The Saturday during Memorial Day weekend I had an impromptu visit to Erie and needed a room for the…read morenight. I passed The Lighthouse Inn & Restaurant on my way to Presque Isles and went back around 6pm and managed to get their last room. I had a very nice conversation with the lady that owns the place when I checked in. I found my room to be pleasant and very clean. The room was nice and quite. The bed and pillows were comfortable. I had a very good nights sleep and a nice shower the following morning. For a last minute trip over a holiday weekend, I could not have been luckier to find a clean and cozy room that was in a great location. It was close to the beach, shopping and restaurants. If I am ever in need of a room again when passing through Erie, this will be my first choice for a place to stay.

We stop in Erie when we drive from Chicago to Boston (Erie is halfway). I heard about the…read moreLighthouse Inn, and so glad we tried it. We stayed again a week later on the way back. We will always stay there when we're in town. It is immaculately clean, quiet, good "air" (no smells, good temp), fresh linens--updated enough to be pleasant and fresh--but with yesteryear charm. We appreciated the good TV and WIFI, the "motor court" style, with parking right outside our door, the friendly-hands on owners, the beautiful stream across the street, the comfortable beds, strong shower, black out curtains--and VERY affordable rates. It is refreshing in its simplicity and quality, and it's location is very convenient.

What a lovely view of a lovely lake, beach, and woods. The…read moremuseum was cute and informative with nice staff. The lighthouse and house were beautiful. The gift shop was really cute, fairly priced, had informative staff, and the ladies working there were so nice and welcoming!

This was our 2nd visit to this lighthouse. IT is amazing the view from the ground and then the…read moreview from the light house. It overlooks Lake Erie and give it a different perspective on Lake Erie from Buffalo. You need to pay to get to look inside but well worth the money. On a beautiful day it is a great place to visit.

Great attraction! From the history they gave us it just reopened last season. Everything has been…read morerestored and looks great. Free to walk around the grounds and climb to the top. Can't beat free. Great view of the lake from the top.

We came back for one of the last weekends they were open for the season and happy to share that the…read morestairs have been fully restored and they allow visitors to go up to the top now! It was free but we had to sign a waiver. The views from the top were nice, and the employees were friendly. A great stop if you're nearby and in the area.

The first lighthouse to be commissioned on any of the Great Lakes in the United States, the…read morelocation was chosen at the entrance of what was then a challenging entrance to the bay and the Port of Erie. The original structure was replaced and then that one was replaced with what we see today in 1867. Well constructed with a 20 foot deep foundation, it is 49 feet high and is mostly conical with a 19' bottom base and a 14' top base. When it's open to the public (free on the first Tuesday of the month), there are 69 steps to the top. It does have a light but it is not an active aid to navigation. The trees at the cliffside mostly block the view of the harbor. The lighthouse is surrounded by a small park that is open dawn to dusk. It is now a residential neighborhood but there is some parking. A webcam of the view from the lighthouse is linked from https://www.presqueislelighthouse.org/learn/erie-land-lighthouse [Review 1385 of 2024 - 662 in Pennsylvania - 22408 overall]

Pretty neutral as we didn't get a chance to even tour. Upon arrival we were warned a large crowds…read morebusload of children were about to arrive and in so many words please leave because they were overwhelmed. Apologetically as if we had popped up on the doorstep of a relative's home who was inconvenienced by our arrival, we moved on to read the plaques outside at a more rapid pace than I preferred. Another couple who followed us did the same. Sadly they lost out on 4 people's fares to take a quick tour simply because they were bracing themselves for the onslaught of children. They could have been more gracious or welcoming. Even a quick looksee would have been sufficient. Or an appointment. But we are from out of state and never had time to return.

We have come dozens of times from out of state and really enjoy our visits every time…read more We enjoyed this years Discover Presque Isle event. Lots of activities to keep people engaged and show off the great asset that PI is to Erie. One thing they could do a bit better with this festival is communicating when events are changed/postponed/cancelled. The park itself is amazing and looks like the visitors and the staff take every good care of it.

