In 1762 Bethlehem’s Moravian settlers built a pump house that pushed spring water uphill into their town, one of the first public water systems in America. A mile away, across the Lehigh River, the rusting blast furnaces of Bethlehem Steel now tower over free concerts and an Oktoberfest. That range, from colonial craft to heavy industry to a building full of crayons, is what the things to do in Lehigh Valley add up to. The valley’s three cities, Bethlehem, Allentown and Easton, sit within half an hour of each other in eastern Pennsylvania, close enough to Philadelphia and New York for a day trip and varied enough for a long weekend.
Quick answer: Give Bethlehem your first day: the UNESCO-listed Moravian district along Main and Church streets in the morning, then the SteelStacks blast furnaces and the National Museum of Industrial History in the afternoon. On day two, take kids to the Crayola Experience in Easton (open daily) or book the Martin Guitar factory tour in Nazareth (weekdays only, pre-registration required). Christmas City season starts in mid-November, when Bethlehem’s Christkindlmarkt opens on weekends from November 13. The valley is about 1 hour 15 minutes from Philadelphia and 1 hour 30 minutes from Manhattan without traffic.
Last updated October 1, 2026. Hours, prices, closures and event dates were checked that day against the websites of Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites, ArtsQuest, the National Museum of Industrial History, Crayola Experience, Martin Guitar, the Da Vinci Science Center, the National Canal Museum and the other sites named below.
- World Heritage: Bethlehem’s Moravian settlement joined the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2024, alongside Moravian towns in Denmark, Germany and Northern Ireland.
- Closed in 2026: the National Canal Museum and its canal boat rides in Easton are shut for the rest of the year while the bridge into Hugh Moore Park is rebuilt.
- Moved: Allentown’s Liberty Bell Museum left Zion’s Church in 2023; its artifacts are now at the Lehigh Valley Heritage Museum. The Da Vinci Science Center has moved into a new downtown Allentown building.
- Coming up: Oktoberfest at SteelStacks on October 9 to 11, Crayola’s Hauntoween through November 1, and Christkindlmarkt on weekends from November 13 to December 20, 2026.
On this page: At a glance | Getting there | Top 15 | Outdoors | Food | Christmas City | By season | Itineraries | Where to stay | Worth it? | What’s changed | FAQ
The Lehigh Valley at a glance
Prices are for one adult as of October 2026, from each attraction’s own website.
| Attraction | Town | Adult price | Open | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moravian district and Moravian Museum | Bethlehem | Free to walk; museum and tours paid | Museum Thu-Mon; custom tours Tue-Wed | History, architecture |
| SteelStacks and the Hoover Mason Trestle | Bethlehem | Free | Daily; events vary | Everyone |
| National Museum of Industrial History | Bethlehem | $18 | Wed-Sun 10am-5pm | Industry and engineering fans |
| Crayola Experience | Easton | See site; Color Card $35.99 | Daily | Kids roughly 3 to 10 |
| Martin Guitar factory tour | Nazareth | $10 | Mon-Fri, tours 10am-2pm | Musicians |
| Da Vinci Science Center | Allentown | $24 | Tue-Sun 10am-5pm | Families |
| Lehigh Valley Heritage Museum | Allentown | $10 | Tue-Sat 10am-4pm | The Liberty Bell story |
| Easton Farmers’ Market | Easton | Free | Sat 9am-1pm, May-Dec | Food lovers |
| Dorney Park | Allentown | See Six Flags | Seasonal | Thrill rides, water park |
| Lost River Caverns | Hellertown | From $17.50 | Tours by reservation | A rainy day |
Where is the Lehigh Valley, and how do you get around?
