Exciting Tours that You Can Take in Your Car, and at Your Leisure

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Each tour is designed in a pattern that forms a reasonable and easy driving loop…you can enter the loop from any direction…and simply follow the attractions back to your original entry point for an easy return home. Of course you may also juggle the sites to fit your particular schedule. WE STRONGLY RECOMMEND that you visit the web sites of those attractions you plan to visit, to make sure they are open during the season and hours you expect to be here. Most of our sites are open year round and at least 5 days a week. But a few places are closed in the winter and a handful do tours only by appointment. (Smaller historic sites manned by volunteer-only staff, are open limited hours, but are glad to do tours by appointment)

1. Our Tour-For-Two includes many of the sites and attractions visited by couples who come to Brandywine Country, including tours of award winning vineyards and art museums, taking an afternoon sail on the Delaware River, exploring historic sites, a Wildlife Refuge and spending a glittering evening of food and fun at Harrah’s Chester Casino and Race Track.

2. The Family Fun Tour features several tours and activities where everyone takes part in the action, like canoeing down the Brandywine River, picking your own fruit and vegetables from a family orchard, taking a trolley ride and visiting a Helicopter Museum. There a many unique places where the prices are good and the fun quotient is off the chart!

3. We also list a sample Garden Tour and History Tour. Many visitors to our region come because we are a perfect match for a particular interest they have. Two of the top 5 reasons people visit Brandywine Country are to visit our gardens and to soak up America’s earliest history. As part of the birthplace of freedom, Brandywine Country is a ‘must visit’ destination for history buffs…and our famous gardens draw both professionals (botanists and naturalists) and amateurs (all lovers of things that bloom, home gardeners and nature lovers).


NOTE: There are many more museums, wineries, and attractions to choose from than just those listed as part of the tours below. There are automobile museums, sculptor’s studios, year-round Christmas shops, a special tourist commuter train, bronze artisan studios, Battleship New Jersey tours, the PA Veterans Museum and much more. Please explore this web site and click on the links to those types of places you might enjoy visiting.

3. Garden Tour

Nemours Mansion & Gardens

If you have a green thumb or just appreciate the work of those who do – visit our famous and amazing gardens, as well as one of the most unusual nature ecosystems in the country (The John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge). The attractions below have been written about in travel magazines and are among some of the finest gardens in the country. Each one is different, unique and memorable. Visit a pleasure garden at the only Main Line estate home that is open to the public…another blooms under miles of concrete highway that carry hundreds of thousands of people to work and home again. Some were based on renowned European gardens…and others are meditative in their divine tranquility. But while each is unique, all are both spectacular and memorable. Be sure to bring your camera!

Day One

MORNING
Nemours Mansion & Gardens – Just received a dazzling renovation by world class architects, gardeners, engineers and craftsmen, restoring this premier North American estate to its turn of the century magnificence…a stunning place of history, elegance, rare antiquities and blissful gardens.
Wilmington, DE
AFTERNOON into Early Evening
Longwood Gardens – A half day is barely enough time to explore 1,050 acres and 20 indoor gardens featuring exquisite flowers, ancient trees, opulent architecture, fountains, exotics and more. Hours are 9 to 5, but the garden often stays open later to feature early evening music and lighted fountain entertainment (skating shows in the winter)
Kennett Square, PA
Lunch: Dine at the Longwood restaurant or to choose a nearby eatery, click on ‘dining’ for a list.
EVENING
Dinner: Select a great local eatery, click on ‘dining’ for a list.
Stay the night
…at one of these fine hotels and B&B’s

Kennett House B&B
Hilton Garden Inn, Kennett Square
Fairville Inn, Chadds Ford
Pennsbury Inn, Chadds Ford
Sweetwater Farm, Glen Mills, PA
Brandywine River Hotel, Chadds Ford
Doubletree Hotel, Wilmington
Staybridge Suites, Wilmington/Brandywine Valley
Comfort Inn Brandywine Valley, West Chester
Day Two
MORNING
Tyler Arboretum – See collections of native, ornamental, and rare trees, plus natural areas and restored buildings…20 miles of hiking trails. Lots of activities, hikes and events are planned for ages 3 to adulthood. Call them for a list of happenings during your visit.
Media, PA

Scott Arboretum of Swarthmore College – It boasts 110 acres of 5,000 different ornamental plants and walking trails on one of the most prestigious campuses in the state. The surrounding town is also unique, full of interesting small retail stores for browsing.
Swarthmore, PA
AFTERNOON
Lunch at georges’ – home of renowned Chef Joseph Frost who worked for Internationally renowned restaurateur, George Perrier
Radnor, PA

Or…click below or on the restaurant page of our website to find more great places to eat in the area, including:
Bistro Casis, Radnor
Glenmorgan Bar and Grill, Radnor
Margaret Kuo’s, Wayne
Floret, Radnor

Chanticleer – You will adore this 35 acre pleasure garden featuring courtyards of tropicals and perennials, a vegetable garden, woodlands, water garden and ruins garden. It is the last remaining Main Line Estate that is still open to the public. It was also named one of North America’s Most Beautiful Secret Gardens by National Geographic Traveler Magazine in 2006.
Radnor, PA
EVENING
September to May – Take in a show at the Players Club of Swarthmore, 300 seat community theater producing 7 shows a season
Swarthmore

Or…People’s Light and Theatre Company – Professional theatre producing a mix of classics, contemporary works and world premiers plus a TARGET Family Discovery Series for the whole family
Malvern

Or…catch a movie at the historic Anthony Wayne Theater in the heart of the downtown Wayne Shopping District

Stay the night…at one of these fine local hotels:
Radnor Hotel
Wayne Hotel
Day Three
MORNING/AFTERNOON
John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge – A rare natural ‘gem’ in the heart of a concrete jungle of 5 million people! Bring your camera for fabulous photos…early birds will catch rare shots at dawn. See hundreds of species of birds, flora and fauna in this combination marsh and woodland hideaway. There are 10 miles of wooded/open hiking and biking trails, fishing, canoeing, an award winning ‘green’ Welcome Center with dozens of exhibits and a gift shop.

Tinicum Township, just off I-95 and only 10 miles from the initial Wilmington starting point of this tour.