Visiting Pennsylvania on a Budget
Pennsylvania packs seven distinct budget weekends. Philadelphia delivers the free Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, LOVE Park, Rocky Steps, and Reading Terminal Market downtown. Pittsburgh adds free Frick museums, the Cathedral of Learning, Mount Washington's Grandview Overlook, and the $2.50 Duquesne Incline. Lancaster pairs the 1730s Central Market with free Kitchen Kettle Village in Amish Country. Erie packs Pennsylvania's only Great Lakes city with free Presque Isle State Park. Harrisburg adds free Capitol tours and the 20.9-mile Capital Area Greenbelt. Hershey runs free entry and a free chocolate-factory tour at Chocolate World. Gettysburg's free 6,000-acre battlefield is the country's most consequential history walk. June–September for Erie; year-round for the rest.
Cities in Pennsylvania
Pick a city to see free attractions, cheap activities, and budget travel tips.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh's industrial past gave way to world-class free museums, stunning river parks, and a neighborhood culture that makes it one of America's most underrated budget destinations. The free Point State Park sits at the meeting of three rivers, the Mount Washington Grandview Overlook delivers the city's iconic skyline view, and the historic Duquesne Incline still climbs for $2.50 each way. Add free admission at the Frick Art Museum and Heinz Memorial Chapel, the open-air Randyland mural park, and the working-class food culture of the Strip District, and the whole weekend stays well under $20.
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Erie, Pennsylvania
Tucked on the shore of Lake Erie, Pennsylvania's only Great Lakes city packs a spectacular state park, miles of sandy beach, and one of the country's oldest lighthouses into a weekend that rarely cracks $20. Presque Isle is the marquee free attraction; Dobbins Landing and the $6 Bicentennial Tower deliver waterfront views all the way to Canada. Add the free Tom Ridge Environmental Center, 234 free trail acres at Asbury Woods, the working $10 US Brig Niagara, the centennial Erie Zoo, and a downtown children's museum, and you'll have plenty to fill a long weekend in any season.
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Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Lancaster is a 300-year-old market town and the gateway to Pennsylvania Dutch Country — a compact downtown anchored on Penn Square, surrounded by the rolling Amish farmland of Lancaster County. The free 1730s Lancaster Central Market is America's oldest farmers market, the free Demuth Museum and Long's Park concert series fill out the city side, and $18 Wheatland (President James Buchanan's home) sits a few blocks west. Outside the city, free Kitchen Kettle Village, the $12 Landis Valley Village, the free Mennonite Life Visitors Center, and the $15 1719 Hans Herr House cover Amish heritage in depth.
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Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the rare big American city where the marquee experiences are mostly free — Independence National Historical Park puts the free Liberty Bell, free Independence Hall, and Elfreth's Alley (oldest continuously inhabited street in America) within a 10-minute walk of each other. Add LOVE Park, the Rocky Steps and statue at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, free walking through Reading Terminal Market, free views of 19th-century Boathouse Row, and a $15 walk-through of Isaiah Zagar's Magic Gardens, and a long Philly weekend stays well under what one Center City museum charges elsewhere.
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Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania's capital sits on a bend of the Susquehanna River and packs a state-museum-level day trip into compact downtown. Free 30-minute guided tours of the Pennsylvania State Capitol (Teddy Roosevelt's "handsomest building") run daily, the 1860 Broad Street Market is the oldest continuously-operating market house in the U.S., and the 20.9-mile Capital Area Greenbelt loops the entire city for free walking and biking. City Island in the middle of the Susquehanna mixes free playgrounds with cheap carousels, mini-golf, and minor-league baseball. The State Museum of PA ($6) closes August 2, 2026 for renovation through early 2029.
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Hershey, Pennsylvania
Hershey is the literal company town that built itself on chocolate — Milton Hershey's 1903 vision still shapes the town's parks, schools, and iconic Kiss-shaped streetlights. Hershey's Chocolate World offers a free Chocolate Tour ride and unlimited admission to the world's largest Hershey store. Founders Hall at the Milton Hershey School runs free tours with a 22-minute film about the founder. The Hershey Story Museum ($16.50) and AACA Museum ($16) round out a budget day, and the 13.5-mile Jonathan Eshenour Memorial Trail connects 41-acre Founders Park, Cocoa Castle playground, and Hershey's other Derry Township green spaces.
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Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Gettysburg is one of America's most consequential places — three days in July 1863 left 50,000 casualties and the speech that defined the nation's purpose. The Gettysburg National Military Park's 6,000-acre battlefield is free to drive, walk, and bike (the $20.75 indoor Film/Cyclorama/Museum combo is optional). The Soldiers' National Cemetery where Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address is also free. The Gettysburg Museum of History on Lincoln Square is free, the Eisenhower National Historic Site (Ike's farm) is now free self-guided, and the 1854 Sachs Covered Bridge stands where both armies crossed. Caledonia State Park and Strawberry Hill Nature Preserve add free hiking nearby.
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More on Pennsylvania from TravelCheapUS
In-depth budget travel guides from our companion blog that mention Pennsylvania.