Things to Do in Shipshewana, Indiana
The best things to do in Shipshewana, Indiana, are the Shipshewana Flea Market, the Menno-Hof heritage center and a show at the Blue Gate Theatre. It’s a town of 839 people in LaGrange County, and it sits at the center of northern Indiana’s Amish country.
The town is named after a local Potawatomi man, and its post office dates to 1889. It has been growing, too: the population rose from 658 in 2010 to 839 in 2020.
Shipshewana Flea Market & Auction
This is the reason most people come. The market calls itself the Midwest’s largest, with 600-plus vendor spaces spread across 40 acres. It runs Tuesdays and Wednesdays, May through September, rain or shine. The Wednesday Antique & Miscellaneous Auction runs year-round, with six to nine auctioneers selling at once.
★ Good to know The Shipshewana Auction Restaurant sits at the main entrance and serves comfort food like chicken and noodles and pie on market days.
Menno-Hof
Start here if you want to understand what you’re seeing on the back roads. Amish and Mennonite craftsmen built it in an old-fashioned barn raising. Exhibits trace five centuries of Amish, Mennonite and Hutterite history. You walk through a replica 17th-century sailing ship, a 19th-century print shop and an Amish home.
★ Good to know The guided tour takes about an hour and 15 minutes; it’s open year-round but closed Sundays.
Blue Gate Restaurant & Theatre
Blue Gate has been in Shipshewana since 1984 and now runs an Amish-style restaurant, a bakery, a hotel and a theatre. The 1,500-seat Blue Gate Performing Arts Center opened in March 2020. It books country, gospel, bluegrass, comedy and musicals, with more than 80 public shows a year.
★ Good to know Big names sell out, so check the show calendar and book before you set your dates.
Davis Mercantile and the Shipshewana Carousel
This four-floor building on Main Street holds 21 shops and Millie’s Market Cafe. The draw for families is the carousel. Amish artisan Al Bontrager carved its animals to represent the ones you see around Shipshewana.
★ Good to know Plan an hour if you want to browse all four floors and ride the carousel.
Buggy Lane Tours
A buggy ride is the easiest way to see the farms up close. Buggy Lane runs five options, from a short ride around town to farmland tours. One stop is a working dairy farm, where you can milk a cow by hand and help feed the calves. The biggest package adds a family-style Amish and Mennonite thresher dinner.
★ Good to know Schedules change by season, so call ahead before you plan around a tour.
Barn Quilt Trail and Quilt Gardens
More than 80 barn quilts, painted wooden squares on barns and homesteads, are marked on a free self-guided map of the backroads. Shipshewana is also one of seven towns on the Elkhart County Quilt Gardens route. The quilt-pattern flower gardens are planted each year from late May to mid-September and are free to see.
★ Good to know Pick up the barn quilt map at the Shipshewana Visitor Center at 350 S. Van Buren St., or download it before you go.
Pumpkinvine Nature Trail
This 17-mile trail links Shipshewana with Middlebury and Goshen along an old railroad line. The railroad ran for 100 years before it shut down in 1980. The last section was finished in June 2024, so you can now ride the whole thing.
★ Good to know The trail is free and open sunrise to sunset.
Shipshewana’s Lights of Joy
In the holiday season this drive-through display puts more than two million LED lights along an almost two-mile route. You tune your car radio to a Christmas music broadcast as you drive.
★ Good to know It runs November 10 to December 31 in 2026, closed Thanksgiving and Christmas Day.
Also in town
Yoder’s Meat & Cheese Co. stocks 150 cuts of meat and more than 100 cheeses, and Yoder’s Shopping Center holds a department store and a hardware store. My Amish Indiana runs private backroads tours. Just west in Middlebury are Rise’n Roll Bakery, known for cinnamon caramel donuts, and Heritage Ridge Creamery, where you can watch cheese being made.
Is Shipshewana closed on Sundays?
Much of it is. Many Amish-owned shops and attractions close on Sundays for worship and rest. Some restaurants, parks and wineries in the wider area stay open, and the town’s visitors bureau keeps a Sunday list.
What days is the Shipshewana Flea Market open?
Tuesdays and Wednesdays, May through September, with extra holiday markets around Memorial Day and Labor Day. The Wednesday antique and miscellaneous auction runs year-round.
Is Shipshewana worth visiting in winter?
Yes, with a smaller plan. The flea market is closed, but Menno-Hof, the Wednesday auction and the Blue Gate Theatre run year-round. From November 10 to December 31 in 2026, the Lights of Joy drive-through adds a reason to come after dark.
What towns are near Shipshewana?
Middlebury is just to the west and Goshen is beyond it; the Pumpkinvine Trail connects all three by bike. For more ideas, see our small towns in Indiana.
Where to find them
- Shipshewana Flea Market & Trading Place 345 S Van Buren St, Shipshewana, IN 46565 Website Directions
- Menno-Hof 510 S Van Buren St, Shipshewana, IN 46565 Website Directions
Plan your trip: for events and current visitor info in Shipshewana, see Visit Shipshewana →
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Where to stay in Shipshewana
Keep exploring
Middlebury, INAbout 5 miles as the crow fliesSmall-town gateway to northern Indiana's Amish countryThings to do in Middlebury →
Goshen, INAbout 14 miles as the crow fliesLively downtown and an easy base for Amish countryThings to do in Goshen →
Angola, INAbout 31 miles as the crow fliesHub of Indiana's northern lake countryThings to do in Angola →Also nearby: Three Oaks · Marshall · St. Joseph