Fall Foliage Color & Amish Country Tour Package
One Day Only –or- One Night
Central Illinois does not have the leaf colors of New England to see. But we do experience significant fall color in a different way. Harvest colors emerge just after Labor Day, and big combines begin to chew thru the large grain farms in Central Illinois. On the smaller Amish farms around Arthur, corn is often hand shucked the 
old fashioned way, or “antique” 2 row pickers pulled by teams of horses clean the fields. Stubble is left up for the animals rather than quickly plowed under. You won’t experience harvest this way anywhere else in Illinois!
This is a sample itinerary we frequently offer in the fall for groups or families. Remember that while we will schedule your visit to meet your group’s desire and available time, an early arrival give you the most flexibility..
7-8 a.m. If staying overnight in the area, enjoy breakfast on your own at your accommodation.
9 – 10a.m. Arrive in Arthur/Amish Country. Pull your coach right up to our store where
your group will have a chance to refresh. Shopping the Vine Street merchants for a short while now will be a treat for your group as several of the stores have fine wood products from the local Amish craftsmen. They will be able to browse the antiques at Yoder’s Lamp Shop or at Dicks Pharmacy shakes are still hand dipped, and you can get a real cherry coke. There are also quilts, crafts, collectibles, and fine arts to enjoy. An hour is never enough but we’ll start here.
10-11:00 a.m. Meet your Step-On Guide at The Wood Loft in downtown Arthur. The guide will begin your scenic, educational tour through the countryside, and will explain the history of Arthur and the Amish to your group. The tour will include stops at Amish country shops along the tour. Learn interesting facts about the Amish life style and visit their cottage businesses.
12 p.m. Enjoy a home cooked meal at an Amish home. The traditional Amish Sunday meal includes; homemade bread, salad, fried chicken, mashed potatoes & gravy, noodles or dressing, vegetable, pie, and a drink.
1 p.m. Take a tour of the Amish farm with your guide and Amish host and learn about Amish farm life.
1:30 p.m. On your tour of the countryside, usually after lunch, your guide will direct you to the Great Pumpkin Patch. This working grain farm is a great place to observe the beautiful harvest colors. Enjoyed by tens of thousands each year, the “Great Pumpkin Patch” has a bakery, gift shop, snack shop, mazes, fall displays, hundreds of varieties of gourds and squash, fields of pumpkins, gourds, mums, animals, lots of fall fun and much more to entertain your guests. It has been featured on Martha Stuart television and numerous national magazines (1+ hrs)
2:30 p.m. After the “patch,” return to downtown Arthur, Enjoy some shopping at the downtown Arthur businesses, before heading off to your next destination. While Arthur’s downtown may look small on the map, you can easily spend 2 hours or more just downtown. Did we mention baked goods to take home? (2 hrs)
If staying in the area another day, either on the first day or after the fall foliage items, your group can enjoy a dinner at Yoder’s Restaurant in Arthur or the Dutch Kitchen in nearby Arcola. Evening activities depending on the exact dates of your visit may include special music entertainment at Penn Station in downtown Arthur, live, equity theater performances, visiting the nearby Outlet Mall for some more shopping, and the many special events in Arthur.
ACM Tours can help with all your Amish Area itinerary details. Just let us know about when you plan to arrive, and when you need to be at your next destination and we will put a sample itinerary or two together just for your group.
