Tips & Tools

Your best source for good ideas on how to get to Gettysburg and save money in the process.

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Driving Tips

Not many people realize it, but Gettysburg is an easy day trip from Philadelphia, Washington DC, New York, Pittsburgh and many other major cities. View the city distance chart.

A great tool for drivers is to print out your own personal driving directions and maps from Expedia.com. Just click on the link below and enter your address in the starting location and Gettysburg, PA in the destination. If you want the exact address of the park Visitor Center, it is 95 Taneytown Road Gettysburg, PA 17325
Car Rentals
Rental Cars 3
 During the Summer season, rental rates can go up significantly on rental cars. I typically attempt to use priceline.com. The last time I flew into Baltimore I was able to get an economy car rental through priceline.com for $24/day in the peak season of July.
Another good way to take care of this chore is to make your rental car reservation on line at Expedia.com. You can usually find reasonable deals and it's quicker than the bidding process at priceline.com.
We have experienced numerous problems with the Alamo rental car agency at Baltimore Washington Airport. We strongly recommend avoiding them if at all possible. If you do use them, be sure to call ahead to confirm that a car and attendent will be there.
Flying Tips
If you are flying, your best bet for a good airfare is going to be into Baltimore Washington Airport (BWI). Southwest Airlines flies there and they offer good Internet specials. Another great place to check for cheap airfare into BWI is priceline.com. On several occassion, I have obtained $250 roundtrip ticket from Los Angeles to BWI using priceline.com.
Click on the priceline.com button and name your price for airfare Air(default)Banner 3
Check for Internet fares at Southwest
It's also never a bad idea to check out Expedia.com. You can see all the different airlines and fares and then decide which one is best for you.
Here's another good tool from Expedia. It's called Fare Compare. You can check what other Expedia customers have recently paid for the same ticket. It should give you an idea of what you should be able to get.
I have never used the Flight Price Matcher from Expedia, but it works the same way as priceline.com. Name your price and they will try and find an airline to accept your bid. Expedia says they will have an answer for you in 15 minutes.
Accomodation Tips
Gettysburg has a variety of accomodation options including some excellent Bed & Breakfast and camping options. If you are interested in a hotel, check out the tools shown below to save some money. If you are interested in a Bed & Breakfast or campground, your best bet is to click on the type of accomodation on the navigation bar (left) and browse around until you find the one that best matches your style.
Priceline.com has several hotels in their database for Gettysburg. However, I could not find out which hotels they are. The best you can do is to specify the quality level (priceline star system) and hope that a good hotel accepts your bid. Hotel Banner 5
Another good option is Expedia.com. Here you can see exactly which hotels have space available in Gettysburg and how much their rates are.
Expedia also has a Hotel Price Matcher system that lets you bid on your hotel room.