Looking for a charming town steeped in history, arts, and seasonal magic? Head to Bethlehem! Known as the “Christmas City,” Bethlehem blends Moravian heritage, a thriving arts scene, and revitalized industrial landmarks. Whether you're browsing holiday markets, catching a music festival, or strolling cobbled streets, Bethlehem is rich with small-town spirit and cultural surprises.
Bethlehem, PA Highlights:
- Explore Historic Bethlehem: Walk Colonial-era streets lined with Moravian buildings, boutique shops, and cozy cafés.
- Tour SteelStacks and the Hoover-Mason Trestle: Visit a transformed steel plant site with arts venues and walking trails through industrial history.
- See a show at Musikfest Café: Enjoy concerts in a modern venue set against the backdrop of Bethlehem Steel’s iconic blast furnaces.
- Shop Christkindlmarkt: Browse handmade gifts, German treats, and holiday cheer at this award-winning Christmas market.
- Stroll the Colonial Industrial Quarter: Discover America’s early industrial roots along the Monocacy Creek in a scenic park setting.
Best Time to Visit Bethlehem, PA
The best time to visit Bethlehem is December for its Christmas festivities and August for Musikfest. Spring and fall also offer pleasant weather for walking tours, outdoor dining, and exploring Lehigh Valley’s rolling hills and vineyards.
How to Get to Bethlehem, PA
- If you are traveling by car: Located near Route 22 and I-78, Bethlehem is about 1.5 hours from Philadelphia and 2 hours from New York City.
- By Plane: Lehigh Valley International Airport (ABE) is just 15 minutes away and offers regional connections.
- By Bus: Trans-Bridge Lines and Greyhound provide bus service from NYC and Newark to Bethlehem Transit Center.
Where to Stay in Bethlehem, PA
- Historic Hotel Bethlehem – Elegant 1922 hotel with Colonial flair, fine dining, and a central location on Main Street.
- Sands Casino Resort – Modern hotel and casino complex at SteelStacks with restaurants and live entertainment.
- Hyatt Place Bethlehem – Stylish downtown hotel with free breakfast, ideal for business and leisure travelers alike.
Best Things to Do in Bethlehem, PA
1. Burnside Plantation
Rating: ★★★★★
Burnside Plantation is an historic farm that was established in 1748 and has since been restored. It was the first privately owned home of James and Mary Burnside, who were Bethlehem Moravians. Today, the plantation has the farm’s original home, several barns, and a variety of out buildings. The property also has one of the country’s only horse-powered wheels that is still in operation. A variety of events occur at the plantation throughout the year, including workshops hosted by master gardeners from Penn State. There are also live cooking demonstrations and tours of the farm. The Open Gate Farm Tours are some of the most popular activities and include a variety of farming demonstrations, guided farm tours, and much more.
1461 Schoenersville Road, Bethlehem, PA 18018, Phone: 610-882-0450
2. Banana Factory Arts and Education Center
The Banana Factory Arts and Education Center is an art gallery, classroom, and studio space located inside a former banana distribution warehouse. A variety of arts-related organizations share space across six different buildings. It is home to the ArtsQuests visual arts programs, 30 artist studios, three different art galleries, and a number of classrooms. The Pennsylvania Youth Theatre, offering performing arts classes to students aged 6 to 18, is located here. The artists hold an annual gallery show as well as First Friday events throughout the year, where the public can come and enjoy art for free.
25 W. 3rd Street #300, Bethlehem, PA 18015, Phone: 610-332-1300
3. Kemerer Museum of Decorative Arts
The Kemerer Museum of Decorative Arts is an art museum spread across three homes from the 19th century. The museum is the state’s only museum of decorative arts and is one of only 15 such museums in the whole country. The three interconnected homes have a variety of period rooms, rotating exhibits, and galleries that showcase furniture, china, flatware, artwork, and clothing from three centuries. The museum clearly illustrates the changing style and design trends over a period of 300 years. The property also has a Scott Rothenberger-designed garden that utilizes both contemporary and traditional elements and makes for a great space for special events.
