Student Trip to Philadelphia, Lancaster, & Gettysburg

Estimated Tour Pricing Inclusions: 4 nights’ accommodation; 4 breakfasts; 4 lunches; 4 dinners; admissions, entrance, and guide fees as stated in the itinerary, including taxes, and gratuity. Pricing based on minimum 40 paid with 4 comps in double occupancy. 

• Gettysburg
• Cyclorama
• Battlefield Tour
• Amish Experience
• Valley Forge
• National Constitution Center
• Philly Cheesesteak
• Ghost Tour
• American Revolution
• Eastern State Pen
• Franklin Institute Science Museum

• Arrive in Gettysburg. Meet your guide, and depart for the Cyclorama Center at the Gettysburg National Military Park. The center features a breath-taking panorama measuring 356 by 26 feet. A sound and light program recreates scenes of the fighting.
• Meet our Licensed Battlefield Guide, board the bus, and begin a driving tour. Gettysburg Battlefield is America’s largest Civil War Battlefield, containing more than 40 miles of scenic avenues. Over 1600 monuments and cannons dot the landscape in memory of those who fought and died here.
• Depart for Lancaster, enjoy dinner included this evening, and then check-in to your local area hotel.  (Meals: D)

• Enjoy breakfast included at your hotel prior to checking out.
• Depart for your Amish Experience! Enjoy lunch included in an Amish home. You will experience a Q&A Session with your hosts and engage in a favorite Amish tradition – making greeting cards!
• Tour Amish Farmlands. Visitors know the beauty of the Amish countryside the world over. Not much has changed on their backroads… horses plow the fields & buggies clip clop down the road. Using your bus and driver, a step-on guide will point out and explain many aspects of Amish life, with interesting local stops.
• Experience Amish Theatre. The one-of-a-kind show is only the third “experiential” theatres in North America. “Jacob’s Choice,” tells the emotional story of the Fisher family, from Europe to Americas. The “peppers ghost” cannon wind and rain effects take spectators into the world of the Amish.
• Visit the Amish Country Homestead. There are two reasons they are the only Amish house tour in Lancaster County designated a “Heritage Site,” 1.) Authenticity! Enjoy the live-in look of the house as you walk through nine rooms. 2.) Interpretation- your guide answers the “how” and “why” that baffles visitors’ about the Amish dress and life without electricity.
• Arrive at Valley Forge Visitor’s Center and check-in for your group tour. Enjoy a Ranger-Led Tour of Valley Forge and its story of the Continental Army in the winter of 1777-1778.
• Depart for Philadelphia, enjoy dinner included, and check-in to your local area hotel. (Meals: B, L, D)

• Enjoy breakfast included at your hotel.
• Depart for a tour of the National Constitution Center, the first museum in the world dedicated to honoring and explaining the U.S. Constitution through more than 100 interactive and multimedia exhibits, photographs, film, sculpture, text, and artifacts.
• Experience a Philly Cheesesteak today for your included lunch.
• Enjoy a Historic City Tour of Philadelphia. History comes alive as you walk in the footsteps of our Founding Fathers along brick walkways and cobblestone streets in William Penn’s “Green Countrie Towne,” Philadelphia. In an area known as “America’s Most Historic Square Mile”, our tour includes: Carpenter’s Hall, where the delegates gathered for the First Continental Congress; The State House of Pennsylvania, known today as Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution were signed; Congress Hall, where the House of Representatives and the Senate met from 1790-1800; The Liberty Bell, America’s most cherished artifact cast in honor of the 50th Anniversary of Penn’s Charter of Privileges; and The President’s House in Philadelphia which served as the "White House" from 1790 to 1800 while Philadelphia was the capital of the United States.
• Today, you can visit the site on Market Street for the newest addition to Independence Mall — a commemorative exhibition entitled "The President's House: Freedom and Slavery in the Making of a New Nation" on an open-air footprint of the original house, one block north of Independence Hall.
• You’ll also see Ben Franklin’s Gravesite in Christ Church Cemetery; The Betsy Ross House, home of the Quaker seamstress who legend maintains made our first flag and whose home is an excellent example of an 18th-century working class residence; Elfreth’s Alley, the oldest continuously occupied residential street in America; and Christ Church, the Anglican Church established in 1695 where many of the Patriots of the Revolution worshipped.
• Your final tour stop is to see the Franklin Court Print Shop and Museum, a working tribute to the accomplishments of the greatest American of the 18th century. Enjoy dinner included, prior to a Ghost Tour of Philadelphia. Known as Philadelphia’s most unusual and entertaining walking tour where Costumed guides stroll along the streets of Independence Park and Society Hill, revealing the haunting tales of America’s most historic and most haunted city.  (Meals: B, L, D)   

• Enjoy breakfast included at your hotel. Depart for another day of touring.
• Visit the Museum of the American Revolution, see original artifacts, immersive settings, and dynamic theaters taking you on a journey from the roots of conflict to the outbreak of fighting, and from the bold Declaration of Independence through the long years of warfare and the creation of a new nation in engaging galleries.
• Next up, a tour of Eastern State Penitentiary. This 19th-century landmark was once the most famous and expensive prison in the world, but stands today in ruin, a haunting world of crumbling cellblocks. Former inmates include bank robber Willie Sutton and the infamous Al Capone. Tour vaulted cellblocks, central rotunda, and death row.
• Enjoy lunch included prior to your visit to the Franklin Institute Science Museum, the home of the Benjamin Franklin National Memorial, and featuring hands-on science learning for the entire family. There are four floors of interactive science exhibits, including a giant walk-through heart.
• The Tuttleman IMAX® Theater is a dome theater that is truly unique in a number of ways. Unlike conventional dome theaters that are 180° encompassing, IMAX® dome screens are also tilted at 30 degrees. The special seating places the audience up in the dome, completely involving them in the show.
• Explore the night sky with cutting-edge astronomical presentations in the awe-inspiring Fels Planetarium. The giant dome—measuring 60 feet in diameter—provides the ultimate screen for cosmic exploration. Look up and see what the actual night sky would look like without the interference of weather, pollution, or city lights.
• Enjoy an included farewell dinner this evening before returning to the hotel. (Meals: B, L, D)

• Enjoy breakfast included at your hotel prior to checking out.
• Depart for the Independence Seaport Museum - They’re all about water! Dive into “River Alive!”, an award-winning exhibition that brings the wildlife, science, and wonder of the Delaware River to life.
• Climb aboard the oldest floating steel warship in the world on Cruiser Olympia and submerge yourself aboard the World War II-era Submarine Becuna. Immerse yourself in special interactive exhibits while visiting one of the largest maritime art and artifact collections in North America. In warmer months, take a paddle in their boat basin or use your experience to get out onto the river with a kayak excursion. With so much to explore, Independence Seaport Museum is the premier, family-friendly destination on the Penn’s Landing waterfront.
• Enjoy lunch included before departing for home. (Meals: B, L)

Base rate does not include motor coach transportation, airfare, airport transfers, driver gratuity, guide gratuity, (student groups exempt) or any upgrades or add-ons unlisted from itinerary as stated. Pricing may vary based on day of arrival or other conditions. Personalized itineraries with custom pricing and/or additional transportation can be created and added based on client needs and upon client’s request. MARS will customize quotes or personalize itineraries for FREE.