Upstate New York's Hudson and Beacon, Montauk at the tip of Long Island—you’ve heard those names before. And while they’re all perfectly lovely New York City day trips or getaways, there’s a whole host of new hotels, restaurants, and things to do and see outside the five boroughs well beyond those highly trafficked hotspots. Here, we’ve rounded up four incredible upstate New York getaways that should go on your calendar this summer.
For the foodie: The greater Hudson Valley
New York City’s pantry sits about two hours north of the city in the Hudson Valley. While it seems like every trendy chef, recipe developer, and writer decamped for the region during the pandemic, the mass exodus has unsurprisingly turned it into one of the best food-fueled parts of the state to explore.
Skip Catskill and Hudson and head just a hair west, where about two hours north of the city, a chain of small towns you’ve almost definitely never heard of have become playgrounds for top New York City chefs.
Check into Hotel Lilien in Tannersville (population: 579), where an 1890s estate formerly known as the Washington Irving Inn has been transformed into an 18-room getaway with a few modern updates. Hotel Lilien has held fast to its stained-glass and wood paneling while adding lighter, more modern updates—think Carrara marble, Brooklinen bed furnishings, and Mies van der Rohe lounge chairs.
Breakfast is included with your stay, and you’ll want to make sure you stay on-site for at least one dinner: Hotel Lilien is home to Nat’s Mountain House, the rollicking upstate iteration of Natalie Freihon’s Nat’s on Bank and Nat’s on Bleecker. Freihon, who was behind Orchard Street’s legendary Fat Radisha bastion of Lower Manhattan cool for yearsbrings her quirky talent to Hotel Lilien in the form of fondue laced with apples and pork belly croutons, pakora-fried radishes, and cocktails like Nat’s G&T, which is what you’d expect with the piquant addition of celery and olive bitters.
Spend time on the property perusing the library, hanging out by the fire pit or pool, or wandering the eight-acre grounds, but don’t miss some of the other culinary heavyweights who have made their presence in the community known: Day June Luncheonette in nearby Windham opened last summer, at the hands of Fabián von Hauske Valtierra and Jeremiah Stone, the Lower East Side chefs behind natural wine bar Wildair and the late Contra, and serves low-key fare like country fried steak and gravy with beef from nearby Highland Hollow, a nearby farm.
Von Hauske Valtierra and Stone are further expanding their upstate presence this month with the opening of Matilda, a more “formal” restaurant in new hotel The Henson. It’s also next door to the duo’s Paracasa, a small grocery and market, in case your home larder could use some Hudson Valley culinary flair.
If you don’t have or don’t want to rent a car, a two-hour Amtrak trip to Hudson, followed by a quick taxi (ideally pre-booked; this isn’t exactly an area rife with Uber or Lyft), will get you where you need to go.
For the art lover: Amenia
If you’re looking for art outside of the city, you’ve probably been to Storm King or Wave Hill or, maybe if you’re extra adventurous, Mass MoCA—but you probably haven’t been to Wassaic.
On the other side of the Hudson River lies the Wassaic Project, an artist-run, non-profit gallery and residence center in the tiny eponymous hamlet. This year’s summer exhibition, Tall Shadows in Short Order, shows work from 30 artists, focusing on massive, site-specific installations spread through Maxon Mills, a seven-story former grain mill where Wassaic Project hosts its contemporary exhibitions. The exhibition is open on weekends through September, but it's one of just many events that the group hosts; throughout the summer there’s an annual benefit, themed late-night dance parties, and open artists’ studios will also fill your calendar.
Stay at nearby Troutbeck, a 250-acre estate hotel reminiscent of your favorite rich auntie’s country house if she had Malin + Goetz toiletries and Frette linens. Regular Manor House rooms are perfect for a night or two, but even if you’re not taking up residence at the hotel, you can enjoy a leisurely lunch of steelhead trout with brassicas and black garlic or garganelli pasta with Veritas Farms’ lamb ragu and ramps before strolling the grounds. Guests also have access to The Barns, a massive wellness complex with a 1,250-square-foot fitness studio, a gym, treatment rooms, changing rooms, and saunas; a newly-renovated pool; and two U.S.-Open surfaced hard tennis courts, among other things.)
Troutbeck’s natural setting makes it tough to leave, but it’s also just a few miles from the Sharon Audubon Center. Situated along the Atlantic Flyway, one of North America’s major paths for migratory birds, it’s home to more than 1,100 acres of woodland with 11 miles of trail, a pollinator garden, and a raptor aviary with live birds of prey.
