7 relaxing weekend getaways from New York City

13.07.2024 - 03:24 / thepointsguy.com / Frank Gehry / Franklin D.Roosevelt

As dynamic and exciting as New York City is, America's biggest and boldest metropolis can feel a little overwhelming — and crowded — at times. Fortunately, you'll find an array of bucolic yet sophisticated towns relatively close by.

These are the kinds of places where you can gaze up at a starry sky and fall asleep at night to the hum of crickets or the pounding surf without missing out on worldly diversions, from acclaimed art scenes to sensational farm-to-table restaurants and hip wine bars. All of these towns are also convenient bases for exploring interesting surrounding regions like the Hamptons, the Berkshires and the Hudson Valley.

These seven destinations are all within a three-hour drive or train ride of Manhattan, including salt-tinged shore towns, forested hilltop hamlets and bustling river villages, making them great for an easy weekend getaway from New York City.

With its quiet lanes shaded by towering trees and lined with handsome homes, this genial town in scenic Dutchess County is one of the most picturesque villages in the lower Hudson River Valley. Rhinebeck is a compact, walkable community with excellent restaurants, including the cozy Matchbox Cafe for locally sourced burgers and comfort cooking and Terrapin, which serves inventive American fare in a converted 1820s Baptist church. Just up the road, Tivoli is a dapper Victorian town near the campus of Bard College, where famous entertainers perform at the Frank Gehry-designed Fisher Center at Bard. The town's most unusual attraction, Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome, displays a remarkable collection of vintage aircraft and offers 15-minute flightseeing experiences in a sleek 1929 biplane — this is an unforgettable way to take in the region's incredible scenery.

Within a short drive, you can tour several opulent mansions of the Gilded Age, including the 65-room Staatsburgh State Historic Site, which is decorated with original antiques and artwork, the palatial Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site in nearby Hyde Park, where you can also visit the fascinating Home of Franklin D Roosevelt National Historic Site, and — a must for foodies — the Culinary Institute of America, which operates four renowned on-site restaurants.

Be sure to schedule a tour and tasting at the state-of-the-art Dassai Blue Sake Brewery, the first of this renowned sake maker's breweries outside Japan. Farther south, Dia Beacon is a world-class contemporary art museum in a cool little town, and just a quick hop across the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge, you can explore increasingly trendy Kingston and the famously free-spirited and artsy Catskills town of Woodstock.

Amtrak offers service from Manhattan to the cute neighboring village of Rhinecliff. Because there's much to