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

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

kevin-o — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 19:30:58 -0800

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?

By: forthright

forthright — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 19:37:06 -0800

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.

By: moonmilk

moonmilk — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 19:46:10 -0800

Storm King?

By: Betelgeuse

Betelgeuse — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 20:00:36 -0800

I lived in Northampton, MA for a few years and found it the perfect mix between culture and nature relatively close to town.

By: thanotopsis

thanotopsis — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 20:21:23 -0800

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.

By: These Birds of a Feather

These Birds of a Feather — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 20:27:15 -0800

Montauk is always the answer. Always.

By: JohnnyGunn

JohnnyGunn — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 20:32:43 -0800

Take a leisurely drive up Rt 22 to Great Barrington, Ma.

By: vegartanipla

vegartanipla — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 21:07:20 -0800

Philly.

By: torticat

torticat — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 22:14:35 -0800

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).

By: katinka-katinka

katinka-katinka — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 23:35:13 -0800

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.

By: majortom1981

majortom1981 — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 04:49:44 -0800

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.

By: absquatulate

absquatulate — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 05:48:18 -0800

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.

By: Confess, Fletch

Confess, Fletch — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 06:12:50 -0800

Seconding the Delaware Water Gap

By: Emms

Emms — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 06:49:55 -0800

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.

By: jara1953

jara1953 — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 09:02:23 -0800

Cape May!

By: pynchonesque

pynchonesque — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 09:11:17 -0800

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.

By: TEA

TEA — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 10:51:55 -0800

Bucks County, PA!

By: Corvid

Corvid — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 12:43:58 -0800

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.