The Lehigh Valley follows the Lehigh River through Lehigh and Northampton counties to its meeting with the Delaware at Easton, on the New Jersey line. Allentown is the biggest city, Bethlehem the most historic, and Easton the smallest and most walkable. US 22 and I-78 run east to west through the valley, and the Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike (I-476) links it with Philadelphia to the south and the Poconos to the north. There’s no passenger rail, so you’ll want a car.
| Coming from | Bethlehem | Allentown | Easton |
|---|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia | About 1 hr 15 min | About 1 hr 15 min | About 1 hr 30 min |
| Midtown Manhattan | About 1 hr 30 min | About 1 hr 45 min | About 1 hr 30 min |
| Scranton | About 1 hr 15 min | About 1 hr 15 min | About 1 hr 15 min |
| Harrisburg | About 1 hr 30 min | About 1 hr 30 min | About 1 hr 45 min |
| Pittsburgh | About 4 hr 45 min | About 4 hr 45 min | About 4 hr 45 min |
Times are free-flow estimates. New York trips depend on the tunnels, and I-78 and US 22 slow to a crawl at rush hour, so plan around 7 to 9am and 4 to 6pm on weekdays.
Flying in and getting around
Lehigh Valley International Airport (ABE), between Allentown and Bethlehem, has a handful of nonstop flights, mostly to airline hubs and Florida; Philadelphia and Newark airports are each about 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes away by car and have far more choice. Once you’re here, the three downtowns are each walkable, but the distances between them aren’t: Bethlehem to Easton is about 20 minutes by car, Bethlehem to Allentown about 15. LANta, the local bus system, links the cities, and ride-shares are easy to find. Parking is simple outside festival weekends, with garages in all three downtowns.
The 15 best things to do in Lehigh Valley
Ranked for a first visit. Bethlehem gets the most entries because it has the most to see; Easton and Nazareth are short, focused stops; Allentown is the base for families and sports.
1. Bethlehem’s UNESCO-listed Moravian district
Free to walk; museum and guided tours paid; the reason Bethlehem is on the world map. Moravian missionaries from Germany founded Bethlehem in 1741 and named it during a Christmas Eve service, which is why it calls itself the Christmas City. They built a tightly organized religious community of stone and timber, much of which still stands along Church Street, and in 2024 UNESCO added it to the Moravian Church Settlements World Heritage listing alongside Christiansfeld in Denmark, Herrnhut in Germany and Gracehill in Northern Ireland.
Start at the Moravian Museum in the 1741 Gemeinhaus, the oldest building in the city, then walk Church Street past the Single Brethren’s and Single Sisters’ houses to God’s Acre, the Moravian burial ground, where flat stones are laid out by community group rather than by family. Downhill along Monocacy Creek, the Colonial Industrial Quarter holds the 1762 Waterworks, a National Historic Landmark, the 1782 Grist Miller’s House, the 1869 Luckenbach Mill, the 1761 Tannery and a reconstructed 1750 smithy. Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites runs a World Heritage Tour plus walking tours of old Bethlehem, its industrial beginnings and the rise and fall of Bethlehem Steel.
Music is part of the inheritance. The Moravians brought brass and choral traditions with them, and Moravian trombone choirs still play for church festivals and funerals. The Bach Choir of Bethlehem, founded in 1898, is the oldest Bach choir in the country, and its Bach Festival each spring draws listeners from across the Northeast. Even if you don’t time a concert, stop inside Central Moravian Church when it’s open: the plain, light-filled sanctuary says a lot about the people who built the town.
Plan it: Start at the Goundie House Welcome Center, 501 Main Street. The Moravian Museum, 66 West Church Street, lists hours of Monday and Thursday 11am to 4pm, Friday and Saturday 11am to 5pm and Sunday 11am to 4pm, with custom tours only on Tuesday and Wednesday, per Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites (October 2026); buy museum and tour tickets on its site. Park in the Walnut Street or North Street garages. About 1 hour 15 minutes from Philadelphia, 1 hour 30 minutes from Harrisburg and 4 hours 45 minutes from Pittsburgh. Allow half a day. Best for: history lovers and anyone who likes old towns on foot.
2. SteelStacks and the Hoover Mason Trestle
Free; open daily; the most dramatic place in the valley. Bethlehem Steel made the steel for the Golden Gate Bridge and for much of the country’s military in two world wars, and its Bethlehem plant stopped making steel in 1995. Instead of tearing down the blast furnaces, the city built an arts campus around them. ArtsQuest’s SteelStacks opened in 2011 and now draws over a million visitors a year to about 1,750 free performances, from summer concerts at the Levitt Pavilion to Musikfest in August. The Hoover Mason Trestle, a former ore railroad turned elevated walkway, runs along the base of the furnaces with signs explaining how iron was made.
