The Lancaster Counties Amish area is a fascinating area of Pennsylvania to visit, because it gives everyone a chance to experience that intriguing Amish culture that often comes across so mysterious!
A is for Amish Buggy Rides gives anyone, of any age a change to go back in time, to an era before the train, the car and even the plane were ever thought about! What’s amazing about this culture is that it’s remained how it was all those years ago, so it really is like going back in time.
You can experience a taste of the Amish country life in person, as you enjoy fun buggy rides through the Amish gardens and farms. You’ll be impressed how immaculate they are! (It might inspire the kids to get the shovel and garden pots out!)
There are a number of buggy rides for you to pick from, as well as spring wagon rides. You can even customize a ride JUST for you, so it’s perfect for your day out!
The driver is ready to answer any questions you may have, and is always keen to tell you all the fun and amazing facts of the area and the traditions, so get ready to learn some pretty cool things!
Of course, it wouldn’t be an “experience” if there wasn’t more than just buggy rides! A is for Amish Buggy Rides also give you some other fun activities to keep those little history buffs entertained.
There is a fun petting area with sweet animals like mini-horses and goats that you can also feed! Chickens are there to play with, and if you’re lucky Thomas The Tank Car will come along for a visit!
WIth a play area and a Farm House, there is plenty of things to do with the family at A is for Amish Buggy Rides!
We (two of us) went on a Town Tour buggy ride in a quiet period of the year, in early November and were on the next available ride with another pair.We really enjoyed the short trip around the area with Ruben our driver and he was quite a chatty man given commentary of the area and buildings we passed, plus answering questions from everyone on board.Having read the other negative review on here which appear to be from over a year ago I would understand peoples frustrations and I don’t know if there are still issues during peak times, but as it was quite for us I have to say it was a worthwhile experience.We had our buggy ride as part of the Super Saver deal from the Amish Experience on the same plot and it’s worth noting that the whole package was really worth it!
Many of the reviewers disliked this tour, but we enjoyed it. The driver had many facts to share with us.
I made the mistake of taking my 6 year old daughter for a buggy ride over Labor Day weekend at Aaron & Jessica’s. NEVER AGAIN. When we arrived, I gave my name, # of people in my party (2 adults + 1 child) and requested the “Cookie Tour”, as it’s the shortest trip which I thought was best for my daughter. The rather rude man (supposedly Amish, yet sporting a cell phone) added my name a growing list, gave me three green stickers (never did figure out what the purpose of the stickers was) and nearly shoved me off the covered bridge as there was a buggy tour coming through. The “covered bridge” noted on their website is not the quaint and peaceful bridge out in the country that I was imagining. Instead, it was at the entrance where the mass of people tried to sign up for a buggy ride….and was also where the buggy rides originate. Not very safe to have mass numbers of people waiting in line in a covered bridge that is also routinely used by horses as they begin a ride. But the worst was yet to come. We waited and waited and waited. Granted – there were many people waiting even before we arrived. But nearly everyone was infuriated when TWO tour buses full of people showed up and were placed on buggies within 10 minutes. No explanation given to the rest of us. My husband finally had enough and went to question what was going on. He was told the 2nd bus was from the “Chinese Embassy” and they’d book reservations “months ago”. Perhaps they did make reservations (which I didn’t have the luxury of doing, as only groups may reserve), but the rudeness and lack of communication was ridiculous. Two women who were seemingly employed either by Aaron & Jessica or the attached hotel/resort could barely speak English. (They were not Amish.) We were repeatedly told either “a 15 to 20 minute wait” or “a 30 minute wait” depending on who you asked. Finally after nearly an hour of waiting, my name was miraculously called. We quickly worked out way through the crowd and onto the waiting buggy only to find that we were the only people on the buggy who wanted to “Cookie Tour”. The others wanted the (longer and more expensive) “Amish Farm Tour”. Our driver couldn’t have been nicer – yes, he was the good part in all of this – and said that he’d take everyone on the Farm Tour but would charge the Cookie Tour price. But before I could even thank him, one of the women who was barely able to speak English was motioning for me to pass my seated 6 year old daughter to her so she could sit in the front of the buggy with the driver. I said “no, she needs to sit with me”, as I was COMPLETELY not okay with that arrangement. We were told to “squeeze in” then since they were sticking 2 more people on our buggy. Thankfully, it was a family of 5 – not 2 – who was told to get on the buggy and they declined stating it was too full. The buggy ride was nice – had to pay for cookies and drinks instead of getting them for free as the website leads you to believe – but it is not worth the lack of organization and sheer rudeness of many of the people who worked there. Will not return and will not recommend this establishment to others.
I totally agree with Reju Alex, we basically had the same experience. We wanted to do a buggy ride with our child when we were driving from New York to Washington DC. They took down our names and told us that we would have to wait about half an hour. When we came back after about 15 minutes, they told us to wait some more, we would be next. After 30 more minutes (and some other groups getting into buggies), I asked when it would be our turn – and got no reasonable answer.Without any more hope to get a buggy ride in reasonable time we left – with a crying child who had so looked forward to ride the buggy.
We almost took a buggy ride this morning, but after seeing how staff were treating people, we decided to climb down the carriage and left.The young lady who signed people up was rude, and so were the drivers and the owner! They yelled at people in a very disrespectful way. Also, they tried to squeeze people in the carriage and treated people as numbers. They will not care about you, they will only care about making money. You don’t get to seat wherever you want but they tell you where to! I asked to be seated next to my husband and baby and the young lady told me I could not. So that’s when we decided to climb down. Based on the reviews here, I’m glad we did nou use them and rather saved our money for something else. People, if you want to enjoy a buggy ride with your family, please use your money with other buggy rides companies, but don’t use them!