Ever wanted to discover the hidden gems of New York State or are you looking for the perfect NYC getaway? In June, I experienced an incredible six-night trip through the stunning Finger Lakes and Empire State region, and I can’t wait to share everything with you!
Perfect for solo travelers, romantic escapes, or a fun trip with friends, this itinerary includes everything you need to know for an unforgettable experience enjoying the best of the New York State! 🚗✨
How to get to the Upstate New York/Finger Lakes
You’ll need a car to explore the area and get the best from your trip, however, you can always rent a car once you’re in the area. Here’s the best way to get to destination:
🚙 By Car: From NYC, it’s about a 6-hour drive, offering beautiful and scenic routes.
Pro tip: Add a stop in Ithaca for a quick hike and some Insta-worthy shots! 📸 Ithaca is in the heart of the Finger Lakes region and has breathtaking waterfalls and gorges (we loved the Taughannock Falls State Park), popular wineries, and a vibrant downtown with a wide range of restaurants.
By Plane
If you’re short on time, fly into Buffalo in less than two hours from NYC, and rent a car from there. The drive to Chautauqua (our first destination) is about an hour and a half. ✈️🚙
By Train
Amtrak’s Empire Service runs from NYC to Buffalo, taking about 8-9 hours. You can then rent a car from there and drive to Chautauqua in about an hour and a half. 🚆🌅
Best Time to Visit
The Finger Lakes are probably at their best during summer, providing the perfect NYC escape to cool off from the hot and humid weather. However, the shoulder seasons are also very worth a visit. The foliage in autumn and the spring blooming are incredibly beautiful, and despite the colder temperatures, the frozen lakes in the winter can also be mesmerizing.
Where to Stay
We were hosted by Harbor Hotel Collection and spent two nights in each location we visited: Chautauqua, Watkins Glen Harbor, and 1000 Islands.
All properties offer luxury accommodations and service, beautiful outdoor spaces with firepits near the water (Chautauqua Lake, Seneca Lake, and Saint Lawrence River), indoor heated pools and jacuzzis, very well-equipped gyms, and spaces for weddings and corporate events.
Both the design and decor are very similar in each property, so once you’ve been to the first one, you’ll feel at home in the other ones—even the menu at the restaurant is exactly the same!
📍Chautauqua Harbor Hotel, 10 Dunham Avenue, Celoron, NY.
📍Watkins Glen Harbor Hotel, 16 North Franklin Street, Watkins Glen, NY.
📍1000 Islands Harbor Hotel, 200 Riverside Drive, Clayton, NY.
Empire State Road Trip: Exploring Hidden Gems in the Finger Lakes: 6-Night Road Trip Itinerary
This road trip is designed to showcase three of the Empire State’s most diverse and popular regions. We were hosted in luxurious properties with spectacular waterfronts, each about a three-hour drive from the other.
Day 1: Arrival at Chautauqua and Relax Overlooking Chautauqua Lake
Chautauqua County is known for being a comedy and cultural hotspot. We kicked off our adventure at the Chautauqua Harbor Hotel. This charming property sits on the shores of Chautauqua Lake, so you can take in all the beauty from your room’s balcony or while sitting around one of their fire pits sipping wine in the garden.
We had a wine tasting led by Lauri from Lake Erie Wine Country, and I fell in love with the 2021 Cabernet Franc from 6 Mile Cellars – a delicious, full-bodied red. I also brought one back for Luca to try!
If you don’t have a room facing the lake, you can also enjoy your coffee (available for self-serving every morning) with a view in one of the relaxing spaces on each floor near the elevator.
I also appreciated their fully equipped gym (after a 6-hour drive, I definitely needed to move a little) and their pool.
The hotel was built in 2018 on the site of the popular Celoron Amusement Park, which featured an early roller coaster and an enormous four-story Ferris wheel—the largest in the world at the time. It opened in 1894 and was destroyed by fire in 1962.
The hotel pays homage to the history of the amusement park by displaying B/W photos from that time and naming areas like “Monkey Island” after the zoo. They built the Ballroom on the ground of the Skateland Roller rink, and there’s even a Carousel Bar! 🎠
Fun Fact: Did you know that as a teenager, Lucille Ball worked at the park during the summers selling hamburgers?
Day 2: Lucy Desi & National Comedy Center Museums and Panama Rocks Scenic Park
Start your day with a guided tour of the Lucy Desi Museum in Jamestown: it will leave you inspired and empowered!
