Christine We started our day at the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum, arriving right at opening. The museum is open from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. from October through April, with extended hours during the summer months. We purchased our tickets on-site, but if you’re visiting with a large family like ours, the Gettysburg Foundation Family Membership is definitely worth considering—it’s more affordable than buying individual tickets and also includes access to several other museums and historic sites in the area for future visits.
The museum itself is packed with fascinating Civil War history and artifacts. The visit begins with a 15-minute film that provides context about the events in Gettysburg during the war. From there, you can explore an impressive collection of exhibits and relics. The experience wraps up with the Gettysburg Cyclorama, a stunning 360-degree, 162-foot-long painting accompanied by a 22-minute film that vividly depicts the Battle of Gettysburg. Standing on the viewing platform gives you a “bird’s-eye” perspective of the massive artwork — and our kids were absolutely captivated by it.
While you could easily spend 3–4 hours exploring the museum, about an hour and a half was just right for our younger crew. After finishing up inside, we headed out on a self-guided battlefield tour — driving through the historic fields, stopping at notable monuments, and letting the kids run around while we took in the beautiful, history-filled views.
We then drove into town (which is 2 minutes away) walked around and stopped in some souvenir shops and grabbed lunch at The Appalacian Brewing Company of Gettysburg, which was the perfect mid-day stop for something hearty and casual along with tasty beers and root beers for the kids before heading to our final roadtrip destination, Williamsburg, VA!
