What to Do in Lancaster, PA on a Sunday (When Amish Country Closes)
By Best of Lancaster
The most common Lancaster County planning mistake is saving Amish Country for Sunday. Sunday is the day of worship and rest in the Amish community, so the buggy rides, farm tours, smorgasbords, quilt shops, and roadside stands nearly all close. But a Sunday in Lancaster is far from a lost day — you just need the right list. Here it is.
What's Open on Sundays
- Strasburg Rail Road — steam trains run Sundays in season, and it's one of the county's best experiences, period.
- Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania — open Sunday afternoons most of the year, fully indoors.
- Dutch Wonderland — operates Sundays through its season; see our family guide.
- Tanger Outlets — open seven days, unlike the Amish-owned shops.
- Downtown Lancaster restaurants — the farm-to-table scene serves Sunday brunch and dinner; The Horse Inn and LUCA are the anchors.
- The scenery itself — the farmland doesn't close. A Sunday covered-bridge drive is quiet and beautiful (just expect heavy buggy traffic around morning church services — drive gently).
The One Bookable Sunday Experience
Hot air balloon flights aren't Amish-owned and fly seven days a week, weather permitting — a Sunday sunrise flight over the farmland is arguably the county's best use of the day:
Also Sunday-proof: the self-guided smartphone puzzle hunt through downtown Lancaster — it runs whenever you do, and it's a sneaky-fun way to see the city between brunch and the train:
What's Closed (Plan These for Mon–Sat)
Buggy rides, the Amish farm tours, the smorgasbords and family-style restaurants, Kitchen Kettle Village, the quilt shops, Central Market (closed Sun–Mon), the Green Dragon (Fridays only), and Sight & Sound Theatre. Our weekend itinerary sequences a Saturday–Sunday trip around exactly this rhythm.
The Ideal Sunday, Houred Out
9:00am brunch in downtown Lancaster → 11:00am Strasburg Rail Road steam ride → 12:30pm Railroad Museum across the road → 3:00pm covered-bridge loop through Paradise with farm-stand photo stops → 5:00pm early dinner downtown before the drive home. Staying over? Compare areas in the where-to-stay guide.
