As with any major city, there are lot of weekend getaways near New York for people to be able to quickly get away from the city hustle bustle and enjoy some quiet or some action in a natural environment.
The getaways vary with the season or the activity desired. For winters, you have the skiing resorts of New York, New Jersey, Vermont and New Hampshire (Wyndham, Hunter Mountain, Bear Mountain etc). For summers, there are the beaches and lakes and camping in the forests (Lake George, Finger Lakes, Cape Cod etc) and for fall, you have the fall colours in the New England area. And of course many other activities are available nearby.
Some of these places are worth visiting while some become worthwhile just because they are so close to New York :)! Anyways have been to a few such places nearby, and thought would talk about those. Will keep adding as and when we keep exploring more!
SKIING AT MOUNTAIN CREEK, VERNON, NEW JERSEY
Mountain Creek falls in the category of being good just because of its proximity to New York. Located about an hour or so from the city, its a perfect place if you want to ski and don't have the time to stay overnight. You can drive from New York, ski and be back home in time for dinner! There are daily buses also running from New York till the resort, so its quite popular among Ne Yorkers. Since during winter, options are limited, and skiing being the only activity possible, we went skiing to Mountain Creek Resort in Jan 2011.
The ski slopes are fine and the ski rentals high. It was fun nevertheless, with the sugar slope being do-able for novices like us. There is also the kids slope to start with, especially if you are just learning skiing. The green slopes also looked not too bad, so maybe for next time!
RAFTING AT ADIRONDACKS MOUNTAINS
We did a whitewater rafting trip recently to the Adirondacks Mountains. Our organiser was Adirondacks Adventures and we rafted on the Hudson. It was soo much fun!
The weather was cold though, only on the weekend that we were there that is!! Temperatures were sub-zero in the night, so we were all fully packed with fleeces and wet suits. The whole route is quite long, about 15 miles or so. You start on the Indian River which meets the Hudson and then you flow through miles of Hudson through dense green foliages on both sides. You also pass through the Hudson Gorge which is again very magnificent.
The rapids though supposedly Class III and IV did not seem that tough. Supposedly this year since it did not snow as much, the water levels weren't high enough and so the whole experience did seem too subdued. Was still fun and taxing though, rafting through miles and miles of the river. By the end of it we all even stopped rowing, we just waited for our boat to flow with the flow and reach our destination. It was fun but would have been better with more water.
We had rented a vacation rental next to the Hudson nearby and it's location was awesome. Next to the river with total privacy, no sounds and no pollution and no people. Just barbeque outside in the evening and enjoy the cosy house in the middle of nowhere. It wasn't as cosy though since our house did not have any heating or hot water, but it could have been:). On the whole a great place for a weekend away from the city. Exercise a lot and then relax!
We did a whitewater rafting trip recently to the Adirondacks Mountains. Our organiser was Adirondacks Adventures and we rafted on the Hudson. It was soo much fun!
The weather was cold though, only on the weekend that we were there that is!! Temperatures were sub-zero in the night, so we were all fully packed with fleeces and wet suits. The whole route is quite long, about 15 miles or so. You start on the Indian River which meets the Hudson and then you flow through miles of Hudson through dense green foliages on both sides. You also pass through the Hudson Gorge which is again very magnificent.
The rapids though supposedly Class III and IV did not seem that tough. Supposedly this year since it did not snow as much, the water levels weren't high enough and so the whole experience did seem too subdued. Was still fun and taxing though, rafting through miles and miles of the river. By the end of it we all even stopped rowing, we just waited for our boat to flow with the flow and reach our destination. It was fun but would have been better with more water.
We had rented a vacation rental next to the Hudson nearby and it's location was awesome. Next to the river with total privacy, no sounds and no pollution and no people. Just barbeque outside in the evening and enjoy the cosy house in the middle of nowhere. It wasn't as cosy though since our house did not have any heating or hot water, but it could have been:). On the whole a great place for a weekend away from the city. Exercise a lot and then relax!
GAMBLING AT ATLANTIC CITY
Atlantic city would be one of the first places people in New York go to! A less than 2 hours drive to multiple casinos with other stuff to do. A definite must-visit.
For the casinos. Borgata is good. A recently opened place with a huge casino. Other than that, you have Ceasars, Wild West, Taj Trump, Ballys, Hannahs and so on. Don't think there is much to choose between them. All give you an equal oppurtunity to lose money:). Ceasars is done up well on the inside though, they've got sculptors from Roman history all over. You can walk around inside and explore some of the shops and eating places there too.
Other than the casinos, shopping is another major attraction there. Lots of outlet stores all around, so enough for a shopper to spend time and money on. A lot of good shows also keep happening at the bigger hotels regularly, stand-up comedy, musical shows etc. Its nice to buy tickets beforehand though and land up that weekend to enjoy both the shows and a little bit of the casinos.
The boardwalk is another place to walk around. Would be nice in summer I guess, just walk around passing through all the different hotels and casinos. The buildings on the side of the Boardwalk are painted in multiple colours giving it a very different feel from the rest of the city. I've gone to Atlantic City only in the winter, so the boardwalk wasn't really our preferred place to spend time on! But something to do in the summers definitely!
The beach in Atlantic city is also worth going to but since I haven't been there, so can't comment I guess. All in all a nice day trip from New York, anything longer gets boring though!
Atlantic city would be one of the first places people in New York go to! A less than 2 hours drive to multiple casinos with other stuff to do. A definite must-visit.
For the casinos. Borgata is good. A recently opened place with a huge casino. Other than that, you have Ceasars, Wild West, Taj Trump, Ballys, Hannahs and so on. Don't think there is much to choose between them. All give you an equal oppurtunity to lose money:). Ceasars is done up well on the inside though, they've got sculptors from Roman history all over. You can walk around inside and explore some of the shops and eating places there too.Other than the casinos, shopping is another major attraction there. Lots of outlet stores all around, so enough for a shopper to spend time and money on. A lot of good shows also keep happening at the bigger hotels regularly, stand-up comedy, musical shows etc. Its nice to buy tickets beforehand though and land up that weekend to enjoy both the shows and a little bit of the casinos.
The boardwalk is another place to walk around. Would be nice in summer I guess, just walk around passing through all the different hotels and casinos. The buildings on the side of the Boardwalk are painted in multiple colours giving it a very different feel from the rest of the city. I've gone to Atlantic City only in the winter, so the boardwalk wasn't really our preferred place to spend time on! But something to do in the summers definitely!The beach in Atlantic city is also worth going to but since I haven't been there, so can't comment I guess. All in all a nice day trip from New York, anything longer gets boring though!
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