cdominey

Hi Everyone,

My wife and I are taking a trip to PA in October, flying into Pittsburgh and flying out of Philadelphia. We are renting a car to get from one to the other and seeing sights along the way. I have an Airbnb booked 2 nights in Laurel Highlands so we can see the Frank Lloyd Wright houses and other sites. We then plan to drive through Lancaster/Amish Country on the way to Philadelphia.

I have a couple of quick questions:

1. Anyone who's toured Fallingwater recently, is it worth paying extra for the guided tour vs. self guided? I'm happy to support them, but I didn't know if it was one of those small places where I'm basically going to hear the tour guide whether I paid for the guided tour or not. The other houses, it looks like they only offer guided.

2. For the Amish part, we both really just want to get the flavor and not spend a lot of time. Not quite Clark-Griswold-at-the-Grand-Canyon fast (if you've seen Vacation) but we don't want to linger for days. An overnight at best. Are there quiet roads or more personal, not-overloaded-with-tourists places or small tours where we could just see the area and be on our way? Some of the posts I've seen here make it seem very tourist trap-ish (the Amish part).

Thanks for your help as always.

starrs

I haven't done Fallingwater recently but it's one of my very favorite places anywhere. Also be sure to see Kentuck Knob nearby too.
I didn't take the guided tour so can't speak to that. I would check reviews on TripAdvisor for input.

If you've not been to Shanksville for the Flight 93 memorial, it's definitely worth considering adding to your trip -
https://www.nps.gov/flni/index.htm

k_marie

Another vote for Kentuck Knob. So interesting to compare and contrast the two FLW houses.

When we visited I don’t think there was an option for a self-guided tour at Falling Water. We would have chosen the guided tour anyway since our group of four really had no background in architecture nor experience with FLW.

I’ll suggest an add-on for the Philadelphia end of the trip: the Brandywine Valley. We particularly enjoy the (former) DuPont properties—the Hagley, Winterthur and Longwood Gardens.

cdominey

Yes we plan to see the Flight 93 memorial. Along with the 3 FLW houses (I expect an uptick of tourists at Polymath Park since the CBS Sunday Morning story this past weekend!).

starrs

I missed that! Thanks for the tip!

I adored the kitchen at KK. So unique!

Do you need a recommendation for a hotel nearby?

cdominey

We have an Airbnb booked in the area, but I'll take a hotel tip in case things go wrong!