With rolling hills and scenic landscapes, Rockwellian Main Streets, rural escapes, and compelling history and heritage—along with some of the friendliest residents around, Southwestern Pennsylvania offers unending travel options that your travelers will want to return to again and again.
Around the Region
Surprised by Beauty: National Parks & Outdoor Spaces
Tour Length: 1/2 Day to 5 Days / 4 Nights, Customizable | Seasons Available: Spring, Summer, Fall
Activity Level: Light Impact to High Adventure, Customizable
With downtown Pittsburgh’s dazzling green hillsides and three glistening rivers as your homebase, this tour can go in many different directions based on your travelers’ interests. Whether they’re ready for a garden party or have packed their gardening gloves, the seven destinations on the Pittsburgh Garden Trail are all uniquely surprising and beautiful. In the region at large, learn about the origins of the modern environmental movement at Rachel Carson’s birthplace, and reconnect with nature at one of the five spacious National Park sites in southwestern PA that depict history ranging from George Washington’s first failed battle to the heroism of passengers and crew aboard Flight 93 on Sept. 11, 2001. The region is dotted with dozens of small towns where a stroll down Main Street seems to lead back in time—though none as far back as Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village in Avella, the earliest site of human habitation in North America. And for a slice of life in the country, there are dozens of farm tours and agricultural experiences to enjoy. Come enjoy the fresh air in the Pittsburgh region!
Ohiopyle Falls, courtesy of the Laurel Highlands Visitors Bureau.
Escape to the Laurel Highlands
Tour Length: 5 days/4 nights suggested, Customizable | Seasons Available: Anytime
Activity Level: Light Impact to High Adventure, Customizable
The Laurel Highlands stretches across 3,000 picturesque square miles, located just an hour southeast of Pittsburgh. The region’s scenic and historic roadways wind across three mountain ranges to reveal rolling hills, roaring river gorges, and the highest peak in Pennsylvania. This is an itinerary for all seasons that blends Rockwellian small towns with world-renowned architecture (four Frank Lloyd Wright homes, including the iconic Fallingwater.) Brimming with history and heroism, groups can follow in George Washington’s footsteps at the first battlefield of the French and Indian War, and feel the power of patriotism at the Flight 93 National Memorial. This tour has a sweet side—a visit to a local family-run maple syrup camp.
Sunset from the Wetland Bridge at the Flight 93 Memorial.
Rebellious Spirits
Tour Length: 3 days/2 nights suggested, Customizable | Seasons Available: Anytime
Activity Level: Light Impact
Southwestern Pennsylvania was the staging ground for a young George Washington’s military career, and later on was the setting of the first challenge to his new federal government as the nation’s first president. This tour traces Washington’s Trail as a 21-year-old British soldier whose folly led to the firing of the first shots of the French and Indian War, a global conflict centered on the strategic control of the plot of land that would become downtown Pittsburgh. Several battlefields and sites in the area bring to life this war that laid the groundwork for the Revolutionary War. Washington would return to the region again in the midst of his presidency, once again ready for battle to quell an uprising of farmers and residents who were incensed by Alexander Hamilton’s excise tax on whiskey stills. While some tax collectors were tarred and feathered, Washington’s presence restored order—and ensured that whiskey would remain a key part of western Pennsylvania’s cultural fabric. This tour connects historic sites with contemporary, award-winning whiskey distilleries to create a smooth-sipping journey through the history the French & Indian War and the Whiskey Rebellion.
Fort Necessity Fence, courtesy of the Laurel Highlands Visitors Bureau
Wine & Wright
Tour Length: 3 days/2 night, Customizable | Seasons Available: Spring, Summer, Fall
Activity Level: Light Impact
Inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright’s organic style of architecture that designed structures in harmony with nature and their surroundings, this tour blends visits to four Wright-designed homes with scenic stops at fantastic local wineries. Centered in Pennsylvania’s Laurel Highlands, an hour southeast of Pittsburgh, this tour follows historic roadways through a region brimming with natural beauty and small town charm. Travelers will visit Fallingwater (a UNESCO World Heritage Site), Kentuck Knob, and Polymath Park, while savoring the best of the region’s wineries.
Kentuck Knob, courtesy of the Laurel Highlands Visitors Bureau.
