Shopping in Historic Downtown Gettysburg

Every year millions of people visit Gettysburg in Pennsylvania to tour the Civil War Battlefields and to visit many of the area's local attractions. If you're a Civil War buff, there's no better place to be than in Gettysburg! You can tour the Gettysburg Battlefields, visit the Soldiers' National Cemetery and check out all of the Civil War Museums while you're here.

With that said, Gettysburg is a great place to visit if you just want to do some shopping too! There is the Gettysburg Outlet Mall (right on the outskirts of town), hundreds of gift shops at the tourist attractions & museums, etc. Personally though, I'm drawn to all of the small businesses and shops that line the downtown streets!

If you're planning a visit to the downtown area, you'll find three main parking garages and many of the downtown streets offered short-term metered parking. If you plan on spending the afternoon or the day, I recommend a parking garage. If you plan on just shopping for an hour or two...then a short-term parking meter is your best bet. With either option, plan on spending a little bit of money for parking and doing some walking!

Lincoln Square is where you want to start. You'll find that all of the major roads in and out of Lincoln Square have small stores, art galleries, antique shops, eateries, etc. lining their streets. If you're planning on staying for the weekend to primarily shop & visit the downtown attractions, you'll find just a few downtown hotels and bed & breakfasts to accommodate your needs. Personally though, I enjoy the hotels and bed & breakfasts that are not in the downtown area, but that's just an individual preference.

When I visit Gettysburg for some shopping fun...I bring several large shopping totes along with me. This saves me from making numerous trips back & forth to the car when I have purchases in hand. I like to load up my totes and then head to the car and trust me, it's a lot easier this way!!!

Today I wanted to give visitors a little taste of the Gettysburg downtown area by sharing some photographs with you that we took on a recent trip to the area. The downtown area is absolutely gorgeous and everyone seems so friendly. The town decorates the downtown area during each of the 4 seasons and during the holidays, which is a great time to visit.

If you're looking for some of the famous landmarks, you'll find the President Lincoln statue and the town clock...right on Lincoln Square. As you walk around the area you'll see various historical markers and educational plaques that give you the history on particular buildings, attractions, memorials, businesses, etc. If you're new the area, take some time to learn more about Gettysburg while you're here.

Every time I visit the downtown area...I have a great time! There is always something to see and do, and everyone is super-friendly. After a great afternoon of shopping, we like to grab a bite to eat at one of the eateries and sometimes we take in a show a the Gettysburg Performing Arts Center. While we do take "day trips" to the area, the majority of the time we plan a weekend getaway, so that we can really enjoy our visit.

If you would like to learn more about some of the Civil War and Tourist Attractions that you can find in Gettysburg, please visit the Pennsylvania section right here on our travel blog. We've extensively written about our visits to Soldiers' National Cemetery, Gettysburg Train Museum, the Gettysburg Diorama, the Gettysburg Railroad Station and more! You can also check out our Gettysburg Pennsylvania board over on Pinterest.