Heritage Center, which is downtown, then takes you out to the battlefield.
Some of the stops include monuments, memorials, observation towers, and the famous Devil’s Den.
Click Here To Download Your Gettysburg Historic Battlefields Self Guided Audio Driving Tour Today!
Eisenhower National Historic Site
It’s worth stopping here for about 15 minutes or so to walk the grounds.
This was Eisenhower’s farm and weekend getaway spot he used as president to get away from DC and also host a variety of world leaders.
The property is beautiful, especially in Spring and Summer.
Gettysburg National Cemetery
The last stop of the audio driving tour is the cemetery where Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address.
There is a huge monument here of the exact spot where the speech was given.
Evening: Historic Dining and Entertainment
After spending several hours driving around the battlefields and climbing up observation towers, you will be good and ready for dinner and a fun evening.
Gettysburg is known for being haunted, so a ghost tour is a must.
Dinner at Historic 1776 Dobbin House Tavern
The Dobbin House Tavern is Gettysburg’s oldest home and they serve a colonial menu.
Make reservations in advance for the Alexander Dobbin dining room, which is a candlelit, fine dining type of experience.
Dinner starts with complimentary bread service which includes dinner rolls, cornbread muffins, and raisin and fruit bread.
They have their own local brand of Dr G’s 161st Gettysburg Sarsaparilla.
If you need to warm up, I recommend the Dobbin’s Coffee with Amaretto.
As an appetizer, we started with the King’s Onion Soup, which is like French Onion Soup, but with beef tips added in.
For dinner, we shared a Filet Mignon with green beans.
We added on the 4 oz Lump Crab Cake as a dinner accompaniment.
It also came with a nice side salad with all the typical toppings like tomato, onion, carrots, and cucumber.
At the end of the meal we got a little chocolate square.
1863 Escape Room
Just a couple blocks down the street is 1863 Escape Room.
We did a room called Rebel Recon where the mission is that we are union spies trying to find out when & where the confederates are going to attack.
We escaped with about 15 minutes to spare, but we thought we were behind the whole time!
I love doing local escape rooms that are themed to the area and this is definitely one of the best ones.
Ghosts of Gettysburg Ultimate Dead of Night Haunted Ghost Tour
The final activity you’ll want to do while you’re here is a late night ghost tour.
We’ve been doing ghost tours with US Ghost Adventures all over the country and they have a great Gettysburg tour.
It takes place downtown, so you’ll already be in the area if you have dinner at Dobbin House Tavern or do the 1863 escape room.
Click Here To Book Your Ghosts of Gettysburg Ultimate Dead of Night Haunted Ghost Tour Today!
Just outside of town is Hampton Inn Gettysburg.
We love staying at Hampton Inns because they are affordable and clean, but they also offer free parking and free breakfast.
Click Here To Book Your Hampton Inn Gettysburg Stay Today!
Conclusion: Gettysburg Day Trip Itinerary
If you follow this Gettysburg day trip itinerary you’ll get to experience the best that Gettysburg has to offer.
You’ll get a great mix of history, wine tasting, fine dining, national park service sites, and fun entertainment.
If you love Gettysburg, you’ll also love our itineraries for the Flight 93 9/11 Memorial just a couple hours west and Philadelphia just a couple hours east.
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