Growing up in Italy, I really didn’t know much about Lucille Ball and her show, but the museum totally blew my mind. If you love “I Love Lucy,” you’ll have a blast experiencing exact recreations of the studio sets—including the Ricardos’ New York City apartment and their Hollywood hotel suite—and seeing Lucille Ball’s Emmy Awards, original wardrobe, and props on display. You can even take a look at the behind-the-scenes of the production of the show and recreate your very own Vitameatavegamin commercial.
Beautiful Lessons I Learned During My Visit:
- Follow Your Dreams No Matter What: Lucille Ball knew that she loved being on stage since she was 12, and she convinced her mother to enroll her in a New York City drama school when she was 15. Despite being very shy and her teachers believing she lacked talent, she did not let the opinions of others stop her. She started working as a model, then dyed her hair blonde, and moved to Hollywood to seek out more acting opportunities. Guess what?! She made it!
- Take a Stand for What You Believe: Despite Network executives’ and sponsors’ reluctance to showcase an intermarriage on TV in the 50s, Lucille Ball stood her ground and agreed to star in “I Love Lucy” ONLY IF her Latino husband was cast as a co-star. She changed history!
- Trust Your Intuition and Take Risks: Ball and Arnaz played a crucial role in TV show “rerun” history. While most TV shows of that time were shot live on a fixed set in NYC, they went against network executives’ refusal of shooting a television series on high-quality film and invested their personal money in the production under the condition that they would retain ownership of the films. “I Love Lucy” was pioneering for its use of multiple, simultaneously filming cameras and a live studio audience, and it was one of the first TV shows to be shot on 35mm film!
- Your Actions Open Doors for Others Like You: Lucille Ball was the first woman to appear pregnant on one of the three major television networks. During her on-screen pregnancy, hundreds of thousands of women from around the country wrote to her to congratulate her!
🎭 Walk over to the National Comedy Center, featuring over 50 cutting-edge immersive exhibits that take you on a laugh-filled, interactive, and customized journey.
Start by creating your own humor profile to have a unique and personalized experience tailored to your own comedy taste, and get lost in this unique celebration of comedy in all its forms through comedy’s great minds and unique voices, from Charlie Chaplin to Dave Chappelle. You can explore stand-up performances, movies, TV and radio shows, cartoons, comic strips, and so much more!
The National Comedy Center is the first state-of-the-art museum dedicated to telling the vital story of comedy in America, and it’s the United States’ official cultural institution dedicated to preserving and presenting the vital story of comedy.
* If you book the museum trough the below links, I’ll get a small commission from Viator at no extra cost for you.
📍Lucy Desi Museum, 2 West Third Street, Jamestown, NY
🕝 Thur-Tue from 10am to 5pm – closed on Wednesday
🎟️ $23 for Adults, $22 for Seniors (60+), $20 for Students and Youth (13-17), $18 for Children (6-12), Free for Kids (0-5).
📍National Comedy Center, 203 West Second Street, Jamestown, NY
🕝 Thur-Tue from 10am to 5pm – closed on Wednesday
🎟️ $35.50 for Adults, $33.50 for Seniors (60+), $30.50 for Students, $28.50 for Youth (13-17), $22.50 for Children (6-12), Free for Kids (0-5)
Save on Dual Admission: ⭐🎟️ $43.50 for Adults, $41 for Seniors (60+), $37 for Students, $36.50 for Youth (13-17), $30.50 for Children (6-12), Free for Kids (0-5)
🌲 In the afternoon, head to Panama Rocks Scenic Park for a beautiful walk through 60-foot high rocks forming crevices, passageways, and caves hidden in an ancient forest. The one-mile-long, easy hiking trail is perfect for exploration.
📍Panama Rocks Scenic Park, 11 Rock Hill Road, Panama, NY
Day 3: Drive to Watkins Glen for Wine Trails and Scenic Adventures
On your way to Watkins Glen, you can visit:
- Allegany State Park: This 65,000-acre gem in Salamanca, NY, offers scenic views, hiking trails, and Red House Lake, where visitors can enjoy swimming and boat rentals.
- Mark Twain’s Study: Located in Elmira College, it’s where Mark Twain wrote some of his most famous stories, including Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer.
- Corning Museum of Glass: Watch glass take shape during a live demonstration, and you can even try glassmaking yourself.
- Rockwell Museum: Enjoy works of great American artists like Andy Warhol and Albert Bierstadt.
- Farm Sanctuary in Watkins Glen, NY: The sanctuary provides a safe, loving environment for animals who have been rescued from abuse, neglect, and abandonment. You can learn about their individual stories, meet cows, pigs, goats, sheep, turkeys, and chickens, and try some delicious vegan food at the sanctuary. It’s a wonderful way to support the cause and enjoy some tasty treats.
