Wear good walking shoes in Gettysburg, a small Pennsylvania town of about 8,400 people, and the site of the Civil War battle in July 1863 and Lincoln's Gettysburg Address that November. The national military park surrounds the town, with monuments, fields and ridges to walk or drive, plus a museum and visitor center with the Cyclorama painting.
Visitors usually spend a day or two on a licensed guide tour or a self-guided drive, then visit the Eisenhower home, the David Wills House and the cemetery. The surrounding Adams County is apple and orchard country, with wineries and a harvest festival in October. Day to day it is quiet, collegiate around Gettysburg College, and busy in summer, especially around July 1 to 3 anniversary events. Housing costs sit near the national average, and Baltimore is about an hour away. Summer heat and humidity, ticks and pedestrian traffic on Steinwehr Avenue are the main annoyances.
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- Known as
- Site of the Battle of Gettysburg; Home of the Gettysburg Address; Where the Civil War Turned
- Founded
- 1786 settled (laid out by James Gettys); 1806 incorporated as a borough
- Airports
- Gettysburg Regional (W05) is general aviation only, about 2 mi west; nearest commercial: Harrisburg International (MDT) about 40 mi; Baltimore/Washington (BWI) about 65 mi; Washington Dulles (IAD) about 85 mi; no passenger rail
- Tipping
- Restaurants 18-20% for table service; bars $1-2 per drink; hotel housekeeping $3-5 per night; bellhop $1-2 per bag; taxi/rideshare 15-20%; licensed battlefield guides customary $10-20 per person on a two-hour tour; ghost tour guides $3-5
About this data
City population is the Census Bureau July 1, 2025 estimate for Gettysburg borough (2020 census was 7,106; large increase may reflect college housing); metro figure is Adams County (107,594, same year), which is also the Gettysburg micropolitan area. Area and elevation from Wikipedia. Home price from Redfin June 2026; crime from NeighborhoodScout (year unspecified). Hotel ranges, rent, cost-of-living index, guide tip norms and daily budget are estimates and could not be verified
