Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania stretches about 307 road miles from Philadelphia in the east to Pittsburgh in the west. In Philadelphia, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were debated and signed in Independence Hall, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Between the two cities lie the Gettysburg battlefield, the Flight 93 National Memorial and Fallingwater.

None of the state's national park sites charges an entrance fee. A visitor from abroad pays for tickets, tolls and taxes instead. We read the figures below on 27 October 2026 on the National Park Service's pages, Recreation.gov, the Pennsylvania Turnpike's, PennDOT's, the airports' and attractions' own sites, the state Department of Revenue's, the City of Philadelphia's and NOAA's normals.

Why does the $250 park pass buy nothing in Pennsylvania?

Pennsylvania's national park sites charge no entrance fee at all. None is on the 2026 list of eleven parks that add $100 for each visitor from abroad. The $250 non-resident annual pass therefore has nothing to pay for here.

Delaware Water Gap charged its $10-a-day vehicle fee at beaches and boat launches until 13 October 2026, and the annual pass does not cover it. The Park Service publishes no Pennsylvania-only count for the unit. On 27 October 2026 its alerts listed the Dingmans Falls site as closed for a bridge replacement.

The paid extras are small. Two adults from abroad pay $2 in Independence Hall ticket fees, $41.50 for the Gettysburg film, Cyclorama and museum, and $15 for the Benjamin Franklin Museum in Philadelphia. The annual pass covers none of them. Our guide to national park fees for international visitors explains where that pass does pay off.

Valley Forge is about 23 miles from Independence Hall by our own routing. Its grounds open daily from 7 a.m. to 30 minutes after sunset, but Washington's Headquarters, the Isaac Potts House, has been closed for restoration since 4 May 2026. Steamtown runs free train rides from 23 October to 1 November 2026, and from 16 November it opens Wednesday to Sunday only, 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Do you need a ticket for Independence Hall?

Independence Hall needs a timed ticket for every tour after 10:30 a.m. The ticket is free, but Recreation.gov adds a $1 fee to each one. The America the Beautiful pass does not cover that fee. Tickets are not refundable.

Tickets can be booked up to 30 days ahead, up to 10 per account, and more are released at 5 p.m. the day before. From 9 to 10:30 a.m. the hall is an open house without tickets, and Recreation.gov warns that not every visitor is guaranteed entry. A tour lasts 20 minutes on the first floor, with no seating.

The hall's hours change on Sunday 1 November 2026. Until then, tours run every 20 minutes from 10:40 a.m. to 4 p.m., plus an expanded tour to the second floor at 4:20 p.m. From 1 November, tours run every 20 minutes until 4:40 p.m., and the expanded tour is no longer listed. Arrive 30 minutes early for security on the south side, from 5th Street between Chestnut and Walnut.

The Liberty Bell needs no ticket. Its centre at 526 Market Street opens daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., first come, first served after security, with written information in a dozen languages. There are no restrooms inside; the nearest are at the Independence Visitor Center at 6th and Market, open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

For the 250th anniversary, tickets were not required on 1, 2, 3, 4 and 14 July 2026. Recreation.gov's page still carries that note, but the dates have passed. Recreation.gov's record lists the park as closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day.

What does the Gettysburg museum cost if the battlefield is free?

Gettysburg's film, Cyclorama and museum ticket costs $20.75 for an adult, while the battlefield and the visitor centre are free. The Park Service's fees page, last updated on 23 December 2025, also lists $15.75 for ages 6 to 12 and a museum-only ticket at $14.75. Federal passes are not accepted for any of them.

The battlefield roads and the National Cemetery open daily from 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset. A Licensed Battlefield Guide rides in your own car for $82 for two hours, or $117 for three, for up to six people. Guides are first come, first served, or reserved at least three days ahead.

Two Gettysburg sites are shut in late 2026. On 27 October 2026 the park's alerts said the Pennsylvania Memorial's observation deck stays closed until a comfort-station project ends in early to mid November. The David Wills House is closed, reopening only from 16 to 19 November 2026. The 19th marks the 163rd anniversary of the Gettysburg Address.

The park counted 730,398 visits in 2025, with May the busiest month and October close behind June and July. We could not read the museum's own opening hours. Neither the Park Service nor the Gettysburg Foundation's site showed them to us.

How far is the Flight 93 National Memorial from Pittsburgh?

The Flight 93 National Memorial is about 1½ hours' drive from Pittsburgh and 4 hours from Philadelphia, by the Park Service's own figures. The memorial gives New York City as 5 hours; our own routing makes it 6.1 hours and 293 miles from Times Square.

Flight 93 charges no entrance fee, and its grounds open from sunrise to sunset all year, holidays included. The address is 6424 Lincoln Highway, Stoystown, about 20 miles from Somerset. The Park Service calls its Tower of Voices the world's tallest chime structure.

Winter comes early at the memorial. The park expects the first snow by mid-October. It expects winter days in the mid-20s to 30s °F, with wind. On 27 October 2026 it listed no alerts.

What do Fallingwater and the Duquesne Incline cost from Pittsburgh?

Fallingwater's guided architectural tour costs $42 a person, and the Duquesne Incline $2.50 each way by its own page. Fallingwater, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is run by the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, about 90 minutes from downtown Pittsburgh.

The house is closed on Wednesdays and on New Year's Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Children under 6 are not permitted on the standard tour, which runs from 14 March to 31 December. The in-depth tour costs $89, and a grounds pass $18.

