Hershey is a company town in the most literal sense. Milton S. Hershey built the factory on Pennsylvania farmland 12 miles east of Harrisburg and then built the community around it, including the homes, the schools, a trolley system, the parks and the cultural institutions. The result is a place where the theme park, the botanical garden, the museum, the performing arts house and the grand hotel all trace back to one man and are still run by two organizations he set up. Plan the trip around that and you get far more than a day of roller coasters.
The top 15, ranked
Ranked by how consistently each pick appears across official Hershey sources, the local destination marketing organization, and recent independent roundups.
- Top pick
Best for Family · #1 of 15Hersheypark
Theme ParkThe park campusRuns a daily summer season, then switches to selected days for the fall Halloween event and the winter Christmas event, with the water park confined to the summer stretch only. The operator publishes the calendar date by date.Varies by dateThe largest amusement park in Pennsylvania is run by Hershey Entertainment and Resorts and carries more than 70 rides and attractions, with a coaster count the park claims is the highest in the Northeast. The 11 acre water park, The Boardwalk at Hersheypark, is included with general admission rather than sold separately, which changes what a single ticket is worth. ZooAmerica is attached to the same campus. Because the operating calendar shifts through the year, buy from the operator against the specific date you plan to visit.
Local tipCheck what is running on your date before buying, because the water park section and the roller coaster lineup are only both fully open in the height of summer, and shoulder season days can look very different for the same admission.
- Top pick
2Best for Family · #2 of 15
Hershey's Chocolate World
Family AttractionThe park campusOpen daily on a long single window that stretches later in the summer and through the winter holiday season. Individual ticketed experiences run to their own timed slots inside those hours.Varies by attractionThe visitor building at 101 Chocolate World Way is free to walk into, and the signature Hershey's Chocolate Tour ride is free as well and ends with a sample. Everything beyond that is ticketed individually or in bundles: Create Your Own Candy Bar, Reese's Stuff Your Cup, the Great Candy Expedition and a 4D show. It sits directly beside Hersheypark, so most visitors pass it on the way in or out, and it works as a standalone stop without a park ticket.
Local tipDo the free chocolate tour ride first and decide on the paid experiences afterward, because the make your own bar sessions run in timed slots that sell out and you need to know how much time the rest of the building is actually going to take.
- Top pick
3Best for Outdoors · #3 of 15
Hershey Gardens
GardenHotel Road hillOpen every day of the year on a single daytime window. The outdoor plantings change completely with the season, while the conservatory and butterfly house are the constants.$15 to $30Twenty three acres on the hill above town, begun in 1937 when Milton Hershey asked for a nice garden of roses and grown from there into a full botanical site with about 3,000 roses across 115 varieties. The Milton and Catherine Hershey Conservatory holds a tropical Butterfly Atrium, and there is a large interactive Children's Garden. Admission covers the whole site including the conservatory, parking is free and tickets are not timed.
Local tipGo into the Butterfly Atrium early in the visit rather than last, because it is the one part of the site that is warm and dry whatever the weather is doing outside and it is where children slow right down.
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4Best for History · #4 of 15
The Hershey Story Museum
MuseumDowntownOpen daily on a single daytime window year round. The Chocolate Lab classes and the tasting run to their own set times inside the museum's hours and are ticketed separately from the galleries.Varies by ticketAt 63 West Chocolate Avenue, this is the museum that explains everything else in town. The galleries follow Milton Hershey from an impoverished childhood through apprenticeships and early business failures to mass produced milk chocolate and the founding of a school for orphan boys. The Chocolate Lab runs hands on classes and there is an international chocolate tasting. It is operated by the M.S. Hershey Foundation, the nonprofit that also runs the gardens and the downtown performing arts house.
Local tipBook a Chocolate Lab class when you buy the museum ticket rather than at the desk, because the classes are small, hands on and scheduled, and they are the part of the visit children remember.
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5Best for Family · #5 of 15
ZooAmerica North American Wildlife Park
Family AttractionThe park campusOpen through the year, with daily keeper activities concentrated in the summer season and weekend only programming through the fall and into the winter. Entry arrangements differ depending on whether you also hold a Hersheypark ticket.Varies by ticketEleven acres at 201 Park Avenue hold more than 200 animals, all of them native to North America, grouped by region from desert to grassland to woodland. It has been running in one form or another for more than a century, starting as an exotic animal collection before refocusing on the continent. It shares an operator with Hersheypark and connects to the park campus, so it is the obvious add on for anyone who wants something calmer than the rides.
