By car, Greater Reading is 1 hour from Philadelphia, 2.5 hours from
New York City and from Washington D.C.

Berks Jazz Fest                                        World War II Weekend                          Scott's Run Lake 
                                                                                                                               at French Creek State Park

• Berks County encompasses 900 square miles and 400,000 people,
  with an additional 39 million living within 150 miles of Reading.
• Some 500 manufacturers and a diverse range of businesses call Reading home,
  including banks, retailers, and medical-device companies.
• Berks County provides a range of employment, including manufacturing, health & social services and retail.
• The Greater Reading region is the birthplace of two leading medical device companies, Arrow International and Sugical Specialties.
• The Berks Jazz Fest is the third-largest in the nation and the fifth-largest in the world.
• Bills Khakis and Hydrojet were recognized in INC. Magazine's Top 100 fastest growing privately owned inner city companies. 
• At 140,000 square feet, the recently completed Sovereign Operations Center houses 540 workers in downtown Reading.
• With 754 acute and 50 skilled-care beds, Reading Hospital is the largest provider in Pennsylvania between Philadelphia and Pittsburg.
• Reading is the only place in America to offer every level of school, from elementary to post-graduate, on one street.
• Founded in 1958 by the Bernardine Franciscan Sisters, Alvernia College is a Catholic, Franciscan, coeducational institution in Reading.
• At age 93, the Reading Symphony Orchestra is one of the largest continuously operating symphonies in the United States.
• Newly opened GOGGLEWORKS, located in downtown Reading, the facility provides 40 studios for visual artists & space for several Greater Reading cultural organizations, including African American Coalition of Reading & the Berks Classical Children's Chorus. It also provides a funky Web site that teaches abstract concepts in an engaging way, plus supplemental learning materials for the classroom and home.  The GOGGLEWORKS is also a gathering place along the Schuylkill River, the focus of an effor to develop the riverfront.  Courses and a children's museum are planned.   www.goggleworks.com    
   
  
  Reading, PA is home to VF Outlet, one of America's leading outlet retailers. Consistently ranked by American Bus Association as one of the top shopping venues in the country.  Thousands of busses and millions of bargain shoppers come to Reading every year to load up on great values.
  

Trails, water, forest, & hills make Reading an
            ideal spot for outdoor activities...

• Blue Marsh Lake offers swimming, fishing, boating, sailing, cross-country and water skiing, hunting, hiking, birdwatching & picnicing.
• Canoers and kayakers paddle the Tulpehocken Creek -- the best trout stream in southeast Pennsylvania. 
  More than 20 miles of trails -- dirt & grass lanes & singletrack trail--pass through forests & fields with views of Blue Marsh Lake.

The Reading Pagoda overlooks Duryea Drive. 
The Pagoda sits atop Mt. Penn
and is a 1908 replica of
a Shogun Dynasty castle.

SO MANY MORE THINGS TO DO in Berks...



Other local links 

More info on Greater Reading & Berks, BUT this link will not bring you back to this website.