This fall, ArtsQuest’s Oktoberfest takes over the campus on October 2 to 4 and 9 to 11, 2026. The ArtsQuest Center holds a cinema and the Musikfest Café music venue, and Wind Creek Bethlehem, the casino resort, sits on the old steel land next door. Come back after dark, when the furnaces are lit.
Plan it: First and Second streets, South Bethlehem, a 10-minute drive or a 25-minute walk across the river from Main Street. Free limited parking in the SteelStacks lots on Second Street; check the SteelStacks site for the event calendar. Allow 1 to 2 hours, or an evening for a show. Best for: photographers, music fans and anyone with an industrial streak.
3. National Museum of Industrial History
Paid; Wednesday to Sunday; the indoor half of the steel story. In a former Bethlehem Steel electric repair shop beside SteelStacks, this Smithsonian-affiliated museum covers American manufacturing from iron and steel to silk and textiles, with heavy machinery that still looks ready to run. It’s the place to understand what the blast furnaces outside actually did.
Plan it: 602 East Second Street, Bethlehem. Open Wednesday to Sunday 10am to 5pm; closed Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day. Adults $18; seniors, veterans and educators $12; students and youth 7 to 17 $10; 6 and under free; $3 with an EBT or ACCESS card. On Family Sundays, children under 12 get in free with a paying adult, and seniors pay half on the first Wednesday of the month, per the museum’s visit page (October 2026). Allow 1 to 2 hours. Best for: engineers, history buffs and curious teenagers.
4. Main Street Bethlehem and the Moravian Book Shop
Free; daily; the best small-city main street in the region. Bethlehem’s Main Street runs from the Moravian district past Federal-era brick buildings, independent shops and restaurants to the 1922 Hotel Bethlehem. The Moravian Book Shop, founded in 1745, calls itself the oldest continuously operating bookstore in the world and now doubles as Moravian University’s bookstore. Side streets lead down to the Monocacy Creek parkland and the Colonial Industrial Quarter.
Plan it: Park in the Walnut Street or North Street garages and walk. Most shops open late morning; restaurants stay busy into the evening, especially during festivals. Allow 2 hours with lunch. Best for: browsers and book lovers.
5. Crayola Experience in Easton
Paid; open every day; the valley’s top family attraction. Crayola’s headquarters and factories are in the Lehigh Valley, but the plants don’t offer tours any more. Instead, Crayola runs this hands-on attraction in downtown Easton, open since 1996, with more than 20 activities: melted-wax spin art at Drip Art, a robot that sketches you as a cartoon at Cartoon Creator, and Wrap It Up, where kids name and wrap their own crayon. Through November 1, 2026 it’s decorated for Screamin’ Green Hauntoween, and on October 16 it holds a 21-and-over Crayola After Dark evening from 6 to 9pm.
Plan it: Downtown Easton, off Centre Square, about 1 hour 30 minutes from Philadelphia or Manhattan. Fall hours are Monday to Friday 10am to 4pm, Saturday 10am to 6pm and Sunday 10am to 5pm, per Crayola Experience (October 2026). Buy tickets online for the best price; a Color Card for unlimited visits through December 31 costs $35.99 online. Allow 3 to 4 hours. Best for: kids roughly 3 to 10, and their patient grown-ups.
6. Easton: Centre Square and the farmers’ market
Free; best on a Saturday morning. Easton sits where the Lehigh meets the Delaware, and its downtown packs restaurants, a public market hall and old storefronts around Centre Square and its Soldiers and Sailors Monument. On July 8, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was read aloud in the square, one of three public readings that day. The Easton Farmers’ Market, founded in 1752, the year the city was laid out, bills itself as the oldest continuous open-air market in the nation and is in its 274th season.
