Berks Connect
Historic sitesLancaster County

LancasterHistory and President James Buchanan's Wheatland

Lancaster, PA · 46 minutes from Reading · $20 to $50 a person

lancasterhistory.org|Day trips from Berks County
LancasterHistory and President James Buchanan's Wheatland

Plan the day

Drive46 minutes from Reading, 33 miles1 hour 16 minutes from Boyertown · 1 hour 6 minutes from Hamburg · 46 minutes from Morgantown
Where230 North President Avenue, Lancaster, PA 17603, Lancaster, PAOpen in maps →
OpenHours posted for October 1 to December 30, 2026: Monday through Saturday, museum 10 am to 5 pm, Wheatland tours on the half hour 10:30 am to 3:30 pm (regular tours through November 14, Yuletide tours November 21 to December 30). Research Center Wednesday to Friday and the first Saturday of the month, 10 am to 2:30 pm. Arboretum daily, dawn to dusk.Monday to Saturday, museum 10 am to 5 pm; Wheatland tours 10:30 am to 3:30 pm on the half hour; closed Sundays.
AdmissionGeneral admission (Wheatland tour plus exhibitions): adults 18+ $20 at the door or $18 online, seniors 65+ $18, students 11 to 17 or with college ID $10, children 10 and under free with an adult or senior ticket. Exhibitions only: adults $10, seniors $8, students $6. Research Center: adults $7, seniors $5, students free. Members free. Tanger Arboretum free. Prices for May through December 2026.
Plan onWheatland tour about 50 minutes, plus the exhibitions and arboretum.
Good foradults, couples, older adults, a group of friends, big kids, teens

LancasterHistory is a history museum and research center in Lancaster, PA, on an 11-acre campus with President James Buchanan's Wheatland, the 1828 home of the 15th U.S. president, and the Tanger Arboretum.

General admission includes a guided tour of Wheatland, about 50 minutes, leaving on the half hour from 10:30 am to 3:30 pm Monday through Saturday, with few room barriers, so you stand in the rooms Buchanan's family used. The current exhibition is Thieves & Vagabonds, on law and justice in Lancaster County, and the Louise Arnold Tanger Arboretum is free from dawn to dusk every day.

Before you go

Advance reservations are encouraged for the Wheatland tour and strongly encouraged for the Research Center; online general admission saves $2. Wheatland is closed November 15 to 20 for Yuletide preparation. Children 10 and under are free with a paying adult.

Coming up

Yuletide at Wheatland, holiday-decorated tours of the house, runs November 21 to December 30; before that, the 1856 campaign tour Wheatland to Washington is Saturday, October 10 at 10:30 and 11:30 am, and Past, Present, Pumpkins for ages 3 to 8 is Saturday, October 17, 10 to 11 am ($5 per child).

Official site →Tickets →

Checked October 8, 2026 on the official site. Hours, prices and seasons change, so confirm there before a long drive.

More historic sites worth the drive

Historic Ephrata Cloister
Historic sitesLancaster County

Historic Ephrata Cloister

Ephrata, PA · 30 minutes from Reading · Under $20 a person

Historic Ephrata Cloister is a preserved 18th-century religious community in Ephrata, PA, established in 1732 and run by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. It is a National Historic Landmark.

Landis Valley Village & Farm Museum
Historic sitesLancaster County

Landis Valley Village & Farm Museum

Lancaster, PA · 37 minutes from Reading · Under $20 a person

Landis Valley Village & Farm Museum in Lancaster, PA is the state's museum of Pennsylvania German history, heritage, lifeways and farming, administered by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.

1719 Museum
Historic sitesLancaster County

1719 Museum

Willow Street, PA · 57 minutes from Reading · Under $20 a person

The 1719 Museum is a history site in Willow Street, PA, built around the 1719 Herr House, the oldest surviving homestead in Lancaster County, and a full-sized reproduction of a Native longhouse.

Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites
Historic sitesLehigh Valley

Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites

Bethlehem, PA · 1 hour 2 minutes from Reading · Under $20 a person

Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites runs museums and historic sites in Bethlehem, PA: the Moravian Museum, the Kemerer Museum of Decorative Arts, the Colonial Industrial Quarter and Burnside Plantation, in the city's World Heritage site.

See every one of the historic sites on the list →