We checked in at Watkins Glen Harbor Hotel, a beautiful property right on the shores of Seneca Lake.
It’s a 1-minute walk to the Seneca Lake pier. If you’re looking for Hamptons vibes in the Finger Lakes, then this is definitely for you.
Get ready to fall in love with the super cute gift shop near the lobby – I wanted to buy everything!!!
Day 4: Explore Watkins Glen
Start the day with a hike at Watkins Glen State Park, recently renovated with panoramic areas offering incredible views of the waterfalls. You can see the water falling from behind them in certain points! We went just after dawn to avoid the crowd, and the path was very wet. I’d highly recommend wearing closed-toed shoes.
📍Watkins Glen State Park, 1009 N Franklin St, Watkins Glen, NY
For a quick lunch, I went twice to Babes & Buds café, offering delicious bites and a cute and quirky environment.
On N Franklin Street, corner with Thirst St, as part of the Watkins Glen Area Chamber of Commerce, there’s a super cute red telephone box – super Instagrammable – where you can get all the information you’d need.
Still on N Franklin Street, you can even dine at Micro Diner, the World’s Smallest Diner! It was closed when we were there, and it’s already on my list for the next visit. It looks so fun!
Afternoon Activity: Sightseeing Cruise on the Seneca Lake Aboard Captain Bill’s.
Not only does the one-hour boat ride provide breathtaking views, but you can also learn about the history, curiosities, and legends of Seneca Lake.
Some Fascinating Facts:
- Seneca Lake is the deepest of the Finger Lakes, reaching depths of up to 618 feet.
- The “US Salt” drilling company next to the lake can be misleading: the lake is made of fresh water only, while they discovered salt under the lake by drilling in 1921.
- There are painted rocks at the southern east end of Seneca Lake. The paintings found at the bottom of the cliff are from the late 1770s when General John Sullivan was avenging the Wyoming and Cherry Valley Massacres, while the American Flag and the teepee were added in 1929 (Native Americans settled in longhouses in these areas, not teepees).
- Native Americans believed the Finger Lakes were formed by the Great Spirit placing his hand on the land, hence their unique shape, and they had multiple reasons to believe so.
- Because of its microclimate, the lake protected and influenced the land: storms would literally disappear into the lake!
- The lake never froze during their time (another “supernatural sign”). Over history, Seneca Lake has only frozen 3 times.
- You could hear a rumble noise echoing on the other side of the lake. Studies confirmed the presence of natural gas bubbles under the surface that were arising, creating that noise, which stopped after the 1920 drilling that supposedly released the pressure.
- The water of the lake always falls towards the north (under the surface), but it would “change direction” flooding towards the south on the surface because of the wind. This way, it appears like the water keeps changing direction, flowing to the north when there’s no wind, and towards the south when it’s windy… Only the Great Spirits could change its flow!
📍Captain Bill’s Seneca Lake Cruises, 1 North Franklin St. Watkins Glen, NY
🥰🍁 I already added to my wish list to go back for fall foliage—peak usually happens a week later than the rest of the Upstate NY area.
End the day exploring some local wineries. Sample award-winning wines by following the Seneca Lake Wine Trail comprised of 34 wineries around the lake offering tastings of locally produced wines like Riesling, Chardonnay, Cabernet Franc, Pinot Noir, and more.
We sampled some wines made from estate-grown grapes at Lakewood Vineyards. 🍷
📍Lakewood Vineyards, 4024 NY State Route 14, Watkins Glen, NY.
Day 5: Enjoy the Journey to 1000 Islands
Perfect for Gilded Age, Prohibition, and history lovers, photographers, and outdoor enthusiasts, 1000 Islands is a stunningly beautiful archipelago region of the St. Lawrence River that stretches from the northern tip of the State of New York to southeastern Ontario, Canada.
On the way, drive by Geneva: this small city is such a hidden gem!!!
You could also add Seneca Falls to your itinerary: home to the Women’s Rights National Historical Park, the National Women’s Hall of Fame, and Stanton’s national-landmark home. This town is believed to be the inspiration for Bedford Falls from “It’s a Wonderful Life.”
We checked in to 1000 Islands Harbor Hotel, and I immediately had a workout: out of the three properties, their gym with a view of St. Lawrence River is definitely my favorite and the food was really delicious!
Highlights of our stay: witnessing both a breathtaking sunrise and a magical sunset from the outdoor area overlooking the river. I always chase the sun, and it’s pretty unique staying in a place from where you can witness both!
