Pennsylvania's 10 Underrated Gems In Allentown That Most Tourists Overlook

Billy Joel has sung about New York, Miami, and Vienna, but he's also sung about Allentown, Pennsylvania, in his 1982 hit of the same name, which cemented Pennsylvania's third-most-populous city in pop culture history. "Well, we're living here in Allentown," Joel crooned, as he delivered a gritty ode to working-class life in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley during a time of economic change. While the track climbed to No. 17 on the Billboard Hot 100, the city immortalized in the song still flies under the radar for many travelers, despite having much to offer.

Tucked into the Lehigh Valley, Allentown is an affordable, artsy Pennsylvania city with world-class bites, but it tends to get bypassed by travelers heading for better-known Keystone State destinations like Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Yet Allentown is sitting on a trove of under-the-radar attractions. You can feed trout at a historic nursery, see the remains of towering 19th-century cement kilns, take art classes at a school founded by an Impressionist painter, enjoy hot dogs from a century-old hometown chain, and discover much more along the way. Here are 10 of Allentown's most underrated gems.

Before Allentown became a city, the Lenape people called the Lehigh Valley home. Since 1980, the Museum of Indian Culture has shared Native American history and culture through displays of beadwork, basketry, pottery, clothing, tools, and other artifacts. The museum is also developing a reconstructed Lenape village for a closer look at how Indigenous people lived in the region. Visitors can step inside an outdoor tipi and try their skills with an atlatl, an ancient spear-thrower. Admission costs $5, while children ages 8 and under get in free.

Thousands of trout swim in the 15 large outdoor tanks at Lil' Le-Hi Trout Nursery, where visitors can get an up-close look at the fish that live along Little Lehigh Creek. Dating back to 1883, the local favorite is one of the oldest continuously operated trout nurseries in the country. Several varieties of trout fill the tanks, and signs explain more about the fish and how they are cared for. You can wander beside the tanks for free, but bring some pocket change, as a bag of trout food costs $1.

Many visitors head straight to the Allentown Art Museum, but right next door, they can try their hand at art at the Baum School of Art. Impressionist painter Walter Emerson Baum, who hailed from the unsung Pennsylvania artsy hub of Sellersville, helped establish the school in 1926 and later helped kick-start the flagship museum nearby during the Great Depression. Today, the school hosts a packed calendar of classes and workshops covering a wide range of unique arts topics, from abstract painting to wabi-sabi slow stitching.

Travelers who like to catch a show while exploring a new city can check the calendar at Archer Music Hall, which opened in downtown Allentown in 2025. The venue's slogan is "live music that hits the mark," and it lives up to that claim. The 31,000-square-foot venue has two performance spaces, with the main hall holding up to 1,600 people, and the smaller Arrow holding up to 500. Concerts make up much of the schedule, with touring artists spanning genres from rock and metal to hip-hop, and there are comedy shows, too.

Nine 90-foot cement kilns tower over Saylor Park, a site on the National Register of Historic Places about 20 minutes from downtown Allentown in nearby Coplay. Built in the late 1800s by the Coplay Cement Company, the towers churned out Portland cement (the type of cement used to make concrete), helping Lehigh County become a major supplier for construction projects across the country. Though more efficient rotary kilns made the technology obsolete by the start of the 20th century, visitors can still walk among these impressive, tall structures at the 2.6-acre open-air museum, which is free and open year-round.

Hidden in a 37.5-acre park, Haines Mill Museum is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places and takes visitors back in time inside a grist mill dating to around the middle of the 19th century. The mill used water power to grind grain into flour. Free seasonal tours allow visitors to step inside a former mill and see the historic equipment up close. The mill sits along Cedar Creek, which supplied the water power to properly operate the machinery.

Cozy Crumbs brings Middle Eastern and Mediterranean flavors to downtown Allentown's ArtsWalk, a pedestrian stretch in the city's arts district. Owner Tala Mdanat incorporates flavors from her heritage, such as pistachio, za'atar, and rose. You'll find baklava alongside unique creations such as steak shawarma pizza, as well as specialty espresso drinks and matcha. Before she had a storefront, Mdanat sold her baked goods at markets and events throughout the Lehigh Valley. Her permanent cafe downtown opened in early 2026.

Wert's Cafe has been an Allentown fixture since locals Fred and Connie Wert opened their family restaurant doors in 1968. More than five decades later, the Wert family still runs the spot known for its burgers and onion rings. The menu also doubles as a family tribute, with Fred and Connie's three children each having a dish named after them. Greg's Burger has provolone, hard-boiled egg, and mayonnaise; Phil's has bacon, barbecue sauce, and provolone; and Kathy's Pattie Melt has grilled onions and cheese on deli rye.

Visitors who want to check out another local institution can head to Yocco's, which got its start in Allentown in 1922 when Italian immigrant Theodore Iacocca began selling hot dogs from the cigar and convenience store he operated. Fast forward to today, and the family business is known as the local "Hot Dog King" with multiple locations in the area. The name "Yocco" came from the way local residents pronounced "Iacocca," if you were curious. The signature topping is Yocco's secret meat-based chili sauce, which the family still makes from Theodore's 1920s recipe. The menu also includes cheesesteaks, burgers, and pierogies.

East Africa meets Allentown at Xplorer Spirits, the brand behind Kilimanjaro Distillery, founded by Tanzanian-born Kishor Chokshi and his daughter, Niky. There's a lot to try at the family-run distillery, from high-rye bourbon and potato vodka to apple pie and chocolate bourbon liqueurs. Its peanut butter whiskey adds a quirky option to the lineup, coming in a peanut-shaped bottle. Visitors can stop by the distillery to sample its spirits and learn more about how they're made. A percentage of its profits goes towards clean drinking water projects through the Tanzania Water Project and the local Meals on Wheels Pennsylvania community.