Hershey, Penn., is called "The Sweetest Place on Earth" and for good reason. It is home to Hershey's Chocolates, the American icon that brought us the Hershey Chocolate Bar, Hershey Kisses, Reeses, and many other snacks to satisfy everyone's sweet tooth.
While best known for Hershey Chocolates, Hershey the town - as we found out - is much more. We were there for a couple of days and were able to enjoy all that Hershey has to offer.
Hershey is located in Derry Township, Dauphin County in southeast Pennsylvania. Just eight miles from Harrisburg International Airport and nine miles from Amtrak services in Middletown, Hershey is easy to get to whether by plane, train or automobile. Hershey itself is a small town with just over 14,000 people (according to the 2010 census), and its two main thoroughfares have a sweet ring to them: Cocoa Avenue and Chocolate Avenue.
During our visit we stayed at the Hotel Hershey. The hotel was really all inclusive for a luxury hotel. They even included a driver to take you to stores or anywhere in the local area. The hotel room had all you could expect from a luxury room: high quality towels and linens as well as furnishings. We were very pleased to find Hershey Spa sundries in the bathroom. Turndown service with the Hershey Kisses left on the pillow in lieu of a mint was a nice touch. The entire staff, from the bellhop to the servers, were all exceptional. Service was outstanding. Unfortunately for us it rained most the time we were there, but it wasn't a problem that we forgot our umbrellas at home because the hotel let us take one of the many umbrellas they have.
Hershey is home to Hershey Park, a chocolate-themed amusement park that has a little bit of something for every age. There is even a whole area for kids under 36 inches. We loved how they have an official place to check the height on everyone and every height level is named after a candy; however, our daughter wasn't entirely impressed: she only measured up to a Reese’s. The measurement system was a great idea. You can easily avoid temper tantrums from your children because the candy-themed height charts are large enough to read from a distance. You won't approach a line to get turned away just because somebody in your party is too short. The park was well kept, clean, and a fun attraction.
What's a trip to Hershey without a tour of the chocolate factory? Hershey's Chocolate World took us on an interactive behind the scenes tour of Hershey's assembly line. The store itself is a fun stop. Surprisingly, the prices were reasonable and you can find candies there that you don't find in your local store. You can also find giant versions of your favorite chocolates, plus every variant of dark to regular. Don't miss the great bakery that has cookies with all of your favorite Hershey chocolates.
There are plenty of sites to see in Hershey, but there are also some great places to eat. Both restaurants we visited were located at Hotel Hershey.
The Circular offers classic dining with a modern twist and two levels of buffet, both featuring incredible food. The price wasn't bad, and even the more economic buffet had plenty of food options to choose from. My personal favorite: the dark chocolate pudding. It was so rich it was insane.
The Harvest features locally grown products at reasonable prices. Their vegan burger was one of the best non-meat burgers I've ever had. It was so packed with flavor I almost forgot I wasn't eating meat. Of course we did have cheesesteak fries - a crazy yet delicious blend of Philly Cheesesteak and Quebecois poutine - for an appetizer so it all balanced out.
Apart from the rain, we thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Hershey, and we're going to have to go back when it's not so wet out.