We’re very fortunate that we live only one hour from Gettysburg in Pennsylvania and travel down there several times every year. Gettysburg is famous for the “Battle of Gettysburg” during the Civil War. Even though we only live an hour away, we often go down there for weekend getaways and to play tourist.
We were on a hosted travel trip back in January and had the opportunity to visit the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum. If you want to learn about the Civil War and the Battle of Gettysburg, this is definitely one place you want to visit.
A lot of people roll into town to tour the battlefield and if that’s on your agenda, I suggest that you tour the museum first. We find that visiting the museum helped to educate us on things we were going to see during the battlefield tour. In my opinion, they go hand-in-hand and both should be on your to-do list.
We did the self-guided tour through the museum and let me tell you, you learn a LOT! Their displays, exhibits and films are extensive and really put the 3-day battle for Gettysburg into perspective. You’ll learn about General Meade, General Lee and other famous generals who played a role in the Civil War.
One thing I found really fascinating is that the battle in Gettysburg was fought by thousand’s of Union & Confederate soldiers. Many of the Union soldiers came from Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, Vermont and other northern states. They recognize them all which is really nice to see.
It was very interesting to see their old uniforms, guns, artillery, swords, cannons and other military items. They had an exhibit set up to resemble “camp life” and I can’t even imagine camping the way that they did! I’m so glad that I live in “modern times” for sure!
For my weekly travel feature this week, I’m sharing a few photos from our most recent visit to the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum. I published my “official and in-depth” review over on my travel blog if you want to read that.
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I have enjoyed reading your posts about the Gettysburg museum and would love to learn more. The history displayed there would be very interesting to learn.
I’m glad my folks always packed in plenty of historical sites on vacation when I was a kid because it gave me the love of learning about history up close rather than just reading about it. It’s such a different experience to witness the artifacts that were actually used at that moment. I always enjoyed seeing how they were dressed during those times and like the historical costumes.
I have always loved history, so places like Gettysburg are on my bucket list of places to see. This museum would definitely be a place I would like to visit.
I’ve been to Gettysburg three times, twice as a teen in the 80’s and with my family in 2013. My husband is a Civil War buff and he loved it! Our daughter’s were 20 & 17 at the time and appreciated it so much more than I did when I was a teen. We did the museum first as well. You’re so fortunate to live so close! We definitely want to go back!
I would love to visit the Gettysburg National Military Museum. AsI am older i wish I had learned more about our History. It just didn’t interest me when I was young. Now I love it. So going to any Museum that tells about Americas History would be wonderful for me to see.. Thank You for Sharing this Museum. 🙂