Brandywine Country: Where Gardens, History and Family Fun Abound
Philadelphia’s Most Popular Side Destination
Delaware County’s Brandywine Country is a perfect blend of lush countryside, urban river communities and Main Street USA towns that together, host hundreds of art shows, jazz festivals, river-fests, sporting events, theatrical and concert extravaganzas and food festivals.

Visitors move easily between trendy downtown neighborhoods at the Philadelphia International Airport, and bustling waterfront towns along the Delaware River – prestigious Main Line Communities – and the history-rich Brandywine countryside where thousands tour our battlefields, canoe on our rivers and visit nationally renowned museums and gardens. Our location at the heart of Brandywine Country ensures that a visitor staying at any fine hotel in Delaware County is rarely more than 30 minutes from any major attraction or event.

Family Adventure and Wildlife Abounds all year long
The John Heinz Wildlife Refuge is a wonderful place to explore. Meet native porcupines and lizards – up close and personal! Bring your fishing gear…go bird-watching…learn wood sculpting by top nature artists…or find out how to tag birds and monitor endangered species. Take a ‘plant’ tour or bring the family to a cradle-of-birding festival. The mission of the refuge is to protect and restore the largest remaining freshwater tidal marsh in Pennsylvania, while providing for environmental education and wildlife orientated recreation. It is the perfect haunt for nature lovers! Their headquarters is an award winning, totally ‘green’ building.

Get more fresh air at Viking Horse Farms, where visitors fall in love with the small, beautiful Icelandic horses as they take half or full day rides along gorgeous trails. Several Brandywine golf courses are open to the public and there are local sports centers for working on a golf swing or batting practice.

Ever taken a helicopter ride? Gone ice skating in mid-summer? Ridden a duck? Children of all ages love soaring over the countryside in a hot air balloon. Or get the family’s motoring revving with a visit to the home of the world's first and only Harley Davidson attraction. Local orchards are perfect for berry-picking, pumpkin-carving or haunted hayrides at Halloween! And no visit to Brandywine Country is complete without ice skates! That’s right – take the family skating, year round, at Ice Works in Aston. Ice Works features 4 European and American-style ice rinks and hosts hundreds of hockey tournaments and figure skating competitions each year.

Families who prefer something more restful should set sail down the Brandywine River on an inner tube. Train enthusiasts can hop aboard an historic railroad – or ride a “duck” – Philadelphia's only 80-minute land and water sightseeing tour!

Glorious Gardens
Chanticleer opens in April and was listed as one of North America’s most beautiful Secret Gardens last year, by National Geographic Traveler Magazine. For fun, take the family bird watching at the John Heinz Wildlife Refuge on the Delaware River. Enjoy a lazy afternoon of fly fishing at Ridley Creek State Park. Take a butterfly hike at one of our outstanding arboretums or if you like a little music with your nature, grab a blanket or beach chair and enjoy one of 45 free twilight concerts at Rose Tree Park, every June through August.

Make Historic Memories
Those who love pouring over rare books, visiting famous battle sites or filling summer weekends with trips to colonial homesteads will be charmed by Brandywine’s historic gems, large and small.

Stand on the Brandywine Battlefield where George Washington and Lafayette stood. Feel the emotional tug as the distant drumbeat of Revolutionary War re-enactors whisks you back in time. Visit a working colonial plantation with 'back-bred' Belgian horses or the log cabin homestead of a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

Sit in the gallery at the 1724 Chester Courthouse, the oldest public building in continuous use in the United States and imagine the thunderous debates that took place there as a fledgling government took shape.

Historic Yellow Springs is an 18th and 19th Century Village, and the site of the only Revolutionary War hospital commissioned by the Continental Congress.

Imagine Indians, scouts and soldiers arriving at Fort Mifflin on the Delaware River …some arriving in the dark of night, sneaking into the Fort with information on troop movements, while others suffered through the seven-week siege by the British Navy in 1777. The Fort also served as a both a Confederate and Union Prison during the Civil War.

An Enclave for Artisans
One of America’s most famous art families found their inspiration among the hills and rivers of the Brandywine. The famed artwork and studios of three generations of Wyeths head an impressive list of local museums and boutique art galleries. The Main Line towns of Radnor and Wayne offer clusters of unique art galleries specializing in both traditional and contemporary art. West Chester, Media and Chadds Ford are also enclaves for artisans and crafts people, making Brandywine Country the perfect place to come for a weekend of art touring and shopping.

Wining and Dining
“Grape” Expectations are high in Brandywine Country! Seven boutique wineries make up the Brandywine Valley Wine Trail which follows the Route 1 Corridor, within easy driving distance of Philadelphia, New Jersey and Wilmington, DE. Each winery is within 30 minutes of each other and many famous attractions are located nearby. Our winemakers invite visitors to 4 major annual events a year: The Mushroom Festival (Sunday after Labor Day); the Harvest Festival (last weekend in September); the Vintners Post-Harvest Celebration (last Saturday in October); and “Barrels on the Brandywine” (entire month of March).

And nothing goes better with wine and spirits than great food. Cut into a juicy steak…crack open a sweet Maine lobster…bite into the best crab cakes on the east coast…or warm up your taste buds at a Mexican hot spot. Brandywine restaurants serve outstanding food for every taste and budget. Choose an old favorite or a trendy new eatery, but be sure to add a great local wine, and don't skip dessert. Our pastry and dessert chefs create the most amazing cakes, pies and torts you will ever taste.