Hotel at a Glance: Park Inn by Radisson Harrisburg West

This hotel is just 4 miles from downtown Harrisburg, but you wouldn’t know it from the tranquil gardens surrounding the property. You can spend your days exploring the region’s attractions—Hersheypark and Gettysburg are both within a 45-minute drive—and sleep soundly in a quiet suburb of Pennsylvania’s capital city.

• Guest rooms include refrigerators and microwaves, cable TV, and free WiFi.
• Good for kids: indoor and outdoor swimming pools, a kickball and softball field, and a miniature golf course
• Use your $15 dining credit toward sandwiches and salads at Legend’s Grille. 
• Live entertainment: The onsite Whiskey Ridge Saloon features live country music and a mechanical bull. In nice weather, you can sit on the large outdoor patio by the fire pit.
• Dogs are welcome for an additional fee, and there’s lots of space to walk them on the 22-acre grounds.

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Historic State Capital near Chocolate Empire

The midsize city of Harrisburg has played a part in key moments in US history: it was the site of several Civil War battles, as well as a rail and transportation hub during the Industrial Revolution. The National Civil War Museum chronicles the war from both the Southern and Northern perspectives, housing more than 12,000 artifacts including Robert E. Lee’s pocket Bible and Ulysses S. Grant’s sword belt. The Pennsylvania State Capitol Complex—which Teddy Roosevelt once praised as “the handsomest” he’d ever seen—is also worth a stop. You can take a guided tours around the Beaux Arts building, which was constructed in 1902.

Nearby Hershey bills itself as “The Sweetest Place on Earth,” and it’s hard to dispute that claim—the whole town smells like chocolate. Rags-to-riches entrepreneur Milton Hershey founded Hershey in 1903 as a company town for his factory workers. These days, it’s at the center of a confection empire where you’ll find candy-themed amusement parks and museums. At Hersheypark, you can ride 12 roller coasters and float in inner tubes down a lazy river. Next door, the Hershey’s Chocolate World trolley tour takes passengers to Milton Hershey’s boyhood home and the mansion he built across from his factory.

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