A "Must" Stop on Your Trip Through Amish Country!

Between the bustle of the Rockvale Outlets on Route 30 and the nostalgia of the Strasburg Railroad, lies a small, unassuming buggy ride business near the traffic light Route 896 and Herr Road. Don't miss it, though, or you'll be missing the best buggy ride in Lancaster County!

Ed's Buggy Rides is on Route 896 across from the Sight and Sound Theater. It is a small building on a hill with a small parking lot. If the building is open, you can go in and pick up pamphlets about places to go in Lancaster County and see a short video on Amish life. However, almost all of Ed's business is done outside in the back.

We get out of our van and walk to the stables in the back where we are greeted by one of the drivers. They ask us which trip we want to take - the regular three-mile trip or the three-mile trip with the stop at the Amish farm included. We ALWAYS take the trip to the Amish farm, so I can't tell what the price of the ride is without the farm stop. The cost as of last year for the farm stop was $12 for adults and $8 for kids. We have to wait a few minutes while the driver takes care of the horse and gets the buggy ready. The buggy is actually a wagon that can fit six adults quite comfortably on bench seating. Children are invited to ride "shotgun" with the driver, and they get a big kick out of it, as our son did!

It's a slow trip down Herr Road on the buggy - we see an occasional car and another of Ed's buggies coming back from a trip! (Ed's buggy rides do not run on busy highways, as most of the other popular buggy rides do.) The guide tells interesting facts about the farms and fields we pass. Then, we turn right off the road and head down dirt roads and paths through corn, alfalfa and tobacco fields to the Amish barn and gift shop.

When we get of fthe buggy, we try some Amish root beer that the Amish children are selling at a stand. It's terrific - better tasting than bottled root beer! Then the buggy driver takes us into the barn and shows us the different Amish buggies there. (My wife likes the courting buggy.) After this talk, we are taken to the gift shop, where quilts, toys, kitchen decor and outdoor decorations abound! I can't remember if they took credit cards or not, but we bought something called a "quillow" for $39 - a light quilt that folded up into a pretty couch pillow! This gift shop (J & B Quilts & Crafts) is on North Star Road, for anyone who wishes to find it by car.

We get back into the buggy, and our son is playing with a pop gun we bought at the gift shop. We begin the journey back with our friendly driver asking us if we have any questions about what we just saw or about Amish life in general. They know a lot about the Amish! It's about a 15 minute trip back to Ed's, where we are helped off the buggy by the driver, who is given a very nice tip for a very nice experience! All in all, we were gone about an hour, about a half-hour riding and a half-hour on the farm. Well worth the money!

So, if you want to get a taste of Amish buggy riding, stay away from the rides on the main roads and come and explore the back roads of Amish Country (and the Amish farm) on Ed's Buggy Rides! Once you try it, you'll always make time for it on your future trips to Lancaster County! We do!