The Museum of Art and Cultural History is a delight for every history, art and design enthusiast. The museum takes its visitors step by step through the centuries and shows them paintings, furniture, handcrafts and all sorts of collections from the dawn of time until the 21st century. You can even feel the historical importance of the museum itself when you stroll and gaze in awe with all the artifacts. The museum was formerly a deposit bank, built in 1923.

Step away from the rush of modern life and immerse yourself in a simpler, slower-paced way of life on this unique day trip from Philadelphia. As you journey through Lancaster County’s rolling farmlands, you’ll witness horse-drawn buggies share the road with cars, a tangible sign of the community’s dedication to tradition. A visit to the Amish Village Museum provides deeper insights into the daily life and beliefs of the Amish—from their meticulous craftsmanship to their intentional rejection of modern conveniences. You’ll also have the chance to shop for handmade quilts, enjoy homemade pies, and perhaps even chat with a local farmer as they tend to their fields.

This beautiful example of Spanish colonial architecture contains a small museum dedicated to the Spanish Inquisition's brutal persecution of heretics once carried out in these very chambers. Visitors can still see some of the torture devices used to extract confessions of heresy and witchcraft, along with some of the questions used in "witch" interrogations, which are still displayed on the museum wall. Needless to say, no prisoner could hope to be acquitted of their purported crimes against the Catholic Church, and most met their tragic end at the very guillotine still on display in the courtyard.

The Senso-ji temple is an old-town Buddhist institution. Though a major tourist attraction, this is primarily a traditional, local site where worshippers cast coins, clap ceremoniously and bow in respect to an image of Kannon, the Goddess of Compassion.