Where to take a 30th birthday long weekend near NYC?

June 14, 2009 8:47 PM

I'm turning 30 in two weeks. Help me find a great ~4-day trip not too far from New York to celebrate it.

My 30th birthday is June 26. I'm hoping to get out of town (NYC) for it; I don't have *too* much angst about turning 30, but I hope not to be sung "Happy Birthday" to in a local dive. And I've been meaning to explore the great Northeast more anyway.

I prefer the mountains to the beach, and am looking for someplace fun to go within a reasonable (6 hour?) train or car ride from New York City. I'd like to stay in a fun funky town, small city, or rural area. Hudson Valley? Vermont? Adirondacks? Lake Placid? Maine (too far?)? I don't have a tent of my own, so no utter backpacking, but I do like to hike etc.

I've been all over Western Massachusetts, because I have family there; it's nice, but I want to try something new. I will probably be on my own for one or two nights, and joined by the bf for the next part.

Would love any suggestions for towns or specific accommodations. I'm not super flush but am willing to spend a bit to make this a nice getaway.

posted by toomuchkatherine to Travel & Transportation around New York, NY (9 answers total)

New Paltz or Woodstock, NY
posted by Elsie at 10:59 PM on June 14, 2009

Allegheny National Forest. Warren/McKean et al. Counties, PA. Not sure if that's in under your distance. You can camp pretty much anywhere in the National Forest, if you're into that, it'd get you out of the city for sure.
posted by IvoShandor at 11:56 PM on June 14, 2009

If you want a rough-it-but-not-really kind of trip that would take you to some of the best scenery in the East, you could visit some of the Appalachian Mountain Club's High Mountain Huts in the White Mountains in NH. They provide shelter and food so you wouldn't need to do all-out backpacking. (Although if you wanted to, there are always places to rent gear.) I've only ever stayed in the huts in the winter, so I can't attest to what they are like during high season, but the accommodations are nice and the scenery spectacular.
posted by dseaton at 1:59 AM on June 15, 2009

Fingerlakes!
posted by getmetoSF at 5:49 AM on June 15, 2009

I probably sound like a broken record on posts like this, but seconding my home region of the Finger Lakes: Ithaca, Watkins Glen, Penn Yan, Geneva, Corning. B&Bs abound in most of them, access to hiking in parks, mix of small towns & rural areas. Bring your camera!
posted by knile at 6:04 AM on June 15, 2009

Response by poster: I actually went to grad school in Ithaca, so I want to see something new! It is, however, ahem, gorges as advertised.

The High Mountain Huts suggestion sounds pretty great.

Elsie, do you know of any particular places to stay in New Paltz or Woodstock?
posted by toomuchkatherine at 5:40 PM on June 15, 2009

Mohonk Mountain House in New Paltz. It's pretty nice. Pricey, but nice. NP and the surrounding area (Mohonk Preserve and Minnewaska State Park) are just as "gorges" as Ithaca.
posted by exlotuseater at 8:30 PM on June 15, 2009

and New Paltz is a small funky town. I live here, so I'm biased, but I'm trying my damnedest to stay as long as I can. MeMail me for more details about restaurants, etc. I go hiking up here all the time-- there is everything you could want in that department; easy to hard hikes, moderate ones with huge payoffs, world-class rockclimbing on the Trapps . . . oh I could go on and on.
posted by exlotuseater at 8:33 PM on June 15, 2009

sample pics of aforementioned park here
posted by exlotuseater at 8:50 PM on June 15, 2009