Gettysburg Day Trips from Washington DC

It’s no wonder that Gettysburg has a reputation for being eerie and spooky—after all, one of the bloodiest battles of the American Civil War was fought on its fields. In addition to thousands of casualties and a decisive outcome, the Battle of Gettysburg placed the town at the top of the list of things to see and do in Washington.

With this in mind, Gettysburg becomes one of the most interesting places to visit if you’re passing through Washington, D.C. This area is located just an hour and a half from D.C., so there are many tours and excursions that depart from there to Gettysburg.

You can find multiple options online for visiting Gettysburg from Washington. When choosing an excursion, it’s important to ensure that all your basic needs are covered during the trip. Once you’ve identified the option that best suits you, it’s time to make the reservation.

When booking, be sure to ask any necessary questions to clarify any doubts you may have about the trip, the reservation, and the associated costs. Among other things, you should be clear on the cancellation policy, the reasons the tour might be canceled, and the meeting point for the excursion.

Generally, these types of reservations are made up to 24 hours in advance, but if you want to book with less notice, you might get lucky and join the group leaving for the tour at the exact time you want to go.

As for cancellations, most tour companies require that if you wish to cancel your reservation, you do so at least 24 hours before the tour begins.

These tours are generally offered as full-day trips, departing from Washington, D.C., very early in the morning and returning at dusk. If you do it this way, you might be able to get back to the city in time to take one of the Washington, D.C., city tours; I assure you it’s a perfect activity to include on your list of things to do in the city at night.

The entire trip from DC to Gettysburg takes about 12 hours, with the drive from the capital to Gettysburg taking one to one and a half hours. Then, the tour of the town, the battlefields, and other attractions could take about eight to ten hours.

Once you arrive in Gettysburg, you need to take the time to listen to every story, visit every site, and pay attention to the finer details—that’s why a visit to this town takes so long. Keep in mind that you’ll spend the entire day in town, taking a sort of journey back in time to the 19th century.

Of course, the duration of the trip may vary depending on whether it is a half-day or full-day tour. Shorter tours typically offer a quick tour of the town’s most interesting sites related solely to the Battle of Gettysburg.

Full-day tours, on the other hand, take the time to tell you the most incredible stories not only of the battle, but of the war and what life was like back then.

The itinerary varies depending on the type of tour, but on most of these tours, you’ll visit the town of Gettysburg and learn about its history from the tour guide.

At each stop, you’ll see informative displays about how the battle unfolded and historical facts about the events. One of the highlights of every tour is the diorama that recreates the war in miniature.

The National Military Park in Gettysburg is almost always the main attraction since it marks the area where the battle took place.

You can also take a tour of the entire battlefield and enjoy a reenactment of part of it. You’ll have the opportunity to learn about the soldiers’ daily lives. In the park’s museum, you’ll see many of the artifacts used during the war.

If you take the ghost tour, you’ll have spooky yet entertaining and unforgettable experiences at each of these locations and others, such as:

• Lutheran Seminary.

• Virginia Memorial.

• National Military Cemetery.

• If you’re traveling with children , I don’t recommend taking a Gettysburg ghost tour because it can be very scary for kids.
• I recommend wearing comfortable shoes and being prepared to walk a lot, as one of the main activities on these tours is walking through the town’s most iconic sites.
• Depending on the time of year you’re traveling, I recommend dressing in layers, because it might be sunny one moment and suddenly get chilly the next.
• If you’re taking the tour with someone in a wheelchair , make sure the vehicle you’ll be traveling in is wheelchair-accessible.
• Make the necessary arrangements in case you want to stay longer and explore the area on your own once the tour is over.
• Bring extra money for food along the way, because these types of tours often do not include lunch or other snacks. Although this isn’t always the case, many tours do offer snacks and drinks.

The trip from Washington, D.C., to the Gettysburg area can cost between 120 and 180 euros per person. The cost may be lower or higher depending on the route, whether hotel pickup is included, and whether meals or drinks are provided.

The tour typically takes 8 to 10 hours to complete, so the price covers that duration. If you book a half-day tour, it could cost between 70 and 90 euros per person and usually lasts between 4 and 6 hours.

Tour prices may vary depending on the services included. Generally, the price includes transportation from a meeting point in Washington to Gettysburg. If you want transportation from your hotel, you will likely have to pay an additional fee.

