Labor Day weekend vacation ideas? (solo, no car)
August 28, 2023 7:31 PM Subscribe
Wanting ideas for a solo weekend trip somewhere. USA preferred, but open to Canada too.
Conditions:
1) no car required, can Uber/public transportation
2) somewhere near to water (lakes, rivers) that's swimmable and easily reachable via Uber, but remote enough
3) has cool local spots but isn't overly urban or crowded
4) not too busy during the holiday weekend (pipe dream, maybe)
Cost isn't really a concern, but would like to keep costs reasonable if need be. Preferably somewhere on the East coast, but am open to the Midwest; not so much the West coast (because I live in the DC area and would like shorter flights). Am not really up for the stress of renting a car, so prefer somewhere that's accessible by foot/Uber.
Being near/at water is really important to me. Rivers and lakes tend to be very relaxing for me, and I'd love a place with a lot of trees and shade, somewhere that's not too busy or crowded or urban. It'd be even better if I could have my own private swim area/beach somewhere, as long as it's reachable both ways by Uber (so not too remote, I suppose).
Bonus: local hot springs would be EVEN better, especially private ones!
Thanks!
Conditions:
1) no car required, can Uber/public transportation
2) somewhere near to water (lakes, rivers) that's swimmable and easily reachable via Uber, but remote enough
3) has cool local spots but isn't overly urban or crowded
4) not too busy during the holiday weekend (pipe dream, maybe)
Cost isn't really a concern, but would like to keep costs reasonable if need be. Preferably somewhere on the East coast, but am open to the Midwest; not so much the West coast (because I live in the DC area and would like shorter flights). Am not really up for the stress of renting a car, so prefer somewhere that's accessible by foot/Uber.
Being near/at water is really important to me. Rivers and lakes tend to be very relaxing for me, and I'd love a place with a lot of trees and shade, somewhere that's not too busy or crowded or urban. It'd be even better if I could have my own private swim area/beach somewhere, as long as it's reachable both ways by Uber (so not too remote, I suppose).
Bonus: local hot springs would be EVEN better, especially private ones!
Thanks!
Ithaca, NY has Lake Cayuga, and a bunch of waterfalls. IC and Cornell are probably back in session by now so it probably is more crowded than it would've been a few weeks ago, but at least when I was there 20 years ago, there was lots of readily available trees and nature around the lake, all with good bus transit. There's a regional airport, but flights were relatively expensive. I drove, or one time flew SWA from BWI to Buffalo, then took Greyhound (that was long, but cheap).
posted by Alterscape at 10:03 PM on August 28, 2023
posted by Alterscape at 10:03 PM on August 28, 2023
(Acadia is likely to be slammed this weekend.) Maybe Burlington VT? It'll take a bit, but you can train there from DC, downtown is very walkable. There are some (very expensive) AirBnbs still available by the lake.
posted by damayanti at 4:08 AM on August 29, 2023
posted by damayanti at 4:08 AM on August 29, 2023
Best answer: I honestly can't decide if Burlington fits the bill, as it's not really remote, but if you go for it, fly rather than taking Amtrak from DC--it'll take a full day to get there on Amtrak. NYC is roughly the break even point on drive vs fly vs train to Vermont, with which one wins depending on destination/schedules. It does tick the "no need for a car" box, though.
posted by hoyland at 5:09 AM on August 29, 2023
posted by hoyland at 5:09 AM on August 29, 2023
There are a number of hot springs in NY state, including Saratoga Springs but also some smaller spots in the Catskills and Finger Lakes. I don't think you can expect anything to be UNcrowded if it's a resort or spa, but these places usually aren't packing in giant crowds beyond the resort capacity. Can't hurt to look!
posted by Lyn Never at 5:59 AM on August 29, 2023
posted by Lyn Never at 5:59 AM on August 29, 2023
Best answer: The thing about Burlington is that it's going to be on the cool side for swimming. The predicted highs for Saturday and Sunday are just 80 and 82, with only partly sunny skies. It already feels a lot like fall up here in Vermont. The nights are cool, humidity is low, and it hasn't been very hot for the last month, so the water is probably colder than usual for summer. Acadia and Ithaca will have the same problem. If you're envisioning being immersed in water for hours, you're probably going to want to pick somewhere further south. But if you mostly just want to sit or stroll by the water with a quick dip midday, Burlington or Ithaca seem like reasonable suggestions.
Oh, and if you can Uber from Burlington up to St. Albans you could take the ferry over to Burton Island State Park for the day. I've never been, but it sounds nice.
posted by Redstart at 7:26 AM on August 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
Oh, and if you can Uber from Burlington up to St. Albans you could take the ferry over to Burton Island State Park for the day. I've never been, but it sounds nice.
posted by Redstart at 7:26 AM on August 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Burlington it is! I'm excited. Booked a hot air balloon ride, and biking on the causeway looks super fun! Thanks so much for the awesome suggestions, hoyland and Redstart.
If anyone is still reading this and is located in Burlington, or have visited there before, any additional fun suggestions would be welcome!
posted by dubious_dude at 11:03 AM on August 29, 2023 [5 favorites]
If anyone is still reading this and is located in Burlington, or have visited there before, any additional fun suggestions would be welcome!
posted by dubious_dude at 11:03 AM on August 29, 2023 [5 favorites]
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posted by spamandkimchi at 9:45 PM on August 28, 2023 [1 favorite]