Hotel at a Glance: The Inn at Leola Village

Two glasses of champagne are waiting for you when you check into The Inn at Leola Village. It’s a nice starter for the elegance that comes standard at this AAA Four Diamond Hotel in Lancaster County. It has two fine-dining restaurants, a spa, multiple shops, and boutique-style rooms, some of which have jetted tubs. Rooms feature simple decorative touches inspired by the Amish, such as hand-sewn quilts and exposed beams. You’ll be close to the Amish farms and marketplaces in the countryside, too.

• Upscale Italian cuisine is the specialty at TE, the hotel’s high-end restaurant. It incorporates seasonal ingredients from nearby Amish farms, imported cheeses, and freshly made gelato.
• Classic country Italian fare can be found at the onsite Osteria Avanti, with menu items such as Sicilian swordfish and mussels, plus more than 450 wines to choose from.
• Get a massage at Destinations Hair Studio & Spa or indulge in a royal shave, a mani-pedi, or a luxurious facial. Your stay includes daily credits toward spa or salon services.

Lancaster County, Pennsylvania: Crossroads of Amish Culture and German Heritage

Lancaster County sits in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch Country. A number of Amish families—many of them descendants of the German immigrants who settled in the region in the 18th and 19th centuries—still farm the land here, living and working by the same timeless principles and unadorned methods they’ve been using for generations. On a drive through the area, you’ll see covered bridges spanning the Conestoga River and probably share the road with a horse-drawn buggy or two. At stops such as Kitchen Kettle Village, you can watch experts canning jellies, jams, and relishes and sample homemade baked goods.

To tour the countryside in style, take a ride aboard a coal-burning steam locomotive on the Strasburg Rail Road. As the train chugs past farmers tending fields and cattle grazing on hay and strudel, parlor-car attendants serve cocktails and snacks to passengers in the dining car or in first class. Across the street from the station in Strasburg, the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania chronicles the history of the track via rotating exhibits and more than 100 locomotives and railcars.

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