End your day with a drive-in movie at Amenia’s Four Bros. Drive-In, which touts itself as the newest drive-in theater in America. Movies change weekly here, but Thursdays are a favorite, where Four Bros. often does a triple showing with a classic in the mix.
For the outdoorsman: Sullivan Catskills
The Catskills range is a broad-reaching section of New York State, with part of the district stretching almost all the way down to Pennsylvania’s northeast corner. This more remote region, the Sullivan Catskills, is a paradise for outdoors lovers: the hiking here is some of the best in the Northeast, and the fly-fishing, in particular, is among the best in the world thanks to the assortment of waterways like the Beaver Kill, Willowemoc Creek, and the East Branch of the Delaware River. (Humble Roscoe, New York, proudly wears its badge as Trout Town USA.)
Even if you’re not an angler, the Catskill Fly Fishing Museum in Livingston Manor will enamor you with the poeticism of the sportearly mornings on misty rivers, the shimmering scales of a rainbow trout, hand-crafted bamboo rods, and dry flies meticulously tied with feathers and fur.
Stay at Kenoza Hall, a pandemic product of Foster Supply Hospitality, that transformed a sprawling 20th-century boarding house into a 22-room hotel with excellent views of the expansive grounds and nearby Kenoza Lake. At the end of the day, you can soak your weary bones in a massive tub (all rooms have them) before dining at the on-site restaurant, which has a menu of retro Old World classics: gnocchi Parisienne, filet Rossini, and duck confit.
After hiking the grounds or the Willowemoc Wild Forest, a massage may be in orderand counter to the rough-and-ready nature of a few of its peers, Kenoza Hall has you covered. The onsite spa Hemlock Spa offers body treatments and massages inspired by Sebastian Kneipp, an early promoter of holistic living. The Kneipp Neuromuscular Massage combines deep-tissue therapy with arnica gel for a soothing, tension-relieving treatment that will melt away the soreness from that last cast or rock scramble. (Also, don’t skip the Kneipp walking path—it may sound a bit “woo-woo,” but walking barefoot over things like rocks, moss, grass, and pinecones is surprisingly therapeutic.)
For the socialite: Saratoga
You’ve heard the Carly Simon lyric: “Well, I hear you went up to Saratoga, and your horse naturally won.” Well, 52 years after its release, Saratoga is cooler than ever, with a bevy of hotels, restaurants, and things to do.
Summer in Saratoga is all about the horses, and you’re going to stay as close to them as you can without sleeping on the track. At the Brentwood Hotel, a shedrow-style barn immediately adjacent to the famed track was reinvented as a cozy 12-room hotel. In fact, on early summer mornings, you’ll be awakened by the clip-clop of prized thoroughbred hooves making their way out to their morning workouts. Rooms here are on the small side but incredibly comfortable, and the on-site bar, Farrier, serves biodynamic wines, excellent cocktails, and local beer and cider that can be enjoyed at the outdoor firepit.
Snag one of the hotel’s loaner bikes and make the seven-minute cruise downtown, where Broadway is lined with endless boutiques (some horse-themed, natch), cafes, and restaurants, including Seneca, whose outdoor patio is the perfect spot to wile away a summer evening after a day at the track; high-rollers can go for a prime New York strip served with foie gras-studded mac and cheese and roasted garlic butter. Then, grab a nightcap at Hamlet & Ghost, a buzzy bar where a reservation is a must, especially during the race meet. It’s worth the effort in order to get your hands on a Health & Wealth: a surprisingly earthy blend of olive oil-washed vodka and lemon aperitif with blackberry and pineapple.
While on-track action can quickly fill your days here, it’s worth knowing what goes into the thousands of pounds (and dollars) of horseflesh. The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame gives an in-depth look into the sport of kings, from a racehorse’s first humble steps on Kentucky bluegrass to—hopefully—the pinnacle of the sport. Interactive exhibitions, like the chance to “call” a race and walk through a true-to-size starting gate, all sweeten the experience at this unique museum.
Saratoga is easy to get to from the city, with Amtrak taking just under four hours. You’ll want your own car if you decide to venture out of town-proper to Saratoga Lake or up to Queensbury, but otherwise, biking or rideshare are both easy options here.
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