Things to do in Hudson Valley
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Hudson Valley
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Gardens in bloom, full waterfalls, thin crowds, shoulder prices.
Harvest and peak foliage around mid October, highest prices and crowds.
River season and swimming, hot and humid spells with thunderstorms.
Cold and quiet, resorts beautiful, Gunks carriage roads skiable, lowest prices.
Worst stretch in March to early April, mud season with bare gardens and reduced hours.
What's on
- Dutchess County Fair late August
One of the largest county fairs in New York State at Rhinebeck fairgrounds.
- Hudson Valley Wine and Food Fest September weekend
Regional producers gathered at the Rhinecliff fairground site.
- Basilica Soundscape September
Experimental music and art weekend in a converted factory in Hudson.
- Hudson Valley Garlic Festival late September to early October
Around a hundred garlic vendors in Saugerties, beloved and crowded.
- New York State Sheep and Wool Festival third full weekend of October
About 30,000 visitors at Rhinebeck fairgrounds at foliage peak.
- Woodstock Film Festival October
Screenings across Woodstock and Kingston, the main regional film event.
- Country Living Fair Usually October; check dates
Makers and antiques vendors at the Dutchess County Fairgrounds.
- Field + Supply October
High end makers market at Hutton Brickyards on the Kingston riverfront.
- Bard SummerScape July to August
Opera, theatre and cabaret at Bard College in Annandale on Hudson.
Best things to do in Hudson Valley
Dia Beacon
Monumental contemporary art given vast daylight factory space, the one museum to prioritise in the valley.
Storm King Art Center
Five hundred acres of fields shaped around monumental sculpture, best on a clear autumn day with a picnic.
Olana State Historic Site
Frederic Church designed the house and the landscape as one artwork above the river and the Catskills.
Walkway Over the Hudson State Historic Park
A free mile long walk 212 feet above the river that teaches you the geography of the whole valley.
Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site
Roosevelt home, presidential library and gravesite in one park service site, the history heart of Hyde Park.
Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site
Gilded Age spectacle with intact interiors and free grounds holding one of the classic river views.
Thomas Cole National Historic Site
Home and studios of the founder of the Hudson River School, paired with Olana by the Skywalk bridge.
Boscobel House and Gardens
The most beautiful house museum in the valley, Federal interiors and gardens facing West Point.
Where to stay in Hudson Valley
Beacon
first trip, all-round base, no car
Dia Beacon, Main Street dining and Metro North trains, the easiest base without driving.
Hudson
food and drink, couples, Amtrak
Warren Street has the densest eating in the valley and a two hour Amtrak ride to the city.
Rhinebeck
polished village base, Hyde Park touring
Prettiest village centre, strong restaurants and fifteen minutes from the Hyde Park sites.
Kingston
value, west bank and Catskill edge access
Cheaper and livelier than the villages, base Uptown or in the Rondout, not Midtown.
Cold Spring
hiking and quiet, river village
Breakneck and Bull Hill at the door and the river at the end of Main Street, silent by ten.
Gardiner, Amenia and New Paltz countryside
destination resort stays
The famous hotels are rural resorts, stay put for a day and explore by car from there.
Think twice about
- Poughkeepsie city centre
Main Street and Academy Street area has reported open drug use and street disorder, run down after dark, use for trains and the Walkway only.
- Newburgh Broadway corridor
One of the highest violent crime rates in the region away from the waterfront, visit the waterfront by day and sleep in Beacon across the bridge.
- Kingston Midtown and Broadway corridor
Traffic and strip retail with the least appealing streetscape, Uptown and the Rondout are better bases ten minutes apart.
- Route 9 motel strip south of Poughkeepsie
Car dependent and charmless with no town attached, choose the Beacon or Kingston chain clusters if budget forces a chain.
Best restaurants in Hudson Valley
Blue Hill at Stone Barns
A two star farm tasting menu built from its own working farm, the one blowout meal in the region.
The Bocuse Restaurant
CIA students cook French fine dining under faculty, technique well above the price, check term dates.
American Bounty Restaurant
Seasonal valley cooking by CIA students with thousands of strong diner ratings, the classic Hyde Park lunch.
Terrapin
Rhinebeck dining fixture in a converted church, formal room plus a casual bistro for walk ins.
