It's a Wonderful Life in Indiana, PA

I'm sharing the itinerary from my trip to the It's a Wonderful Life Festival in Indiana, PA! So, this one is for you, fellow Jimmy Stewart fans… and for fans of Christmas, cute towns, great food, beautiful Amish countryside, and waterfalls.

Backstory:

My husband and I went to Indiana, PA, on our honeymoon in 2018. We had planned to get married at Thanksgiving and booked an Airbnb stay on a sheep farm nearby so that we could go to the It’s a Wonderful Life Festival. This is my absolute favorite movie. But after moving our wedding up to September, we decided to still move forward with our plans, changed the dates of our stay, and just found other things to explore in and around Indiana. (I highly recommend biking the Hoodlebug Trail and seeing a show at Sight and Sound Theatre in Lancaster!) 

So, for our seventh anniversary in 2025, we decided to return for the Christmas experience!

It’s a Wonderful Life Festival:

• Nov. 20 - Dec. 19 (2026 dates)

• Activities each Saturday

• Free parking

• Special exhibits at The Jimmy Stewart Museum

Friday Night:

• Check into the hotel

• Eat dinner at Nap’s Cucina Mia - the best from-scratch pasta we’ve ever had, plus we tried octopus for the first time and it was amazing

Saturday:

• Caffe Amadeus - fantastic cappuccino selection (and all coffee and tea drinks!), super fun atmosphere, great presentation on silver platters (we went here three times during our trip)

• The Jimmy Stewart Museum - a highlight of the trip, neat exhibits from his boyhood years to hollywood, including his military career, vintage theater with matinee showings of It’s a Wonderful Life - we watched The Making of It’s a Wonderful Life, full of fascinating behind the scenes info, Shop Around the Corner gift shop where you can buy memorabilia, fun Lasso the Moon photo op

• Walk the main street (Philadelphia Street) and shop the stores - our favorites were Lucy Rae, Philly Street Candle Bar, and Artists Hand Gallery and Espresso Bar

• Walk to Jimmy Stewart's childhood home - 104 North 7th Street on Vinegar Hill, with a nice view of downtown

• Lunch at Josephine’s - great pizza, owned by the same owners of Nap’s next door

• Smicksburg - 30-minute drive to nearby Amish community, beautiful countryside with horse and buggies, a few shops (Time Works, Smicksburg Country Store, etc.)

• Dinner at Benjamin’s - in a historic Victorian house, great food in a neat atmosphere

Sunday:

• Brunch at Canella - it will be crowded, but it’s so worth the wait, order the cinnamon roll pancakes (TRUST ME)

• Mystersak’s Family Tree Farm - wear muck boots so that you can walk into the cut-your-own Christmas tree areas and explore

• Thomas Bridge - nearby historic covered bridge

• Buttermilk Falls - another highlight of the trip, Fred Rogers’ grandfather owned the land and had a retreat house where Mr. Rogers grew up visiting, incredible during the winter with the snow and icicles, short path to stairs that lead down to falls where you can walk behind the waterfall, be careful on the icy stairs

• Denham’s Sporting Goods - apparently, there are two locations in Virginia, but we had never heard of this store, huge with a great selection

• Dinner at Lamoona - great Middle Eastern food

Plan for snow! There was still snow on the ground from a snow before we arrived, and it snowed on our last night. So magical. So relaxing. This was not one of those trips where we were exhausted when we got home from trying to do and see everything. This long weekend getaway was just what we needed. And watching It’s a Wonderful Life with the family when we got home was now even more special.

For more photos, click here.

To watch a highlight reel, click here.

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