Local tipGo through in the last part of the day rather than the middle, because the nocturnal house and the carnivores are far more active late and the whole eleven acres can be walked in about an hour.
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6Best for Family · #6 of 15
Indian Echo Caverns
Family AttractionBeyond HersheyOpen through the year on hours that expand in summer and contract in winter, with a midweek closure in the depths of winter and three holiday closures. Tours leave through the open hours rather than at fixed times.$15 to $30A short drive west of Hershey at 368 Middletown Road in Hummelstown, this is a guided cave tour of about 45 minutes led by an interpretive guide through limestone formations. The cave holds 52 degrees Fahrenheit all year, which makes it the reliable escape on a hot July afternoon or a wet one. Above ground the site called Echo Dell adds gem panning at Gem Mill Junction, a barnyard petting area, a playground and free picnic grounds.
Local tipBring a layer even in high summer, because the cave sits at 52 degrees regardless of the surface temperature and the tour is long enough for that to matter with children.
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7Best for Shows · #7 of 15
Hershey Theatre
Music VenueDowntownProgramd as a performance calendar rather than a daily attraction, running through the year with the Broadway series concentrated in the cooler months. The box office keeps weekday hours outside performance times.Varies by showA 1,904 seat performing arts house in the middle of downtown, operated by the M.S. Hershey Foundation and part of the civic complex Milton Hershey built for the town rather than a commercial road house. It carries touring Broadway productions, concerts, classical music, dance and comedy, and sells a Broadway subscription series. Because it sits on Chocolate Avenue rather than out by the park, an evening show pairs naturally with dinner downtown.
Local tipBook the Broadway titles well ahead and everything else late, because the touring musicals are what sell out here while the one night concerts and comedy dates usually still have seats close in.
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8Best for Landmarks · #8 of 15
The Hotel Hershey
LandmarkHotel Road hillOperates year round as a hotel. Restaurant and spa availability follows its own daily pattern and books out well ahead on weekends and through the winter holiday season.Varies by serviceThe grand hotel on the hill above town is a member of Historic Hotels of America and an AAA Four Diamond property, and it is worth seeing even if you are not staying. Non guests can book the dining rooms, including the circular one that faces the formal gardens, and the spa. It sits directly across Hotel Road from Hershey Gardens, so the two combine into one easy half day away from the theme park side of town.
Local tipReserve dining or a spa treatment in advance if you are not a hotel guest, because the public rooms are open to walk through but the tables and treatment slots are not something to turn up hoping for.
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9Best for Free landmarks · #9 of 15
Chocolate Avenue
Neighborhood LandmarkDowntownA public street, free and open at any hour. The shops and restaurants along it keep their own hours and run later on summer evenings and through the winter holiday season.FreeThe main street through town is lit by more than a hundred streetlights shaped like Hershey's Kisses, some wrapped and some unwrapped, and the cross streets carry names like Cocoa Avenue. Walking it costs nothing and takes in the museum, the downtown performing arts house, ChocolateTown Park, independent boutiques and a run of restaurants. It is the part of Hershey that reminds you this is a real town rather than a resort campus.
Local tipWalk it after dark rather than in daylight, because the Kiss streetlights only read as what they are when they are lit and the downtown blocks are quiet enough in the evening to actually look up.
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10Best for Museums · #10 of 15
AACA Museum
MuseumBeyond HersheyOpen daily on a standard daytime window through the year. Rotating exhibitions change several times a year alongside the permanent galleries.Varies by ticketAt 161 Museum Drive, this independent nonprofit holds a large collection of cars, trucks, buses and motorcycles, and the Cammack Gallery inside it is the largest collection of Tucker automobiles anywhere. A separate Museum of Bus Transportation sits under the same roof. Note that the organization now also trades as America's Transportation Experience and its old web address forwards to the new one, which trips up visitors searching for it.
Local tipHead for the Tucker gallery first, because there are only 51 of those cars in existence and the concentration here is the single strongest reason to make the stop.