We tried to make it to Presque Isle State Park at least once every summer. In recent years, we try…read moreto rent an Airbnb somewhere within a 20 minute distance to the lake. I swear that this park and the beaches are one of the most underrated places in all of Pennsylvania . It really is a beautiful park. The paved path around the Peninsula is about 13 miles long and you can walk, run, bike, rollerblade, scooter, and walk your dog on that path. As you stroll around the peninsula, you will see the bay on one side in Lake Erie on the other side. Each of the beaches are a little bit different in terrain. I highly recommend beach shoes/water shoes since many beaches are rocky. There are a few natural unguarded beaches, and then there are plenty of guarded beaches for swimming. Most of the time the swimming does not open until noon when the lifeguards arrive. You also need to be cognizant of swimming in between where the flags are located and also staying in towards the shore side of the orange buoys. You can rent chairs & cabanas at some beaches like 6 & 8. You can camp in this park. You can rent pedal bikes on a small pond. You can take several types of boat rides. You can also rent paddle boards and kayaks. You can fish. There are dog, friendly beaches, kite, beaches, etc. We ended up with a stellar weather on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday that we were there. On day one I went to beach three. It was very windy and it was almost like the ocean with the waves. In fact, I don't ever remember the waves being this big on a nice day and you can literally body surf or if you had a kickboard you could definitely body surf in the shore. I spent three hours on beach number three, and the next day I spent three hours on beach number 8. On Tuesday beach six was packed. It was literally like being at the ocean. Although the water was calm that day, and you literally could see to the bottom. You could wear goggles and basically snorkel if you wanted. On our final day, we spent the morning on beach six and we took our dog. Dogs are not allowed to swim in the same area, but humans are swimming. You can have your dog up at the picnic tables under the tree line, but when the lifeguards arrive, you cannot have your dog in the regular swimming area, but there are plenty of other places in the park where your dog can swim in the unguarded more rural Beach areas. There are at least 11 different beaches in the park. Some of them have concession stands and changing rooms and things like that. One beach is made to be handicapped accessible. Keep in mind you're not allowed to climb on the sand dunes. No alcohol is allowed in the park. There is a little restaurant, and also a Thai restaurant inside the park and an ice cream parlor. When you enter the park, you will pass Waldemere amusement and waterpark. I highly recommend Presque Isle & Lake Erie for summer fun in PA!

I did a 5 p.m. narrated tour on a Sat. in July. I bought tickets at the booth. The tour guide was…read morenew and mixed up her words and left/right sometimes, but she seemed nice and knowledgeable. I initially sat at the front of the boat, but I could not hear the narration, so I moved to the back. The information was interesting and I enjoyed the views. The tour had a large, separate group in attendance. One person in their group distributed tickets one at a time when it was time to board, while people not in their group were already queued and waiting to board. It would have been better for those not in the group to have the group distribute tickets before boarding to not hold up the line. I went to the booth the previous evening, Friday, for the 8 p.m. sunset cruise. I was disappointed to learn there was only one ticket left, when we had two people. I regretted not booking online earlier (mostly because I didn't want to pay a ticket fee). I called earlier around 3 p.m. to confirm the departure time; it would have been nice if the person advised me to get a ticket early.

Fun, relaxing and informative, I highly recommend this tour for people new to the area. We took the…read more90 minute tour which left from the harbor and rode along the outside of the isle. One gets lovely views of wildlife, the lake and some lighthouses. The guide who provided historical commentary was knowledgeable, funny and answered any questions. Highly recommended.

While putter around Barcelona in search of some smoked whitefish I clicked on my Yelp and Barcelona…read moreHarbor Pier popped up, so I decided to check it out. As far as the pier goes, it's nice but doesn't really amount to much and tends to be somewhat confusing because the pier itself is posted as being the "Daniel Reed Memorial Pier." It has a boat ramp and the area includes the "Sea Lion Project," the remains of a failed attempt at the recreation of an early English merchant sailing ship, some historical markers, some park benches, a nearby old lighthouse, a visitor station which appears to generally be closed and that's about it. As for the pier itself, well, it's just a nice little pier next to Barcelona Harbor on Lake Erie. The setting and area however are really beautiful and a part of the Great Lakes Seaway Trail. If you happen to be in the area or are in need of a boat ramp or just enjoy green park spaces its worth seeing but the pier itself and the Sea Lion exhibit certainly aren't worth going out of your way for. As for rating the pier, it's just a pier so, not much so Two Stars. As for the area and the beauty of it, all of Four Stars, so since I have to give a star rating, I'm giving it Three Stars.

The pier superintendent or employee associated with overseeing the Barcelona pier is one of the…read moremost antagonistic & verbally abusive individuals I have encountered in my life. His hostility and profanities directed at me while I attempted to photograph the historic lighthouse were unwarranted and appalling, to say the least. I walked the beach beside the pier when this individual aggressively approached me, ranting, raving and accusing me of trespassing, although there were no visible signs indicating that the lakefront property was prohibited from being accessed. I am not from the area and will not plan to return, due to how the state of NY and the town of Barcelona operate their unwelcoming and offensive tourist industry. When I asked this individual for his name he rudely refused to offer it.

We made a stop here on our way home from Erie because we heard it was a great place for beach glass…read morehunting. Unfortunately we didn't find any glass this trip, but the park itself was really nice. We loved the boardwalk to the beach, and appreciated how clean and plentiful the bathrooms were near the concession stand. The facilities were clean, the workers were friendly and the beach was clean. Hopefully we can stop back another time and hit the jackpot with some treasure hunting!

Poor maintenance. Not safe either Id avoid this beach at all…read morecosts , surprisingly hardly anybody goes here Closed weekends. Lol

save your money and go on the perch pirate. the Edward's John boat will sit in a spot for 30-45…read moremins with no fish on the radar, waste of time and money. the Capt of the boat was not able to bring us to the fish to catch. Total disappointment that we travelled 4 hours total to go onto the Edward John and we were skunked while the other party boat pulled in with 3x's amount of fish we had in our boat.

Excellent way to spend our day with family. Crew was awesome. Will return! Boat was clean.read more