Pennsylvania Dutch Convention & Visitors Bureau

Bureau was very clean and modern. It looks like it had recently been updated. I went on a Friday afternoon and found the ladies at the info counter to be very helpful. We were helped as soon as we stepped to the counter. They gave us a map and tips to do our own self guided tour around the town.

Visited 10÷31÷14
Center was quite large as far as such centers go. You will find brochures of just about anything in the entire county (& sometimes beyond), filled with info on typical Lancaster attractions:
— Duggar-​style religious entertainment (Imax bible stories & such)
— Outlet shopping
— Souvenir shopping (hex signs, dolls of Amish people, & wooden cutouts of a lady bending over showing her underwear, to put on your front lawn beside your miniature fake well + flock of resin geese)
— Smorgasbords (typical family-​style truck stop food with a couple «Amish» dishes thrown in)
— Camp grounds (tiny, overcrowded, filled with trailers)
— Econo inns, or theme inns made to look like a big Mark Twain riverboat
— B&Bs
— Local historical places (Rock Forge, Wheatland/​James Buchanan House, & the Demuth Museum, which are really interesting & worthwhile)
— The «culture» of downtown Lancaster, with purported art galleries + gourmet restaurants
— Antiques, antiques, antiques
— Scenic drives
— Authentic buggy rides, scooter rentals, or tours of «The Amish Farm»
— Local farm goods, preserves, + bakery delights
— Other LANCO towns to see
The center had a newly remodeled lounge, bathrooms, I believe I saw complimentary water/​coffee, & it is the launch point for the minubus tour of the Phila Pike Amish experience, for people who want a gimmicky-​but-​realistic overview of the Amish-​English tourist industry relationship out there.
Why 1 star?
The assistance I received.
Sandy was AWFUL, but Tom was helpful.
I would give Sandy –5 stars, & Tom 4, so Lancaster County Visitors Center gets 1, because I couldn’t go lower to account for Sandy’s awfulness.
I walked in, & there were some visitors sitting in the waiting area, apparently in anticipation of the next tour departure. There were a German couple + a British couple milling around (I know, b/​c I greeted them both and gave them each some extra Tanger Outlet coupons I had). Then, at the tourism counter there was one woman working, & two other women talking with her from the tourist’s side of the counter.
The conversation?
How cell phones will soon replace all land lines, & how Sandy knows ALLLL about this, & how so-​and-​so already has replaced their land line with a cell, and on, and on, and on, about this intriguing & intellectual prediction of hers… (note sarcasm).
Sandy, what does this have to do with TOURISM?
Sandy, why don’t you do your JOB?
Sandy allowed me to stand there waiting for at least TEN MINUTES, while she yapped about the phone industry with two women who were not even interested in talking to her. They were ALL basically talking for the sake of talking, not even really caring about the topic (who would?). It was Sandy’s responsibility to excuse herself & tell them she needed to DO HER JOB!
She didn’t.
Completely unprofessional.
Had I been one of the European tourists there that day I’d be crying UGLY AMERICAN all the way home.
Hey Sandy, I had my husband & our dog waiting in the car the whole time you talked about phones. Was it that important?
I was trying to get info on local farms to buy organic meats. I just needed some addresses for where to go.
I really would have preferred to have gotten a MINUTE of her time & been permitted to leave, rather than watch her gab about her foolish musings for such a RIDICULOUS amount of time.
Sandy didn’t care.
I paced around & tried to find someone else to help me, but no other employee was anywhere to be found.
Sandy didn’t make eye contact.
Sandy did’t even look up.
At minute # 9 (out of 10) Sandy finally paused & said, «I will be with you in a moment,» as if speaking to her is a great privilege. She did not even pretend she hadn’t seen me standing 4 feet away for NINE MINUTES.
The old ladies she was talking to looked at me like I was infringing on their tea time, since Sandy had shown them it is ok to treat others like crap instead of acting like this was a TOURISM OFFICE.
Then what happened?
Tom came back from his lunch hour & took over. Sandy waited until she saw him coming & then managed to abruptly end her non-​work conversation & pretend she was about to help me. Sneaky. What a total jerk Sandy was. Her caliber of employee is now needed at Coatesville Walmart, to fill the shoes of the Chesco people who just got arrested.
I don’t normally get this annoyed but her behavior was exceptionally terrible & deserves for someone to sound off. The woman should be fired.
Tom took over & helped me promptly.
In 3 minutes I had all the info I needed.
10 minutes of standing there for NO reason, & 3 mins being helped.
Hope Sandy gets «helped» in kind wherever she travels!
* * * * * * *
ASIDE:
The only redeeming part of this experience was Mr. Sticky’s outside.
You MUST stop at Mr. Sticky’s, which is the trailer food truck place outside. I am posting a photo to show it. Check out my review for Mr. Sticky’s, they are a WONDERFUL local treat!

Look, this is for tourists. I live here. I’m not a tourist. This place is not for me.
If you’re visiting and need information about the county, here it is. Granted, you’ll get the most information from their members, not so much non-​members. Granted, if you want information about city of Lancaster, you’ll get that information from a source heavily influenced by a county perspective, which isn’t good for the city. But, they do have a lot of information. It’s free and the staff is helpful, if awake. As tourists bureaus go, this is one of the best anywhere.

Awesome place.
I wanted to get some information of where I could drive around to see some amish country and amish people walking around and on their buggies and they were able to give me a free map and info of where would be good. They have great information about the area and can advise where to eat and check out. They even marked up the map with turn by turn for me. For free.
Definitely stop by and get helped by the very friendly people. Helps a lot on a visit to Amish Country.

I researched for days on end the best places to stay, eat, shop, and see around Amish Country while on a two day excursion with my Mom and 88-​year old grandmother. So I thought I was ready. Pulled into Lancaster with my folder full of printouts upon printouts, maps, points of interest, Unilocal approved establishments (shout out!) like I owned the damn place! Then I saw this Visitor center and spur of the moment stopped in just in case I missed anything. Man, am I glad I did! Of all the maps and directions I printed none would have helped me as much as the maps I received here! Complete lifesavers that allowed me to take my self-​guided farmland tours (all 200 miles of them!) with only the aid of the map provided here.
The woman behind the desk was also SUPER helpful in giving me detailed and printed directions (from a secret file! oh yeah!) to nearly all of the covered bridges in the county (I think there’s about 28, I visited only a handful) which put the directions I printed at home to shame!
If you’re visiting Lancaster County for the first time this place is a MUST. They have an entire room of dioramas of shopping and attractions for you to look at and get an idea of the goods/​things you’d like to visit/​do while there. Pamphlets galore. A buggy outside that you’re allowed to take photos with (as you might not get that close to one once you’re on the road) and of course, super helpful employees to answer all of your questions.

I usually print off directions — but it seemed like the route I was going to take to King of Prussia, PA was very straight forward, so I did not print off directions, and I thought I had them adequately memorized.
After getting up around Lancaster, PA — I was mixing up whether U.S. 30 East or U.S. 222 North took me to the Pennsylvania Turnpike/​Interstate 76 East.
I saw a sign for a «Visitor’s Information Center.» «Perfect,» I thought. I pulled in. Waited my turn (two other folks in line in front of me) and the lady working the counter pulled out a couple of free maps, asked me where I was going, highlighted my route, discussed them with me, and made a couple of route recommendations.
They have tons of brochures here on area attractions for folks to peruse and take with them. There are also restrooms, and coffee available.
I ended up backtracking a couple of miles west on U.S. 30 and took U.S. 222 North to the PA Turnpike.
Great service — and friendly!