Day 6: Learn More About Antique Boats and Step into a Fairytale on Heart Island
Spend your morning touring the Antique Boat Museum: with over 300 unique and beautifully preserved boats and thousands of artifacts, it’s a treasure of maritime history.
You can even try a VR boating tour and experience the thrill of being on the water without getting wet!
Get onboard La Duchesse, a phenomenal boat commissioned by George Boldt in 1903. I still can’t believe the elegance and innovation of early 20th-century boat building.
Boldt, a millionaire hotelier known for the Waldorf Astoria in NYC, had a deep love for the Thousand Islands and commissioned this boat as a testament to the region’s beauty. Some years after his death, the boat was sold to Mr. and Mrs. Andrew McNally III for $100, and underwent extensive repairs, from replacing the plumbing and wiring to swapping out her wooden hull with a strong steel one, enhancing its durability while preserving its classic look.
The houseboat was in continuous use as an elegant summer residence until she was donated to the museum.
The museum also offers slipping and speedboat rides, so you can feel the wind in your hair as you glide over the water, just like they did back in the day.
📍Antique Boat Museum, 750 Mary Street, Clayton, NY
Grab something to eat (I got a delicious bagel from Lyric Coffee House) and spend the afternoon on Heart Island in Alexandria Bay, NY: it’s like stepping into a fairytale!
If you’re looking for a unique adventure filled with history, romance, and stunning architecture, Boldt Castle is a must-visit. Millionaire hotel magnate George C. Boldt began constructing this grand castle in 1900 as a tribute to his beloved wife, Louise, but the construction was halted in 1904 when Louise suddenly passed away. Heartbroken, Boldt left the castle unfinished and abandoned for over 70 years.
In 1977, the Thousand Islands Bridge Authority acquired the castle and embarked on an ambitious restoration project, bringing it to its former glory.
🛥️ Boldt Castle is only accessible by water, which adds to the adventure! We rode to Heart Island aboard Uncle Sam Boat Tours. The 10-minute ride offers stunning views of the St. Lawrence River and is the perfect prelude to your castle visit.
Get ready to be awed by the opulent Grand Hall, the magnificent ballroom designed for grand parties and gatherings, and on the second floor, you can also watch a short documentary about George Boldt and learn more about his story. He emigrated from Germany at the age of 13 and worked his way up from a humble position in a hotel to owning the iconic Waldorf Astoria. Boldt was a visionary in the hospitality industry, setting standards that are still followed today and contributing significantly to various charitable causes.
Pro Tip: Download the Boldt Castle tour app for a self-guided tour with fascinating details about each part of the castle, and make sure to see Alster Tower and Dove-Cote on the island.
📍Boldt Castle, 1 Heart Island, Alexandria Bay, NY
Book your Boldt Castle and 2 Nation Tour via Viator – I’ll get a small compensation at no extra cost for you 🤗
In the evening, we had the pleasure to experience a traditional 1000 Islands Shore Dinner cooked and served by Captain Jeff Garnsey, a third-generation fishing guide from a family that spans nine generations in the 1000 Islands.
He has been offering personalized tours, including fishing/shore dinner trips, after he retired from the submarine force, returned to Clayton, received his Master’s Captain’s License, and rejoined the ranks of the Clayton fishing guides.
The shore dinner was cooked by one of the only few historical “cookers” left on the island, that heats up to 400 degrees! Over 100 years ago, you had to order this cooker, and they had to make it for you. Jeff Garnsey owns one, passed down to him from four generations.
The menu consisted of a piece of bread with lard, sliced red onions, and Thousand Island dressing as an appetizer; tasty fried fish, boiled potatoes, and delicious corn as the main course; and a very yummy deep-fried French toast with maple syrup as dessert… so good!!
Day 7: Catch the Sunrise and Return Home
Trust me: set your alarm to catch a breathtaking sunrise over the St. Lawrence River, enjoy breakfast at Seaway Grille, and you’ll be ready to drive (or fly) back to NYC—Manhattan is about 5 hours and 30 minutes away. Your heart (and belly) will be happy and full!!!
Conclusion
Our road trip was an incredible way to discover the beauty and charm of hidden New York State gems. From luxurious hotels and scenic hikes to historical tours and delicious local food, incredible vineries, the Finger Lakes region has it all.
Whether you’re planning a romantic getaway, a solo adventure, or a trip with friends, I hope this guide inspires you to explore and enjoy all that this beautiful area has to offer.
Enjoy your road trip. Ciaooo!!! ✨