Book four to six weeks ahead for July, August or October, the Conservancy advises, and allow about two hours. A quarter-mile gravel path leads from the visitor centre, and the house has more than 100 steps. Fallingwater is on Route 381 between Mill Run and Ohiopyle, about 19 miles south of Turnpike exit 91. Pennsylvania has more than one Mill Run Road, so navigate by the site's own GPS point.

The Duquesne Incline opened on 20 May 1877, and its upper station is at 1220 Grandview Avenue. The incline runs every day from 6:30 a.m. to 12:30 a.m., and its own page lists $5 for an adult round trip. The fare is exact cash only, with no debit or credit cards, though a change machine stands at the station. Weekend afternoons bring a wait of about 10 minutes each way, and there are no restrooms.

Can you photograph the Amish in Lancaster County?

Lancaster County's visitor site asks travellers to take no photographs in which Amish faces are recognisable. Discover Lancaster, which calls itself the official travel resource for Pennsylvania Dutch Country, explains that many Amish see such photographs as breaking the "graven image" commandment.

Discover Lancaster describes the county's community as America's oldest Amish settlement, whose people arrived in the 1720s. By its count, tens of thousands live a Plain lifestyle. They live mainly around Strasburg, Intercourse and Bird-in-Hand. Their farms and homes are private property. So farm and house tours run at named attractions such as the Amish Farm and House and The Amish Village.

Intercourse is about 61 miles from Philadelphia, roughly 1½ hours by our own routing. Lancaster lies about 58 miles from Gettysburg, so the two fit on one road trip west.

How many international routes do Philadelphia and Pittsburgh airports fly?

Philadelphia International has nonstop flights to 135 destinations, 40 of them international, by its 2026 media guide. The airport is American Airlines' transatlantic hub, with 19 transatlantic destinations in summer 2026, among them Budapest and Prague, seasonal from 21 May. The airport's releases also name Edinburgh, Milan, Nice, Naples, Copenhagen, London Heathrow, Zurich and Mexico City.

Pittsburgh International lists seven international destinations: Cancún, Dublin, London Heathrow, Montréal, Punta Cana, Reykjavík and Toronto, several of them seasonal. Downtown Pittsburgh is about 17 miles from the airport.

The SEPTA Airport Line reaches Center City in less than thirty minutes. Philadelphia airport's 2026 page says trains run every 30 minutes from 5 a.m. to midnight. The fare is $8.75 with a SEPTA Key, a contactless card or a Quick Trip ticket, or $11 bought on board. Conductors refuse $50 and $100 bills. For Independence Hall, ride to Jefferson Station.

SEPTA warned in April 2025 that the line could lose trains if state funding failed. We could not read a current SEPTA timetable. Check SEPTA's own schedule before you travel.

How does the Pennsylvania Turnpike bill a car without E-ZPass?

The Pennsylvania Turnpike takes no cash on the road: cameras read the plate of any car without E-ZPass. About 40 days after travel, the registered owner receives a Toll By Plate invoice, out-of-state plates included. E-ZPass rates are up to 50% lower, and the tag works on 20 other toll systems.

Open Road Tolling, with no booths at all, has run east of Reading and on the Northeast Extension since 5 January 2025. The Turnpike says it will cover the whole system from January 2027. Its pages do not say how rental companies pass the toll on, so ask at the counter. Our guide to renting a car in the USA covers the contract.

The distances are our own routing, from Independence Hall in Philadelphia and Point State Park in Pittsburgh. Fallingwater gives its own figure as about 90 minutes from downtown Pittsburgh.

When does the second Pennsylvanian train start?

The second daily Pennsylvanian starts on 18 November 2026, by PennDOT's announcement of 6 October. The train runs 444 miles between New York and Pittsburgh via Philadelphia and Harrisburg. Until then there is one a day, taking 9 hours 20 minutes end to end.

The route passes the Horseshoe Curve near Altoona. Its Pennsylvania stops include Lancaster, Harrisburg, Altoona, Johnstown and Greensburg. The Keystone service adds multiple departures daily between New York, Philadelphia and Harrisburg, also stopping at Lancaster.

The fastest Acela from New York to Philadelphia takes 1 hour 9 minutes, by Amtrak's timetable of 24 October 2026. That makes a day trip from New York City practical.

How much more snow falls on Pittsburgh than on Philadelphia?

Pittsburgh averages 44.1 inches of snow a year on NOAA's 1991 to 2020 normals, against 23.1 in Philadelphia. Philadelphia is the hotter city in summer, with 29.7 days a year at or above 90°F to Pittsburgh's 10.1.

The table gives NOAA's average highs and lows; Harrisburg's station also stands in for Lancaster and Gettysburg. Wilkes-Barre and Scranton get about 45 inches of snow a year. Philadelphia gets 44.11 inches of rain and melted snow over a year.

Pennsylvania lies wholly in the Eastern time zone. Daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. on 1 November 2026, when clocks went back an hour.

Why is a Philadelphia hotel bill taxed at 15.5%?

A Philadelphia hotel bill carries 15.5% tax, by the City of Philadelphia's own figure: the City's 8.5% plus a Commonwealth hotel tax that the City puts at 7%. The state Department of Revenue words its own part differently, as a tax charged at the same rate as sales tax. The City's total is the figure to budget for.

Pennsylvania's sales tax is 6%, rising to 8% in Philadelphia and 7% in Allegheny County, which includes Pittsburgh. Most clothing and grocery food are exempt. We could not read Allegheny County's hotel tax, so no Pittsburgh hotel rate is given here. Our guide to sales tax in the USA explains why prices are shown before tax.