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11Best for Food and drink · #11 of 15
Tröegs Independent Brewing
BreweryThe park campusOpen every day on a late morning to evening window that runs later on Friday and Saturday. The kitchen closes before the tasting room does, and guided brewhouse tours are booked separately and are adults only.FreeThe brewery at 200 East Hershey Park Drive sits within sight of the theme park and is built to be visited: a self guided tour path runs through the working brewhouse, there is an art gallery, and the tasting room serves concession style with a scratch kitchen attached. Walking the tour path and the gallery costs nothing. Children are welcome with an adult and high chairs are provided, which is unusual for a brewery of this size.
Local tipWalk the self guided path before you order rather than after, because it runs past the working brewhouse and reads completely differently once you have seen the tanks the beer in your glass came out of.
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12Best for Sports · #12 of 15
Hershey Bears
SportsThe park campusA defined hockey season running from fall through spring rather than year round, on a published home schedule. GIANT Center also hosts concerts and touring shows outside game nights.Varies by gameThe town's American Hockey League club plays at GIANT Center on the Hersheypark campus and is the top affiliate of the Washington Capitals, which means the roster is full of players on the edge of the NHL. Like the theme park and the zoo, the club is owned by Hershey Entertainment and Resorts. For a winter visit this is the thing that fills an evening when the outdoor attractions have closed for the season.
Local tipLook at the schedule before booking a winter trip, because the hockey season fills exactly the months when Hersheypark is mostly shut and a home game turns a quiet January evening into the reason to be in town.
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13Best for Tours · #13 of 15
Hershey Trolley Works
TourThe park campusRuns through the year from the Chocolate World building with departures at set times, and switches to themed seasonal versions around Halloween and the winter holidays. Children under three ride free.$25 to $50A narrated trolley tour departing from Hershey's Chocolate World covers the story of Milton Hershey and the building of the town, with chocolate tastings handed out along the way. It is the quickest way to understand why the streets, the school and the hotel are arranged the way they are. Seasonal variants run for Halloween and the winter holidays, and combination pricing is offered with other Chocolate World experiences.
Local tipAsk about the combination discount when booking, because tickets are reduced when bundled with other Chocolate World attractions and that saving is not applied automatically.
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14Best for Free landmarks · #14 of 15
Founders Hall at Milton Hershey School
Historic SiteHotel Road hillThe visitors center inside the rotunda opens Monday to Saturday on a short midday window and is closed Sundays. The rest of the building is a working school and is not open to visitors.FreeThe domed rotunda off East Governor Road is the most striking building in Hershey that most visitors never see. It opened in 1970 as a memorial to Milton and Catherine Hershey, and the school it belongs to is a residential school for children in need that the Hersheys endowed with their fortune. A visitors center inside the rotunda is open to the public at no charge and explains the philanthropy that the chocolate business ultimately paid for.
Local tipCome on a weekday or Saturday morning, because the visitors center keeps short midday hours and closes on Sundays, and it is the one part of the campus open to people who are not connected to the school.
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15Best for Outdoors · #15 of 15
Jonathan Eshenour Memorial Trail
ParkBeyond HersheyOpen and free through daylight hours year round. Helmets are required for cyclists and the posted trail rules are enforced by the township.FreeThirteen and a half miles of shared use trail run through most of Derry Township, linking parks, neighborhoods and shopping without putting you on the road. It is maintained by the Township of Derry Public Works Department and administered by its Parks and Recreation department, and it costs nothing to use. For anyone staying in Hershey for more than a couple of days it is the obvious way to get a morning outdoors that has nothing to do with chocolate.
Local tipStart from one of the township parks rather than a random road crossing, because the parks have the parking and restrooms and the trail is a network through the township rather than a single point to point route.
Where things cluster
Hershey is small and the pieces sit in four clear clusters, three of them within a couple of miles of each other. These groupings keep a half day in one place.
- The Hersheypark campusHersheypark Drive and Park Avenue, holding the theme park, the free entry chocolate building, the zoo, the arena where the hockey team plays and the brewery, all within walking distance of one another.
- Downtown and Chocolate AvenueThe main street with the Kiss shaped streetlights, the Milton Hershey museum, the downtown performing arts house, ChocolateTown Park and most of the independent restaurants and shops.
