Pennsylvania travel is fun to plan: here are some great trip ideas and destinations from an insider to help you plan your Pennsylvania getaway.

Pennsylvania’s charming and welcoming people will bring you back again and again. Rolling countryside, metropolitan centers, limestone caverns, great ski spots, and historic backdrops are just a few of the things you’ll find here.

I remember as a child seeing the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia during this country’s Bicentennial celebration. What a memory! The orderly planned streets of Philadelphia were so different from the chaotically un-aligned streets of Pittsburgh where I grew up (the difference between planning a city on level ground and growing a community within the physical constraints of mountains, valleys, rivers, creeks and more).

Both cities are historically important: Philadelphia was the backdrop for the signing of the Declaration of Independence, site of the First Continental Congress, and the home of Betsy Ross, Benjamin Franklin, and Edgar Allen Poe; Pittsburgh was the backdrop for the French and Indian War, staging area for western expansion, and the cornerstone for industry in this region of the country.

Today both Pittsburgh and Philadelphia have vibrant cultural centers, as does Harrisburg. The surrounding countryside is home to Amish communities, abundant natural wildlife, charming small towns, farming communities with fresh corn, cherries, tomatoes, peppers, first class breweries, wonderful restaurants, and more.

You’ll enjoy four seasons of fun from winter skiing in the Poconos to golfing in the spring to summer’s Three Rivers Regatta in Pittsburgh to autumn colors throughout the state.