Where should we go for a weekend out of New York?

October 18, 2012 7:30 PM

Where within a short (less than 3-hour) drive from New York City should we go this weekend?

My boyfriend and I have been working too hard and not spending enough time together. I would like to surprise him by spending some time together out of the city this weekend. We like art, hiking, leaf-peeping, hot tubs, bars, food. We like to go to Hudson, NY, but have been there several times. We would like a charming but affordable (definitely <$200/night) hotel or bed and breakfast, a good meal or two, and either pretty nature or fun culture. Where would be a fun place to run off to for Friday night through Sunday morning?

posted by kevin-o to travel & transportation around New York, NY (17 answers total)

Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area is less than 2 hours away according to Google. It's a good time of year, certainly the opposite extreme from NY City. Just a thought.
posted by forthright at 7:37 PM on October 18, 2012

Storm King?
posted by moonmilk at 7:46 PM on October 18, 2012 [2 favorites]

I lived in Northampton, MA for a few years and found it the perfect mix between culture and nature relatively close to town.
posted by Betelgeuse at 8:00 PM on October 18, 2012 [1 favorite]

If you take highway 87 north into New York, you'll encounter dozens of hillside apple farms where they brew hot fresh cider and let you pick bags and bags of apples to bring back home. It's a pilgrimage into everything that makes Autumn the best time of the year.
posted by thanotopsis at 8:21 PM on October 18, 2012 [1 favorite]

Montauk is always the answer. Always.
posted by These Birds of a Feather at 8:27 PM on October 18, 2012 [1 favorite]

Take a leisurely drive up Rt 22 to Great Barrington, Ma.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 8:32 PM on October 18, 2012 [1 favorite]

Philly.
posted by vegartanipla at 9:07 PM on October 18, 2012

Montauk is always the answer. Always.

Yep. Have you visited Montauk before? It is so beautiful out there. Hither Hills State Park is close by for hiking up to the sound (or walking on the ocean beach).
posted by torticat at 10:14 PM on October 18, 2012 [1 favorite]

We recently went to New Paltz, and stayed nearby at the Minnewaska Lodge.. Day hikes in the Mohonk Preserve were great.

Stopped at Storm King on the drive up.
posted by katinka-katinka at 11:35 PM on October 18, 2012

I am going to add montauk is good and the North Fork of long island. I live here and this time of year out east long island has apple picking , and fall festivals. Their are tons of bed and breakfasts on the east end of long island. If you stay on the north fork you can still visit montauk also.
posted by majortom1981 at 4:49 AM on October 19, 2012

Amherst and Northampton MA is gorgeous right now. If you decide to come up for this weekend, be warned that it's UMass Amherst's homecoming weekend, so hotels might be hard to come by.

Hlltownfamilies.org has updated listings of events for the weekend in the greater area. Don't be fooled by the title, although it provides family-friendly/kid-friendly events, I use it all the time to find little-known festivals and things to do.
posted by absquatulate at 5:48 AM on October 19, 2012

Seconding the Delaware Water Gap
posted by Confess, Fletch at 6:12 AM on October 19, 2012

Definitely New Paltz! Art, hiking, bars, food, leaf peeing, check check check! Super cute and quirky little town in a really pretty area. Eat at The Gilded Otter.
posted by Emms at 6:49 AM on October 19, 2012

Cape May!
posted by jara1953 at 9:02 AM on October 19, 2012

You definitely need to go into the woods to see the fall colors. The only problem is the number of possibilities. My recommendation would be the quaint town of Cold Spring or the tiny city of Beacon. They're the closest to the city, have plenty of nice restaurants and are close to the best hiking in the Hudson Valley: Storm King and Breakneck Ridge.
posted by pynchonesque at 9:11 AM on October 19, 2012

Bucks County, PA!
posted by TEA at 10:51 AM on October 19, 2012

Keep in mind that three hours of travel time won't get you nearly as far on this particular weekend as it would at another time. You'll need to plan for the fact that this will be one of the peak traffic weekends of the year on any route between NYC and any lovely or charming country place.

Whatever the normal travel time is, you may need to double it, and plan for something pleasant to listen to while waiting in traffic. Have some snacks in the car, and a bottle to pee in. If you try to travel to, say, New Paltz in < 3 hours this weekend (and worse, back home Sunday night) you may end up very, very grouchy. I can hear that Thruway traffic from my house, and I think that NYC must be utterly EMPTY on fall weekends, cause ALL those people are on that road.

You might do better to head a bit southward, where the leaves are past peak? Jersey shore, off-season? I don't know Jersey well enough to suggest any specific destinations, but, on this particular weekend, I'd make a big effort to go in a slightly different direction from everyone else. Or I'd wait 2 -3 weeks, til the tail end of the Great Autumnal Migration.
posted by Corvid at 12:43 PM on October 19, 2012