Give Easton an unhurried afternoon. Lafayette College sits on College Hill above downtown, with views over the two rivers, and the walk along the Delaware toward the free bridge to New Jersey takes in river views and the old canal town’s brick rowhouses. The downtown’s food scene punches above its size: the public market hall and the streets around Centre Square have bakeries, coffee roasters and casual restaurants, and the Saturday farmers’ market fills the riverfront in season.
One honest warning: Easton’s National Canal Museum and the mule-drawn canal boat rides in Hugh Moore Park are closed for the rest of 2026, because the bridge into the park is closed for construction. Check the museum’s site before planning a 2027 visit.
Plan it: The farmers’ market runs Saturdays from May 2 to December 19, 2026, 9am to 1pm (10am to noon in December), on the riverfront at Scott Park, 128 Larry Holmes Drive; from January to April it moves indoors to the 300 block of Northampton Street, Saturdays 10am to noon, per the market’s site. Downtown garages and meters. Allow half a day with the Crayola Experience. Best for: food lovers and walkers.
7. Martin Guitar factory tour in Nazareth
Paid; weekdays only; book online. C.F. Martin & Co. has made guitars in Nazareth since 1839, and its factory tour walks you past the craftspeople bending sides, carving necks and finishing instruments that end up in the hands of famous musicians. The visitor center’s museum shows historic Martins, including some of the oldest guitars the company made.
Plan it: 510 Sycamore Street, Nazareth, about 1 hour 30 minutes from Philadelphia and 1 hour from Scranton. One-hour guided tours run Monday to Friday, departing 10am to 2pm; online pre-registration is required and no tickets are sold at the factory. Tours cost $10, or $7.50 for children, seniors, students, active military and veterans, with headphones included. The visitor center and museum are open 9am to 4:30pm on weekdays, per Martin’s tour page (checked September 2026). Allow 1.5 hours. Best for: guitarists and anyone who likes watching skilled hands at work.
8. Da Vinci Science Center
Paid; Tuesday to Sunday; new building downtown. The valley’s science museum has moved into the PPL Pavilion on Hamilton Street in downtown Allentown, a new building with hands-on galleries including Curiosity Hall, a human-body gallery and a Lehigh River watershed gallery. Through January 19, the traveling exhibition Finding Titanic: The Secret Mission costs $10 extra.
Plan it: 815 West Hamilton Street, Allentown. Open Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 5pm, closed Mondays except select holidays. General admission is $24, $22 for seniors and $20.40 for military and first responders, with children 2 and under free; prices include a 9.5% fee toward the new building, per the center’s visitor page (October 2026). Nearby garages start at $1 an hour. Allow 2 to 2.5 hours. Best for: families with kids under 12.
9. The Liberty Bell story in Allentown
Paid; Tuesday to Saturday; history with a twist. In September 1777, with the British closing on Philadelphia, patriots carted the Liberty Bell north and hid it under the floor of Zion’s Reformed Church in Allentown, where it stayed until 1778. For years a museum in the church’s basement told the story, but it moved out on April 1, 2023 after failing to agree a lease with the building’s new owners. Its artifacts went to the Lehigh Valley Heritage Museum, run by the Lehigh County Historical Society; the full-size replica bell stayed at the church on Hamilton Street.
Plan it: The Lehigh Valley Heritage Museum in Allentown is open Tuesday to Saturday 10am to 4pm (closed Sunday and Monday); admission is $10 for adults, $3 for children 2 to 11 and free under 2, per the historical society (October 2026). Allow 1 to 2 hours. Best for: American Revolution buffs.
10. America on Wheels
Paid; Wednesday to Sunday; a small museum on the Lehigh riverfront. Allentown built Mack Trucks, and this transportation museum covers cars, trucks, motorcycles and bicycles with rotating exhibits and hands-on displays for kids. It’s an easy hour on a wet afternoon.
Plan it: Allentown, near the Lehigh River. Open Wednesday to Saturday 10am to 4pm and Sunday noon to 4pm, closed Monday and Tuesday, per the museum’s site (October 2026); check there for admission. Allow 1 to 1.5 hours. Best for: car and truck fans.
11. Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom
Paid; seasonal; the valley’s big thrill park. On the western edge of Allentown, Dorney Park has more than 60 rides and one of the Northeast’s largest water parks, Wildwater Kingdom, plus Planet Snoopy for small kids. It stayed with Six Flags after the company sold six other parks in April 2026. In fall, its Halloween Haunt nights take over. For how Dorney compares with Hersheypark, Kennywood and the rest, see our guide to amusement parks in Pennsylvania.
Plan it: 4000 Dorney Park Road, Allentown, about 15 minutes from downtown Allentown and 1 hour 15 minutes from Philadelphia. Check Six Flags’ site for the operating calendar and prices, which change by date. Allow a full day. Best for: teenagers and coaster fans.
12. Lost River Caverns
Paid; reservations required; a cool escape. Just south of Bethlehem in Hellertown, Lost River Caverns runs short guided walks through a limestone cave with an underground stream, plus a gem and mineral shop above ground. It’s a dependable plan when the weather turns.
Plan it: Hellertown, about 15 minutes from Bethlehem. Guided tours last 30 to 45 minutes and start at $17.50 for adults and $12.50 for children 3 to 11; reservations are required (checked September 2026). Allow 1 hour. Best for: families and rainy days.
13. Hawk Mountain Sanctuary
Paid trail fee; daily; peak season right now. On the Kittatinny Ridge west of the valley, Hawk Mountain is one of the best places in North America to watch the fall raptor migration. Its counters staff the North Lookout every day from August 15 to December 15, and October brings the biggest variety of hawks, eagles and falcons. The climb to the North Lookout is rocky but short.
Plan it: Kempton, about 50 minutes from Allentown and 1 hour 30 minutes from Philadelphia. The visitor center and trails are open daily 9am to 5pm; trail fees are $10 for adults, $7 for seniors and $5 for children 6 to 12 (checked September 2026). No pets. Allow 3 hours. Best for: hikers and birders.
14. Skiing at Bear Creek and Blue Mountain
Paid; winter; closer than the Poconos. Two ski areas sit within about 35 minutes of Allentown. Blue Mountain Resort in Palmerton has the biggest vertical drop in Pennsylvania, 1,082 feet, on Ski PA’s listing, plus night skiing every night. Bear Creek Mountain Resort near Macungie is the smaller, closer option. Both are covered in our guide to ski resorts in Pennsylvania.
Plan it: Blue Mountain is about 35 minutes north of Allentown and 1 hour 30 minutes from Philadelphia; Bear Creek about 35 minutes southwest of Allentown and 1 hour 15 minutes from Philadelphia. Opening dates depend on snowmaking weather. Best for: day skiers from Philadelphia and New York.
15. Minor-league sports: IronPigs and Phantoms
Paid; affordable; good family nights out. The Lehigh Valley IronPigs, the Philadelphia Phillies’ Triple-A team, play at Coca-Cola Park from spring through September, and the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, the Philadelphia Flyers’ top minor-league affiliate, play their hockey season at the PPL Center in downtown Allentown through the winter. Tickets cost a fraction of big-league prices, and the arenas are easy to reach.
Plan it: Check each team’s schedule; the IronPigs’ 2026 season is over, and the Phantoms play from fall into spring. Allow 3 hours. Best for: families and sports fans on a budget.
Outdoors: trails, rivers and the Lehigh Gorge
The valley’s best outdoor asset is the Delaware & Lehigh Trail, a 165-mile route that follows old canal towpaths and rail lines from the Wyoming Valley near Wilkes-Barre down through the Lehigh Valley to Bristol, outside Philadelphia. The stretches along the Lehigh Canal near Bethlehem and Easton are flat, shaded and good for an easy bike ride or a long walk, with old locks and lock-tender houses along the way. In Bethlehem, the Monocacy Creek parkland runs right below the Moravian district, so you can step from 18th-century buildings into the woods in a few minutes.
North of Nazareth, Jacobsburg Environmental Education Center protects woods and trails along Bushkill Creek, a quiet alternative to the busy weekend spots. To the west, Hawk Mountain is the classic fall hike (see above), and South Mountain, the ridge behind Bethlehem and Allentown, carries local trails and the Star of Bethlehem.
