This Charming Town In Pennsylvania Offers Unique Castles And Museums To Explore

Walking through Doylestown, Pennsylvania is like stepping into a Norman Rockwell painting: You'll pass handsome brick storefronts, prim cottages with white picket fences, and locals waving to each other as they stroll down tree-lined streets. Standing an hour north of Philadelphia, Doylestown has quietly thrived since its founding in the mid-18th century. If you start in the middle of town, you can easily walk to a Quaker meeting house, a modest garden maze, the Bucks County Civil War Library and Museum, and the retro-style County Theater, a cinema that has screened movies since 1938. All of these places are clustered around a few charming blocks; even the centrally located Starbucks occupies the historic Fountain House, a veranda-covered complex that has occupied this corner since before the Revolution.

For travelers road tripping across the Keystone State, Doylestown makes for a cozy stop. The town displays all the best qualities of Eastern Pennsylvania, from well preserved architecture to friendly residents and an impressive dining scene. Economic prosperity and a small-town feel have made Doylestown a favorite place to settle and raise children, especially among Philadelphians looking for a calmer pace. Commercial sprawl has swallowed up much of the surrounding countryside, and visitors will have to wade through some traffic, but Main Street retains much of its centuries-old character.

Yet this township is also quirky, and Doylestown has a long history of eccentric residents. No visit is complete without touring local museums and "castles," which reflect the offbeat spirit of Doylestown's best known natives. These institutions are a big reason Doylestown is among the must-see cities in Pennsylvania that aren't Philadelphia, according to locals.

The most striking character to come out of Doylestown was Henry Chapman Mercer, a globe-trotting archaeologist and skilled artisan who lived in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Mercer was deeply interested in antique artifacts, especially hand tools and pottery. He was especially obsessed with the traditional tile work created by a German-Christian sect, and decided to build the Moravian Pottery and Tile Works on the outskirts of Doylestown. This distinctive structure looks like an old factory, but with smooth gray roofs and dozens of brick chimneys. Here, Moravian artisans were encouraged to make ornate pictorial tiles, and Mercer himself designed and fired many of his own. You can take a guided tour of the catacomb-like workshops and hallways of the Moravian Tile Works Museum for $17 per adult.

Mercer also commissioned a massive stone mansion, which he dubbed Fonthill Castle, just around the corner from the Tile Works. The palatial residence has since been recast as the Mercer Museum, which continues to reflect Mercer's archaeological passions and oddball personality: the exhibition halls are full of rare books, household items, and whole vehicles — such as wagons, wooden boats, and high-wheeled bicycles — which are suspended across walls and ceilings. The multi-story layout is dizzying, like stepping into an M.C. Escher drawing. The museum is open every day but Monday, and tickets for adults are $20 each.

Right in the middle of town, the Michener Art Museum is named after the prolific novelist James A. Michener. After growing up in an adoptive family in Doylestown, Michener served in World War II and started writing massive novels, starting with the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Tales from the South Pacific."  The museum is housed in the former Bucks County Jail and now exhibits an eclectic range of paintings and sculptures.

Doylestown stands at the confluence of several rural highways, nearly all of which are slow-moving and peppered with traffic lights, so driving here from Philly or nearby New Jersey can feel very stop-and-go. Parking can also get competitive in the middle of town, so once you've found a spot, you may want to stay there. Again, the best parts of Doylestown are very walkable, give or take some hills, and you'll find a succession of shops and eateries along the way. Adventure-seekers could easily add it to a Pennsylvania road trip.

You could also take the train, one of Doylestown's greatest assets. The station is smack dab in the middle of town, and a SEPTA regional train run into (and out of) Philadelphia multiple times per day. The ride takes about 90 minutes, which is a good amount of time, but the train is comfortable enough and spares you the hour you'd spend on  tangled Pennsylvania highways. Doylestown marks the final stop on this train route; on the other end is the 30th Street Amtrak station, which passengers consider one of the most beautiful train stations in America.

One of the downsides of Doylestown is its dearth of affordable hotels. The two inns in the middle of town cost well over $200 per night, and more affordable chains, like the Hampton Inn, are located several miles out. You'll find more diverse options in New Hope, another beautiful historic town about 25 minutes away by car.