Top Holiday Moments In Amish Country

Somewhere between Black Friday doorbusters and the second office party, the Christmas season can start to get blurry. 

You have your gift list, the calendar stacked with events, and the family group chat is buzzing. But somehow it still feels like you’re missing something important. 

Amish Country is where you can go to get that “something” back.

Here, the holidays show up in small moments: the warm glow of a woodstove, the first sip of local wine, the sound of hoofbeats passing on a gravel road. You taste cheeses and chocolates from small-batch makers, browse one-of-a-kind gifts in little shops, and realize the best parts of the season never came in a cardboard box. 

If you are overdue for a different kind of December, come see how much lighter the season feels when your holidays are built around moments that matter.

Get Back to What Christmas Is About

One of the best parts of a holiday trip to Amish Country is watching everyone light up at the same time. Maybe it is a Christmas show at Amish Country Theater or Ohio Star Theater where grandparents and kids can enjoy an evening together. Or a long meal at a place like Dutch Valley or Berlin Farmstead, where phones stay in pockets until the last bite of pie. However your crew is made up, it is easy to find a shared moment that feels like the reason you traveled in the first place.

There are also quiet moments here that sneak up on you. A simple, beautiful display in a shop window. A winter landscape of fields, fencerows, and farmhouses under a pale sky. A dining room full of people talking and laughing together instead of pushing through the aisles at the mall.

There is the moment that an aroma that greets you as you step into a warm shop or café. The rich smells of leather and wood at Weaver Leather Supply and Keim Home Center. The fresh coffee at East Main Kitchen or the fireplace at your countryside cabin. Comforts  that make a day of shopping feel far from crowds and flashing lights.

Or how about when you find the gift that stops you in your tracks—something made by hand, made nearby, and made with care. Maybe it is a hand painted piece of pottery that will live on someone’s mantle for years, or a calligraphy scroll from Cottonwood Shanty. Places like bfearless., Sheiyah Market and Village Gift Barn bring together decor, fashion, and accessories you will not see in big-box aisles.

Across Amish Country, these small moments stack up. You might discover your next treasure at an antique shop before wandering into a bakery scented with cinnamon and fresh bread. Or linger in a quilt room surrounded by rows of color and pattern. From shopping and culture to food and lodging, every stop adds its own shape to a holiday trip that feels personal from start to finish.

A Good Time to Plan a Better December

If you want a holiday that feels lighter, calmer, and full of moments you will actually remember, now is the time to plan it. December fills up quickly in Amish Country, from cabins and inns to dinner shows and seasonal events. Book your stay, set aside the rush, and give yourself a Christmas that feels closer to the one you’ve been missing.