For the most scenic day out, drive about 40 minutes north to Jim Thorpe, the Victorian railroad town at the mouth of the Lehigh Gorge. Its Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railway runs daily Autumn Leaf trips from September 26 to November 15, 2026: 45-minute round trips, with standard coach fares of $25 for adults and $9 for children 3 to 12, or $28 and $10 in the open-air car. Presales cover departures up to 3pm; later trains are sold same-day at the station. Jim Thorpe sits at the southern edge of the Poconos, which our guide to the Poconos covers in full, from lake towns to waterfalls.
Eating and drinking in the Lehigh Valley
Each downtown has its own food scene. Bethlehem’s Main Street and the side streets around it have the most choice within a short walk, from cafés and bakeries to the kind of white-tablecloth dining rooms that suit a Christmas City weekend. South Bethlehem, across the river near Lehigh University and SteelStacks, is younger and cheaper, with pubs, taquerias and late-night spots. Easton’s public market and the restaurants around Centre Square have become a food destination of their own, and Allentown’s revived downtown around the PPL Center fills up on game and concert nights.
Local flavors to look for: Pennsylvania Dutch baking (shoofly pie, whoopie pies and sticky buns at the farmers’ markets), hot dogs with chili sauce at the old-school diners and lunch counters, and German beer and food during the fall festival season. Oktoberfest at SteelStacks (October 9 to 11, 2026) is the easiest way to try all three in one place. The farms and hillsides around the valley also hold wineries, cideries and craft breweries; Saturday at the Easton Farmers’ Market is the best place to taste what the local growers produce.
Christmas City: Bethlehem from mid-November
Bethlehem takes its name seriously. From mid-November, the Moravian district glows with candles in the windows and many-pointed Moravian stars, the Star of Bethlehem shines from South Mountain, and Main Street fills with shoppers. ArtsQuest’s Christkindlmarkt, which it calls one of the largest and most-attended Christmas markets in the country, runs at SteelStacks on weekends from November 13 to December 20, 2026. It’s cashless for admission, food and drink: bring a card. For the rest of the state’s holiday markets and light shows, see our roundup of the best festivals in Pennsylvania.
Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites runs the season’s tours: Bethlehem By Night by motorcoach, the Christmas City Stroll, Trees of Historic Bethlehem, a Spirits of Christmas pub walk and a Christmas Sweets & Treats tour. Moravian churches keep the old traditions of putz (miniature nativity scenes) and candlelight services. Book tours and hotels early for December weekends, when the town is at its busiest.
Things to do in Lehigh Valley by season
Fall (now). Oktoberfest at SteelStacks (October 9 to 11), Hauntoween at Crayola (through November 1), Halloween Haunt at Dorney Park, the peak of the hawk migration at Hawk Mountain, and fall color along the Lehigh and on Blue Mountain. Historic Bethlehem’s new Art of the Dollhouse exhibition opens at the Kemerer Museum on October 22. The Easton Farmers’ Market keeps going outdoors until December 19.
The holidays. Christkindlmarkt weekends from November 13 to December 20, Christmas tours in the Moravian district, and the Star of Bethlehem over town. This is Bethlehem’s busiest season for hotels.
Winter. Skiing at Blue Mountain and Bear Creek, Phantoms hockey in Allentown, and quiet museums. The Easton market moves indoors on Saturdays.
Spring. The IronPigs’ season opens, the gardens and parks along the Monocacy and the D&L Trail green up, and Dorney Park starts its season.
Summer. Musikfest, ArtsQuest’s free music festival, fills Bethlehem in August (the 2027 dates are August 5 to 15), free Levitt Pavilion concerts play at SteelStacks, and Wildwater Kingdom opens at Dorney Park. It’s also the best time to walk or bike the towpaths along the Lehigh Canal.
Itineraries: a day, a weekend, and a family trip
One day
Morning in Bethlehem’s Moravian district: the Moravian Museum, Church Street and God’s Acre, then lunch on Main Street. Cross the river for the Hoover Mason Trestle and the National Museum of Industrial History (Wednesday to Sunday), and stay for dinner and a show at SteelStacks while the furnaces are lit.
