The fourth largest town in Pennsylvania, Erie offers a various choice of things to envision and do, together with museums, nature centers, thoroughbred horse racing, looking and theaters. Visit the Erie Maritime Museum, the Tom Ridge Environmental Center and enjoy wide views from the Port Erie Bicentennial Tower. Best things to try to in Erie, PA with children include the Erie zoo & botanical Gardens, Presque islet State Park, and Splash lagoon Indoor Waterpark Resort.

Presque Isle State Park is a 3,200-acre sandy peninsula full of recreational trails, a marina, and diverse beaches for swimming. Jutting into Lake Erie, the beautiful, romantic outline is nice for a fun-filled day of swimming, fishing, and boating, bicycling, hiking, or in-line skating. The marina offers guests the chance to partake in a very form of water sports together with water athletics, scuba diving, canoeing, or just enjoying a scenic boat tour. Within the winter, visitors are invited to do out race skiing on the paths of the park, or ice fishing, ice skating, and iceboating. The park is a favored spot for ornithologists as several birds migrate through the Presque Isle.

A visit to the Erie zoo and botanical Gardens isn’t like a visit to any other zoo. You’ll stand up close and personal with over four hundred animals from around the world. You’ll fancy seeing rhinos, warthogs, and cheetahs amongst other exotic life from continent and Madagascar at the Kikoba Outpost. Train rides and carousels are accessible to require a ride and watch the animals play and eat. Though’ guests principally return for the zoo, the botanic gardens are a fantastic thing about their own; here visitors can explore totally different plant species and gardens full of colorful flowers. The Erie zoo & botanical Gardens is one among the best things to envision in Erie, Pennsylvania.

The Tom Ridge Environmental Center (TREC) is devoted to teaching guests of all ages concerning the distinctive 3,200 acres of Presque isle and therefore the many various forms of life that inhabit the peninsula. Guests can love this free learning center wherever there are quite 7,000 sq. feet of interactive exhibits from unidentified flying object and steel trees to artistic production birds. The middle promotes environmental awareness in a very manner that excites individuals of all ages. There’s a four-story high, 45-foot wide huge screen that puts visitors right within the middle of the action. Guests will find out about the history of Presque Isles while enjoying a fun-filled interactive experience.

The Asbury Woods Nature Center consists of 205 acres of wetlands, forests, fields, streams, and historic properties that create outdoor recreational opportunities for visitors. Guests can enjoy fishing, hiking, running, mountain biking, cross-country skiing, and alternative outdoor activities. There are several animal exhibits, the picnic pavilion, a craft workshop, an amphitheater, the sugar shack, a native plants garden, the tiny Woods Nature Play area, or the Otto Behrend Celebration Garden. Additionally, the triumph center has varied programs, events, festivals, and nature camps for individuals to participate in and safely explore natural places. A number of the center’s events embrace Fantasy Forest, wherever kids will safely have interaction in a form of activities to find out about animals and plants within the nature center, or the Tracks in the Snow program, that acquaints children with native animals in the area.

The Port Erie Bicentennial Tower offers superb panoramic views of Lake Erie, Presque isle State Park, and downtown Erie. The tower was engineered to signify the city’ bicentennial year: 1996. it’s 187 feet (57 m) tall and has two observation decks that guests will visit, one at seventeen feet and therefore the alternative at 138 feet, creating it one among the tallest structures in Erie. Guests can get souvenirs at the tower’s novelty shop before taking within the stunning sights of Erie, and on a clear day, visitors can see twenty seven miles away to Long point in Ontario, Canada.


The Erie Art museum came into existence in 1898 as the Art Club of Erie. It is the stirred locations and changed names and is currently a region of the invention sq. Corporation, the event block in downtown Erie filled with museums, educational centers, and history centers. Guests to the art museum will admire over 8,000 objects appreciate yank ceramics, Tibetan paintings, Indian bronzes, contemporary baskets, and lots of alternative artifacts.

The Lake Erie Arboretum at Frontier showcases over 250 types of trees. Take a stroll round the arboretum that was established in 1998 and admire trees just like the Hawthorn, Ginkgo, Scarlet Oak, Russian Olive, Corkscrew Willow, Dogwood, Douglas fir, honey locust Maple, Alder, and therefore the tulip tree, simply to call a few. Throughout winter or summer, there are varied activities at this venue. Hiking and biking trails, sled riding hills, and therefore the labyrinth are guaranteed to impress the entire family. Walk to the virtual tree building and skill a serene ambiance sitting beneath the canopy of the trees that are in bloom throughout the spring.

Waldameer Park and Water World originally started as a well-liked picnic spot known as Hoffman’s Grove – it’s currently an exciting journey and water park with over one hundred rides, slides, and attractions. Guests can fancy thrilling rides appreciate the vale Flyer II or the XScream Drop Tower, or a lot of tempered classics such as the Ferris wheel or Merry-Go-Round. Water World, that may be a water park choked with rides, slides, and pools, provides a good manner for families to cool down off on a hot summer day. Waldameer is family-owned and family-friendly, thus guests are often assured that there’s one thing for everyone. Ensured to offer visitors the complete journey park experience, Waldameer additionally offers several games, food stalls, and entertainment.