I took Dad and the girls to Gettysburg for a day, we did one of the bus tours and it was really interesting for Dad and I, less interesting for the kids, LOL.

We stayed at Hershey that night so I can't help you with lodging....

Annie

Yep....BTDT, don't remember where we stayed but I seem to remember that we stayed at Williamsburgh and did a day trip to G'burg.
There is a reanactment of the battle with surround sound which was awesome....
Be sure to allow lots of time to just drive around and see the scope of the place.....the number of monuments is mind boggeling.
Linda C

The visitor's center is new (badly needed, too) and supposed to be absolutely wonderful. Don't know the ages of the children you are taking, but mine enjoyed the presidents/first ladies wax museum and the historic grounds/park across from the old visitors' center. Folks often do bus tours of the battlefields, and some places offer bike tours. Gettysburg is a pretty little town, fun to meander through, but expect it to be crowded on the 4th.

I took my boys when they were 9 & 10. They are history and theatre nuts, so they loved it. We bought them Union and Confederate uniforms and the guns, and as we toured the battlefields they did their own re-enactments. It was wonderful watching them. You could just see their imaginations at work -- dreaming that they were right there in the middle of the battles. They didn't want to leave. After we got home they had lots of "battles" in the back yard.

We visted there in the fall of 2007, but just for the day. We were driving from Pittsburgh to Hershey and as i recall spent the night in a town (Chambersburg?) about an hour away. It was just a motel town, nothing to say about it. We enjoyed the battlefield, DH is a history nut too, so we took the very good bus tour and then he walked back to sites he wanted to see more of. Initally, we weren't excited about the bus tour, but it turned out to be far better than expected. It's about a two hour trip as I recall, so not sure if your little ones will sit for it.
The town is picturesque, but a tourist town to be sure. I'm certain that you'll have fun. MAKE RESERVATIONS for the tours etc in advance. The visitor's center is nice and cool inside, but how long you'll have the kid's focus depends upon their level of interest.

Gettysburg is a great place. The re-enactments are just incredible (my nephew is saving up for his uniform - I can't believe how EXPENSIVE that stuff is!)

If you haven't already, rent the movie "Gettysburg". It gives you a lot of background of the battle, and it really made our visit more enjoyable as we knew more of the history before we went. If your kids like the movie, they may be more interested in the tour.

Also, if you don't make it in July, it's really fun to go on Halloween. Gettysburg is supposed to be one of the most haunted places in the world.

We went the first time in 1964, and again forty years later...my brother didn't get much taller LOL.

Don't miss the B&B (Farnesworth maybe?) that has bullet holes in the walls. Kinda cool.

Thanks to all for the info...MALNA thats a great photo. We booked last night,unfortunately all the camp grounds and better hotels/motels are completely SOLD OUT! We are inthe city of Gettysburg (Which was hours of work to find somewhere to stay) got a small motel kinda looks like a SUPER 8...everywhere, there is a 3 night minimum stay...the kids like to see new places so im sure we will keep them busy. I will definately look into tours and attraction before arriving. Thanks!!!!

DH and I visited Gettysburg about 18 years ago. It was the first battlefield I ever went to and I was certain it was going to be BOOOOORRRRRRRIIIIIINNNNG. A big field where we pretend to envision people being killed, sounds great.

Well, was I wrong. I absolutely loved it. The self-guided tour was fabulous, the reenactment was very interesting, and it really made history come alive for me.

We stayed at a B&B that was wonderful (no idea the name) and we ate dinner at a place that existed during the war (the building existed, not the restaurant). The walls had cannon ball indentations in them. We had "theme food" from the era. It's one of the dinners we still remember and talk about, definitely on our Top 10 list. We had spoon bread and corn pudding and DH had game stew and I had Virginia ham. Excellent.

Lucky you, have fun!

I kinda thought id be bored too...but the kids are very excited. My main corcern is how crowded it gonna be of course that was thought of after i was booked!

We enjoy Gettysburg & revisit every 5 years, or so. Learn something new with every trip.

Just a couple miles outside town is a miniature horse farm that's very fun. Your kids might really enjoy the side trip...

I wanted to bring one of the horses home in the van! DH was a party-pooper & said, "No!" :(

/tricia

Here is a link that might be useful: Land of Little Horses

I didn't read all the posts carefully before I responded. Now that I see what goldgirl wrote, I wonder if it was our B&B with the cannon ball indentations, not the restaurant. That would make sense.

Tricia, the girls and I visited the Little Horses too, they loved it and it was a nice break. There's a round barn around there somewhere too, I think.....

Annie

Here's what my nephew/Gettysburg expert recommended (he's very into Gettysburg ghosts, so a lot of his recommendations are haunted :-)

The Cashtown Inn. They can get lunch or dinner there (might need reservations that weekend) or they don't mind people stopping in just to look around.

If they don't want to take a guided tour (they are very good), they can instead get a tour CD for their vehicle from the visitors center. The new visitors center/museum is only a year old and something they should definitely check out (along with the newly renovated Cyclorama).

The Jenny Wade house is an interesting place to take a tour of and if they're interested take the ghost tour later at night. The Farnsworth House Inn has a great bookstore. Sachs Bridge is also a must see. It's easy to get to but they may have to ask for directions as it's a couple miles away from the battlefields. Nice place for a picnic.