A weekend
Day one as above. On day two, drive 20 minutes east to Easton for the Saturday farmers’ market and Centre Square, add the Crayola Experience if you have kids, then head north to Nazareth for the Martin Guitar tour (weekdays only, so swap the order on a Friday). In fall, trade the afternoon for Hawk Mountain, about an hour west, but arrive by early afternoon: its trails close at 5pm.
With kids
Crayola Experience in the morning when it opens at 10am, lunch in Easton, then the Da Vinci Science Center in Allentown in the afternoon (it’s closed Mondays). On day two, Lost River Caverns and a SteelStacks evening, or Dorney Park in season. In winter, swap the park for a ski lesson at Bear Creek.
Where to stay in the Lehigh Valley
Bethlehem is our first pick: you can walk from the historic district hotels and inns to Main Street’s restaurants, and SteelStacks and the Wind Creek casino resort are across the river. Easton suits couples who want a small, walkable downtown with good restaurants. Allentown has downtown hotels near the PPL Center and the Da Vinci Science Center, and the chain hotels along US 22 and near the airport are the cheapest beds in the valley.
Book early for Musikfest in August, Christkindlmarkt weekends and graduation weekends at Lehigh and Moravian universities and Lafayette College in May. If you’re combining the valley with the mountains, the Poconos are 45 minutes to an hour north; our guide to things to do in the Poconos covers the lakes, waterfalls and resorts there.
Is the Lehigh Valley worth a trip?
Yes, with the right expectations. This isn’t a resort area or a big-city weekend; it’s three real working cities with an unusual amount of history and a few genuinely great attractions. Bethlehem is the star, and on a crisp fall day, with the Moravian district on one side of the river and the blast furnaces on the other, it’s one of the most interesting small cities in the Northeast. Easton is the best surprise. Allentown is the most useful base for families, thanks to the science center, Dorney Park and the sports teams, but it has less for adults on its own.
If you have one day, spend it all in Bethlehem. If you have two, add Easton and either the Crayola Experience or the Martin Guitar tour, depending on who’s in the car: kids or a guitarist. If you’re coming in December, put Christmas City first and book early. And if you’re driving between Philadelphia and the Poconos, the valley is the obvious place to break the trip: the Moravian district and SteelStacks fit neatly into an afternoon.
What’s changed, and what to skip
- The canal boat isn’t running. The National Canal Museum and the Josiah White II canal boat rides are closed for the rest of 2026 while the bridge into Hugh Moore Park is rebuilt.
- The Liberty Bell Museum moved. Since April 2023 the artifacts are at the Lehigh Valley Heritage Museum. Only the replica bell remains at Zion’s Church.
- The Da Vinci Science Center moved downtown. Older directions point to its former suburban building; the new address is 815 West Hamilton Street.
- No Crayola factory tours. Crayola stopped them; the Crayola Experience is the attraction.
- No weekend Martin tours. The factory tour runs Monday to Friday only, and you must register online.
- Skip: driving through Bethlehem during Musikfest unless you’re going (park outside and walk in); US 22 at rush hour; and Bethlehem’s museums on Tuesdays, when the Moravian Museum offers only custom tours and the industrial history museum is closed.
Lehigh Valley FAQ
What is the Lehigh Valley known for?
Three things: Bethlehem’s Moravian history, now on the UNESCO World Heritage List; the industrial legacy of Bethlehem Steel and Mack Trucks, told at SteelStacks and the National Museum of Industrial History; and famous makers, from Crayola in Easton to Martin Guitar in Nazareth. Musikfest and the Christmas City season are its best-known events.
Is Bethlehem, PA a UNESCO World Heritage Site?
Yes. In 2024 UNESCO added Bethlehem’s historic Moravian settlement to the Moravian Church Settlements World Heritage listing, which it shares with Christiansfeld in Denmark, Herrnhut in Germany and Gracehill in Northern Ireland. The listed buildings cluster along Church Street and the Colonial Industrial Quarter by Monocacy Creek.
Can you tour the Crayola factory?
