Visiting the Arthur Amish Area with Kids

Take a day trip to the Arthur Amish area and make fun family memories

Less than an hour from Champaign-Urbana, you can step back in time with your family as you explore the shops, dining and attractions in the Arthur Amish community

We love a good day trip and, fortunately, we are not lacking for options when we’d like to venture about an hour outside of Champaign-Urbana. In fact, we have a whole list of day trip ideas we reference all year long.

One of our favorite destinations on the day trip list is to head to Arthur to enjoy what the Amish community has to offer. There are a number of ways to enjoy your day and here are just a few of our favorite stops.

Something Unique: Aikman Wildlife Adventure

If you’re searching for unique, Aikman Wildlife Adventure is what you are looking for. Choose from a variety of adventures and encounters, including wagon tours, walking visits, or drive your own vehicle through the park. Our top choice is to do a wagon tour followed by a walking tour, sold as the “wagon adventure.” This stop can get pricey, but if you are looking for an attraction, this is a great choice. Read our review of this attraction.

Visit the Great Pumpkin Patch During Fall

For just over a month, you can head to The Great Pumpkin Patch for what is certainly a contender for Central Illinois’ largest pumpkin patch for all kinds of fall fun. In addition to the pumpkin basics, you can see a number of displays — mum “quilts” are some of the most unique — and there are animals, mazes, wagon rides and more. This attraction can also be a bit costly but for many area families, it is an annual tradition. Just want some baked goods? You can stop in the Homestead Bakery on the same property any time of year to get some delicious Amish treats — some say they are the best in the entire area.

Another reason to head here in the fall — the Arcola Broomcorn Festival in September.

You can also take a short drive over to the Okaw Valley Orchard during the late summer/fall months for a fun-filled orchard experience, which is more budget-friendly than some other attractions nearby.

Where to Get Some Food

There’s one option that comes up every single time Champaign-Urbana area families talk about heading to Arthur and it is Yoder’s Kitchen. If you’re looking for an endless supply of comfort food to the max, Yoder’s is what you’re looking for.

If a traditional Amish buffet is not what you’re looking for, there are many other options nearby:

Pauly’s BBQ
Lunch at the deli counter of Beachy’s (which may win the prize for most budget-friendly lunch option)
Heartland Deli and Delights (formerly known as Country Cheese and More)

Shopping in Arthur

This might be the top reason we hear of families heading to Arthur. Sometimes they are shopping for furniture, or something specific, like cabinets. Other times, they are heading to go antique shopping with out-of-town family who are visiting and looking for something unique to do. But there are a LOT of options for shopping in this area. We will break them down into two different categories — food and other.

Boutiques, antiques and more

The best place to visit for boutiques and antiques is to head to downtown Arthur (listed as County Rd 000 E on Google Maps). Here you will find a wide variety of shopping and this is probably where you will spend the most time on your visit.

Shop for Food, too

We also hear of families that head to Arthur to buy groceries. Perhaps it is meat, eggs, dairy products or just a little bit of everything, shopping at Amish grocers is a regular part of a day trip to Arthur. Beachy’s is the most famous, but there are several others. Bring a cooler and as you are heading out of town, you can stop at Dutch Valley Meats and get some meat straight from the butcher. Amish grocers have plenty of 1) baked goods and 2) frozen foods.

We have an entire post on visiting Beachy’s; it should be noted that Beachy’s has expanded into even more space since this post was written.

So much more

You may consider another option on our day trip list to tack on to your visit to Amish country. It all depends on how much time you wish to spend and what you wish to spend in dollars. A popular option is to stop in Tuscola on the way, and we have a post on what to do in Tuscola, too.