- Hotel Road and Route 322The quieter, greener side above town, with the grand hotel, the 23 acre gardens directly across the road from it, and the domed rotunda at the school Milton Hershey endowed.
- Derry Township and HummelstownThe wider township, holding the transportation museum, the shared use trail network, and the limestone cave a short drive west in Hummelstown.
Make it a day
Chocolate first, town after
Open at Hershey's Chocolate World for the free ride and one paid experience, then commit the middle of the day to Hersheypark if you have a ticket, or to Hershey Gardens and the museum downtown if you do not. Finish with a walk along Chocolate Avenue after the Kiss streetlights come on.
The park, then everything else
Give the first day entirely to Hersheypark and the chocolate building next to it. Spend the second on the hill with Hershey Gardens, the hotel and the school rotunda, then come down into town for the Milton Hershey museum and an evening show or a hockey game depending on the season.
Animals, caves and candy bars
Start at ZooAmerica while the animals are still active and the campus is quiet, then cross to Chocolate World to make a custom candy bar. Take the afternoon out to Indian Echo Caverns in Hummelstown, where the 45 minute cave tour and the gem panning outside carry a whole afternoon whatever the weather does.
Map
Best time to visit
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Late spring and September are the sweet spot. The theme park is running, the roses on the hill are at their best in late spring, the gardens and museums are open every day, and the crowds are nothing like July. High summer is when Hersheypark is fully open including the water park, which is the trade for the longest lines and the highest room rates of the year. Fall and winter change the shape of the trip completely: the theme park drops to selected event days, the hockey season fills the evenings, and the gardens, the museum, the cave and the transportation museum all keep going indoors.
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Hershey things to do FAQ
Parking, timing, cost, and weather answers for a smoother visit.
How many days do you need in Hershey, PA?
Two days is the comfortable number. One goes to Hersheypark and Hershey's Chocolate World next door, which is a full day on its own in summer. The second covers everything that is not the theme park: the gardens and the hotel on the hill, the Milton Hershey museum downtown, and the cave over in Hummelstown. A single day works if you skip the theme park entirely and treat Hershey as a town rather than a ride destination.
Is Hershey's Chocolate World free?
Entering the building is free, and so is the signature Hershey's Chocolate Tour ride, which ends with a sample. What costs money is everything else inside it: making your own candy bar, the Reese's cup experience, the Great Candy Expedition and the 4D show are each ticketed, and the operator sells them in bundles. You do not need a Hersheypark ticket to go in, and plenty of visitors treat it as a standalone stop.
Is Hersheypark open all year?
No. It runs a daily summer season, then switches to selected days for an fall Halloween event and a winter Christmas event, and the water park section is confined to the summer stretch only. That means the same admission buys very different things depending on the date. Check the operator's own calendar for the specific day you plan to visit before buying, because the ride lineup that is open changes across the season.
What is there to do in Hershey besides the theme park?
More than most people expect, and much of it is open when the park is not. Hershey Gardens covers 23 acres on the hill with a tropical butterfly house, The Hershey Story Museum downtown explains how the whole town came to exist, and ZooAmerica holds more than 200 North American animals. Add the transportation museum with its Tucker car collection, the cave in Hummelstown, a brewery you can tour yourself, and a 13.5 mile trail network across the township.
Is Hershey walkable, or do you need a car?
Partly. The Hersheypark campus is walkable within itself, with the theme park, the chocolate building, the zoo, the arena and the brewery all close together, and downtown Chocolate Avenue is a proper walking street. What is not walkable is the connection between them, or the climb up Hotel Road to the gardens and the hotel, or the run out to Hummelstown for the cave. Plan on a car for anything that crosses between the four clusters.
Who runs the attractions in Hershey?
Two organizations, and it is worth knowing which is which. Hershey Entertainment and Resorts operates Hersheypark, ZooAmerica, GIANT Center, the hockey club and the hotels. The M.S. Hershey Foundation, a nonprofit, runs The Hershey Story Museum, Hershey Gardens, the downtown performing arts house and the community archives. Milton Hershey School is a separate endowed institution with its own visitors center. Tickets and passes do not transfer between them.
Keep planning
Use these nearby guides to extend your Hershey trip with a different pace and a clear next stop.
Image credits. 1 Hersheypark: Deep Arrival media library (asset 11336).