No. Crayola says factory tours are no longer offered at its Lehigh Valley plants. The Crayola Experience in downtown Easton, open since 1996, is the hands-on alternative, with 20-plus activities such as Drip Art and Wrap It Up, where kids name and wrap their own crayon. It’s open every day of the year.
Is the Martin Guitar factory tour free?
No. As of fall 2026 the one-hour guided tour costs $10, or $7.50 for children, seniors, students, active military and veterans. Tours run Monday to Friday between 10am and 2pm, you must pre-register online, and no tickets are sold at the factory. The visitor center and museum are open weekdays.
How far is the Lehigh Valley from New York City and Philadelphia?
Bethlehem and Allentown are about 1 hour 15 minutes from Philadelphia by car, and Bethlehem and Easton about 1 hour 30 minutes from Midtown Manhattan, without traffic. Allentown is about 1 hour 45 minutes from Manhattan. Rush hour on I-78 and the Hudson River crossings can add an hour or more.
Is the Lehigh Valley good for families?
Very. The Crayola Experience, the Da Vinci Science Center, Dorney Park, Lost River Caverns and the Lehigh Valley Zoo are all within about 30 minutes of each other, and SteelStacks has free outdoor events most of the year. Add Phantoms hockey or an IronPigs game for an inexpensive night out.
Is the National Canal Museum open?
Not in 2026. The National Canal Museum in Easton’s Hugh Moore Park is closed for the rest of the year because the Glendon Hill Road Bridge into the park is closed for construction, and its public canal boat rides are canceled for the 2026 season. Check its website for 2027 plans.
Related Pennsylvania Guides
- Things to do in the Poconos: the mountains just north of the valley.
- Pennsylvania festivals and events: Musikfest, Christkindlmarkt and the rest of the year’s big dates.
- Amusement parks in Pennsylvania: Dorney Park and the state’s other parks.
Sources and How We Checked
Everything on this page was checked on October 1, 2026 against the official sources below and compiled from them; we don’t claim first-hand visits. Drive times are free-flow estimates from OpenStreetMap-based routing (the Valhalla engine), rounded to the nearest 15 minutes.
- Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites: the museums, tours, Christmas programs and Moravian Museum hours.
- ArtsQuest SteelStacks: campus details and the Oktoberfest dates.
- National Museum of Industrial History: hours and admission.
- Crayola Experience Easton and Crayola’s factory tour FAQ: hours, events and the end of plant tours.
- National Canal Museum: the 2026 closure.
- Da Vinci Science Center: new address, hours and admission.
We also checked the websites of the Easton Farmers’ Market, the Moravian Book Shop, America on Wheels and the Lehigh Valley Heritage Museum, and Lehigh Valley Public Media’s report on the Liberty Bell Museum’s move. Martin Guitar, Christkindlmarkt, Musikfest, Lost River Caverns, Hawk Mountain, Dorney Park and Blue Mountain details were last checked in September 2026.
Pennsylvania Tourism Guide is an independent publication. We are not affiliated with Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites, ArtsQuest, the National Museum of Industrial History, Crayola, C.F. Martin & Co., the Da Vinci Science Center, the Lehigh County Historical Society, the Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor, Six Flags or any business named here, and no one paid to be included.
Photo Credits
- Colonial Industrial Quarter, Bethlehem: photo by w_lemay, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
- Central Moravian Church, Bethlehem: photo by w_lemay, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
- Bethlehem Steel blast furnaces and the Lehigh River: photo by Shuvaev, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
- Hotel Bethlehem, Main Street: photo by w_lemay, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
- Crayola Experience, Easton: photo by Kenneth C. Zirkel, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Soldiers and Sailors Monument, Centre Square, Easton: photo by Mr. Matté (if there is an issue with this image, contact me using this image's Commons talk page, my Commons user talk page, or my English Wikipedia user talk page; I'll know about it a lot faster), via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
- C.F. Martin and Co. factory, Nazareth: photo by Lehigh Valley, PA from Lehigh Valley, PA, USA, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
- Hamilton Street, Allentown: photo by Atwngirl, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Star of Bethlehem from Main Street: photo by Photo by and (c)2008 Derek Ramsey (Ram-Man), via Wikimedia Commons (GFDL 1.2)