Gettysburg National Military Park — Attraction in Cumberland Township

Gettysburg is a beautiful place with tremendous significance. The people who are tasked with preserving Gettysburg and educating visitors have done a simply magnificent job at allowing us to immerse ourselves in the history of the place. Parking areas and support facilities are placed to minimize the impact on those viewing the landscape.

The museum and memorials make no political statements. There is no obvious bias for one side or the other, which allows you appreciate the battle for what it is, a tragic loss of American lives. The massive scale of horror that took place here is made real when you stand on Little Round Top and visualize the assault, or stand at the center of Cemetery Hill and imagine Pickett's charge.

Those actions seem completely at odds with the haunting beauty of the place. One is left with a sadness for the loss of life and abiding respect for the heroism of so many. There is an inescapable feeling that you are on hallowed ground.

We drove our car while listening to an audio accompaniment we purchased at the museum. You can get a CD or download it to your phone. I highly recommend this, or hiring one of the many people acting as skilled guides. you get crucial details that explain each spot. By driving to various locations, we managed to see and explore all the major areas in a single day.

The staff was friendly and knowledgeable. The audio is very reasonably priced. This is an experience you should not miss. Nothing you've read or seen about Gettysburg comes close to actually being there.

NOTE: I only give 5-star reviews. If it doesn't rate 5 stars, I just don't review it. There's more than enough negative criticism around, this is my way of being adding...

This was a bucket list trip for me. I enjoyed it and tried to cram a lot in on a short visit. I went on a Sunday morning, and it was much less crowded and easy to navigate. Being a tightwad, and not liking crowds I came up with a great plan. I'll call this the highlight tour. It may work for you as well. Before you go look at aerial photos of the area and familiarize yourself with the location of major attractions. Park in the National Cemetery parking lot on Washington St. From there it is a short walk across the road and up a slight incline to visit the Gettysburg address monument. This is a popular attraction. I enjoyed this. Visit that area and from there walk back to your car. You can drive around the National Military Park, stop and get out and look at things. There are public restrooms in that loop. From there go to the visitor's center. The museum is excellent. If you're a history buff or still curious you can take a tour. I don't like cramped quarters and avoid these. Many of the monuments you'll see on the tour are just markers in a field. You will already have seen the major free attractions. I didn't go downtown but drove through it and even on a Sunday morning there was traffic. M-F it is likely much worse and during peak tourist season patience will be required. I know it is sad to note that while the military aspect of Gettysburg is maintained and kept in excellent order the surrounding area is heavily commercialized. You'll pay more for food and lodging the closer you are to the attractions. I'd love to go back, but for me it will be during the off season when the wheels...

The battlefield is larger than what most realize totaling to around 30 miles. If you're handicap or someone in your group is handicap, that is fine. You don't have to get out of your car if you don't want to whereas there's a self-guided driving tour through the battlefield, and most monuments are roadside, along with 3-4'' rifles (cannons) that are replicas from that era. If you do the self-guided tour I recommend downloading Action Tour Guide App as this will take you through the battlefield, speaking on what occurred based on your GPS location.

The Visitor's Center has guns, insignias and other things that were found on the battlefield. Which is really neat to see when you realize these items were held and worn by men that were killed in battle.

I didn't do any tours like museums other than what was free at the Visitor's Center, and the self-guided car tour. It's a beautiful area, and really neat to see homes and barns that were standing at the time of battle and used as hospitals, and headquarters for the Union and Confederates.

One thing to keep in mind is: If you have UC, IBS, IBD or any other issue where you need to use the restroom frequently this may not be something you'll enjoy whereas the only restroom I saw was at the Pennsylvania monument and it's similar to an out-house. It was clean, but there is only 1 stall...