No sales tax on clothing....6% on everything else (except certain food items).

Thanks for the quick reply!

If you're going to be near Lancaster, you won't be far from Delaware. If you have a lot of Christmas shopping to do, for big ticket items, it might be worth taking a run down there. No sales tax at all in Delaware. Lots of great shopping, too, because people from surrounding states routinely make a shopping run to save $$$. You just have to watch the stores close to the state line--sometimes the prices there are a little higher than if you get further away from the borders.

Another option--NJ has urban enterprise zones where the tax is half (it's 7% in most areas, but only 3.5 in UEZ's). Camden isn't a place you'd want to shop, but Vineland is nice, and has a mall, Target, Kohl's, and many other of the usual stores. But it would be a couple hours away from Lancaster.

Of course, there's great outlet shopping in Lancaster--if you know what you're buying and what it should cost, you should pick up some great values.

Maura, Just curious, might I ask what college your DD will be visiting? I have 2 grand daughters at Shippensburg, 1 a senior and the other a freshman and they absolutely love it...Of course I could go on and on....Amish country, lovely part of the state....

Go to Shady Maple for buffet dinner.
A must-do.
My favorite.

Here is a link that might be useful: Shady Maple

Another place to eat, haven't been there since my daughter graduated from Millersville U. in 1990....OH MY!!! yes I know she just turned 41 but but where oh where did the time go. I vividly remember her "just" moving into the dorm!!!!

Sue

Here is a link that might be useful: Willow Valley restaurant

Wow - thanks for the additional info! I live in NJ, but rarely have time to shop - and so when this trip came up I thought it would be a good opportunity to get started with holiday shopping, or sight-seeing, or just stay close to the hotel and catch up on leisure reading, personal phone calls, etc. I will have an entire day/night to myself -- I'm not much of a "mall" shopper, and I've been sight-seeing in Lancaster a few times. I think I might like to get into some of the Amish/local gift shops since DH has limited patience for this sort of shopping. (He prefers the outlets; I prefer the former.)

We will be visiting Dickenson College, Franklin & Marshall, and Bucknell.

Thanks for the restaurant recommendations too!