427 N. New Street, Bethlehem, PA 18018, Phone: 610-868-6868
4. Colonial Industrial Quarter
Bethlehem’s Colonial Industrial Quarter is an historical site that preserves the earliest industrial park in the country and is part of the larger Historic Moravian Bethlehem National Historic Landmark District. The Moravians built the site near a spring and along Monacacy Creek, which provided power for a variety of different industries that came to be based here. Initially, the buildings were small wooden structures, but within a couple of years they had built the area up to include saw and soap mills, wash houses, a grist mill, a blacksmith shop, a tannery, and a brass foundry. The buildings fell into disrepair over time and were revitalized and restored in the second half of the 20th century. Today, visitors can tour many of the buildings and ruins to learn about the area’s history.
459 Old York Road, Bethlehem, PA 18018, Phone: 800-360-8687
Activities for Couples
5. Historic Bethlehem Tours
There are a number of interesting historical attractions located in Bethlehem. It’s quite possible to pick and choose what you want to see as you explore the area, but for those who prefer a simpler approach, a tour can be just what you are looking for. Historic Bethlehem Tours offers walking tours, custom tours, and special seasonal tours of historic Bethlehem. They have a number of theme-specific tour options that visit different sites around town. Some examples include the 1752 Apothecary Tour, the Christmas City Stroll, the Death and Dying Cemetery Tour, and the Colonial Industrial Quarter Walking Tour.
505 Main Street, Bethlehem, PA 18018, Phone: 800-360-8687
6. Hoover Mason Trestle
The Hoover Mason Trestle is a 1,650-foot elevated park that sits on the reclaimed site that was formerly home to Bethlehem Steel. The trestle was once used by a narrow-gauge railway to transport the raw materials needed to make iron from the ore yards to the furnaces. Today, it stands as a public walkway that is at the same time a museum and a recreation space. A visit to the site affords visitors the unique opportunity to get a close-up view of the blast furnaces and the gas blowing engine house. There is a visitors center on site that has information, souvenirs, and tours available to visitors.
SteelStacks, 711 First Street, Bethlehem, PA 18015, Phone: 610-297-7100
Recommended Activities for Families
7. Lit Roastery and Bakeshop
Lit Roastery and Bakeshop is a coffee shop and bakery created by a collaboration between the Made By Lino bakery and the Monacacy Coffee Company. The shop specializes in fresh-roasted in-house coffees, pour-overs, French macaroons, and a variety of other fresh-baked items. Virtually everything is baked, cooked, and roasted in house, and they pride themselves in making especially high-quality coffee beans and coffee drinks. The coffee shop usually has approximately eight different varieties of coffee available, and they use a refractometer to adhere to quality standards. The space is a nice place to sit and spend a few hours while you enjoy some freshly made items.
8. Moravian Museum of Bethlehem
The Moravian Museum of Bethlehem is a historical landmark that features several buildings from the 1700s. Tours of the buildings are available, and tour-goers will learn a great deal of information about the town’s early settlers and its history. The Gemienhaus is one of the highlights of a visit here. It was built in 1741, making it the oldest building in Bethlehem. Today the five-story log home contains a museum that tells the stories of the Moravians who founded the town. The large, multi-purpose building also has the distinction of being the largest log building from the 1800s in the entire country. The site also has a drug store from 1752 as well as other interesting 18th century buildings.
66 W. Church Street, Bethlehem, PA 18018, Phone: 610-867-0173
9. National Museum of Industrial History
The National Museum of Industrial History is located in the former location of Bethlehem Steel, which was historically an industrial powerhouse. The museum is an Smithsonian-affiliated institution that is dedicated to preserving and displaying industrial artifacts as well as educating the public about the nation’s industrial history. The museum has a number of different exhibits that represent the propane gas, textile, and steel industries as well as a nice collection of industrial machinery that was loaned to the museum by the National Museum of American History. There are four main exhibits, each of which showcase a different part of the nation’s industrial past and the way that these industries have impacted the state and the nation as a whole.
602 East 2nd Street, Bethlehem, PA 18015, Phone: 610-694-6644
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