Other additional costs may include admission to various museums that require it and other activities within the town. If you want to take a guided tour of the town to explore the battlefield and other points of interest, you’ll also need to bring extra cash.

Other private tours departing from Washington, D.C., that aim to show you the entire Gettysburg area can cost up to a thousand euros. These types of tours are usually more expensive due to their private nature, meaning the experience will be exclusively for you and your group.

Obviously, the guided tour from Washington, D.C., to Gettysburg is an ideal activity, especially to include on the list of things to do in Washington with kids, because it’s a historically enriching experience.

But there are certain places you can’t miss during your visit, and if they aren’t included in the tour, I recommend you visit them on your own—just make sure you don’t skip them.

Gettysburg Historic District

Of course, when you visit this town, you can’t miss the historical stories told throughout the town. During your visit to Gettysburg, be sure to explore the town’s most iconic houses, where you’ll get a firsthand look at how residents lived in the 19th century during the Civil War.

In the city’s historic center, you’ll not only have the chance to visit authentic houses from the war era but also various museums where you’ll hear the history they never taught you in school about the atrocities of the war and how things were organized during the days of the battle.

If you go on a night tour (which would mean staying in Gettysburg for one night, not included in the excursion from Washington), you can immerse yourself in the spookiest ghost stories the town has to offer. The ghost tour is one of the best activities to add to your list of things to see and do in Washington at night —or at least near the capital.

If you love paranormal experiences and want to learn about the dark history of Gettysburg, this is an experience you must have when you visit Washington, D.C.

Gettysburg Battlefield

The Gettysburg Battlefield is preserved as a park where you can visit and get a firsthand sense of what it was like for the soldiers who fought in the battle. The tour of the battlefield is a must-see if you’re visiting Gettysburg from Washington, D.C.

There are several ways to explore this site. The most common options are by car or bus, and this is typically how the trip is made from Washington, D.C. If you want to break out of the routine, you can try a Segway tour , a bike tour, a carriage ride, or even a horseback tour.

Without a doubt, one of the best ways to explore the site is on horseback, but I only recommend this option if you don’t have back problems or limited mobility. On horseback, you’ll be able to visit each of the places where the battle took on the deepest significance.

Gettysburg Heritage Centre

This is one of the most interesting places to learn about the details of the war and specifically the Battle of Gettysburg, as well as to view a large number of perfectly preserved artifacts from the Civil War period.

The Gettysburg Battle Visitor Center is an excellent place to see up close how this battle was organized. There, you can see an incredible diorama depicting the battle exactly as it unfolded over the three days of the conflict.

This museum also features a gift shop where you can pick up souvenirs from your trip to Gettysburg, including brochures and other informational materials about the battle and the lives of soldiers during the Civil War.

In this shop, you can also find various brochures featuring stories of real people who experienced the conflict firsthand and endured the hardships of war.

Devil’s Den

This is one of the most interesting places to visit on the Gettysburg battlefield. It is a rock formation shaped in such a way that it served as a trench for one of the warring sides.

Behind these large rocks, the soldiers fighting in the battle took cover. The site was used especially on the second day of the battle to position artillery. From this location, various artillery barrages were launched against the opposing side.

Since the end of the war, this site has been preserved as one of the best-preserved centers of historical memory. On your visit, you’ll have the chance to see it up close and imagine what it must have been like for the soldiers to hold a battle trench in this location.

Little Round Top

This is one of the key sites of the Battle of Gettysburg and undoubtedly changed the course of the war. If you’re a literature lover, you’ll surely know that this place is the setting for the novel Angels of Death, which narrates, in fictional form, the actions taken during the Battle of Gettysburg that led to victory.

This spot is one of the must-see attractions during your trip to Gettysburg from Washington, D.C. I highly recommend adding this to your list of things to do in Washington, D.C. in the summer, as the scenery is best appreciated on a clear day.

Little Round Top is a small hill located right next to a larger hill called Big Round Top, which was also highly significant during the conflict, allowing soldiers to protect the area and achieve better results during the battle.

Both sites are part of the historical legacy of the Gettysburg battlefield and are definitely not to be missed during your visit to this town.

Guided tours of Gettysburg are definitely the best option for exploring the town, because they give you the chance to learn the most incredible stories that you wouldn’t be able to discover on your own.

But traveling on your own may also have some advantages. Below, I’ll show you some of the most important advantages of taking a guided tour instead of going on your own.