Wm. Farmer and Sons
A boarding house barroom cooking a weekly changing menu, the bar seats are among the best in the valley.
Gaskins
A small produce driven room that valley food people rate above flashier Hudson neighbours, worth the drive.
Le Canard Enchaine
Kingston French bistro since the 1990s, duck, steak frites and onion soup in a candlelit Stockade room.
Ship to Shore
Rondout waterfront steak and seafood house ageing steaks in house, best for groups and patio evenings.
Outdoor things to do in Hudson Valley
Mohonk Preserve
The Gunks cliffs and 70 miles of carriage roads, world famous climbing and the best hiking on the ridge.
Hudson Highlands State Park Preserve
Breakneck Ridge scramble and the quieter Bull Hill loop deliver the Highlands river views from Cold Spring.
Minnewaska State Park Preserve
A sky blue lake, waterfall walk and cliff edge carriage roads, the gentlest scenic day on the Gunks ridge.
Poets' Walk Park
A free designed landscape of meadows and framed river views, the best gentle walk in the northern valley.
Apple Greens Golf Course
Twenty seven holes routed through working apple orchards at public prices well below city rates.
Dinsmore Golf Course
A short, pretty, inexpensive nine holes on a historic estate, ideal for mixed groups and beginners.
INNESS
A playful nine hole course at a design resort, built to be played twice and differently each loop.
Wallkill Valley Rail Trail
Flat shaded cycling from New Paltz to Gardiner through farms and orchards with Gunks views throughout.
Best hotels in Hudson Valley
The Roundhouse
Converted industrial hotel by Beacon Falls, walkable from the station and a strong restaurant on site.
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Beacon
Standard chain quality outside the centre, the working budget option for a Beacon based trip by car.
The Maker
Eleven room design hotel on Warren Street with a praised restaurant and bar, the splurge town stay.
Rivertown Lodge
Calm converted cinema hotel just off Warren Street, the local recommendation when the Maker is full.
The Wick, Hudson, an Autograph Collection Hotel
Larger full service hotel by the station in a converted factory, less character and more consistency.
Mirbeau Inn & Spa
French country style resort on the village edge with the best known spa in the valley.
Beekman Arms & Delamater Inn
Historic inn on the village main corner, choose the Delamater houses for quieter rooms.
Hotel Kinsley
Design forward boutique hotel in historic Uptown buildings, the default Kingston recommendation.
Is Hudson Valley expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | $150 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | $300 a person |
| Splurge | $650 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Dia Beacon: a few days ahead
- Storm King Art Center: weeks ahead
- Olana State Historic Site: weeks ahead
- Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site: a few days ahead
- Boscobel House and Gardens: a few days ahead
- Kykuit, the Rockefeller Estate: weeks ahead
- Minnewaska State Park Preserve: a few days ahead
- Apple Greens Golf Course: a few days ahead
- October hotels three to four months ahead, by midsummer for peak foliage weekends.
- Blue Hill and the CIA restaurants need weeks, check the CIA term calendar first.
- Storm King, Olana and Kykuit sell out on autumn weekends.
- Mohonk Preserve main lot fills before 9 am on fine weekends.
Is Hudson Valley safe?
- Emergency number 911.
- River is tidal with commercial traffic, paddle guided unless experienced.
- Deer on unlit rural roads after dark are a serious driving hazard.
- Poughkeepsie and Newburgh are daytime transit stops, keep to lit populated strips at night.
Hudson Valley travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Warren Street antiques are priced for Manhattan, browse more than you buy.
- Breakneck Ridge on a Saturday is a queue on a cliff, go early on a weekday.
- The valley does cider and beer better than wine, a wine weekend is better in the Finger Lakes.
Getting around Hudson Valley: public transport and more
- Drive outside Beacon and Hudson, trains are for arriving only.
- Metro North serves Cold Spring, Beacon and Poughkeepsie, Amtrak serves Rhinecliff, Hudson and Poughkeepsie.
- Cross the river once a day at most, every bridge hop costs about half an hour.
- Check for ticks after every trail, Lyme disease is routine here.
Who Hudson Valley suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | OK |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | OK |
Make Hudson Valley your trip
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