06/29/2025
- About 36 Hours in Hudson Valley, NY:
- Spending 36 hours in Hudson Valley, NY. Sounds like a good weekend getaway for folks in the Northeast.
The Story:
For a weekend escape within a two-hour (or so) drive or train ride of New York City, the Hudson Valley is hard to beat. There are hiking trails ranging from beginner-friendly to near-vertical scrambles, Gilded Age mansions filled with rich history, contemporary art destinations, miles of pastoral farmland and charming small towns. In recent years, this vast region, directly north of the city, changed dramatically as many pandemic-weary New Yorkers migrated upstate (and pushed housing prices skyward). The influx helped fuel cultural initiatives, creative businesses, a much-hyped brewery boom and diversified dining options. This itinerary hews close to the river, focusing on the central Hudson Valley cities of Kingston, Hudson and Beacon, as well as villages, hamlets and rural outposts worth a detour.
RECOMMENDATIONS
• Sojourner Truth State Park, a 500-acre Kingston park on the west bank of the Hudson River, bears traces of the city’s brickmaking heyday.
• Greig Farm is a family-run operation that includes a market, a cafe, a taproom, a bulk-refill store and pick-your-own opportunities.
• Mel the Bakery moved to Hudson from a tiny storefront in Lower Manhattan in 2023 and is a local favorite for laminated croissants, iced cinnamon rolls and flaky kouign-amann pastries.
• Left Bank Ciders, a small-batch cidery with a taproom in Catskill, serves single varietals made from heirloom apples, and ciders aged in whiskey and cognac barrels.
• Assembly, Kingston’s new live music spot, occupies the top floor of a former schoolhouse in the historic Uptown district.
• Art Omi is a nonprofit arts center and sculpture park in the hamlet of Omi with more than 60 works of art and architecture spread across 120 bucolic acres.
• Dia Beacon, a contemporary art museum in a former Nabisco box-printing factory, has a new temporary exhibit from the artist Renée Green and an eight-acre landscape expansion project opening later this year.
• The Beacon Farmers’ Market, held on Sundays year-round, features the wares of farmers, food vendors and artisans from across the Hudson Valley.
• Eliza, a new bistro in Kingston, draws a crowd with its bustling bar, cozy booths, convivial dining room and comforting fare, like roast chicken and local charcuterie.
• Top Taste is a no-frills Jamaican restaurant — and two-time James Beard Award nominee — serving meltingly tender jerk chicken, oxtail and curried goat in Midtown Kingston.
• West Kill Supply, a Midtown Kingston taproom from a celebrated Catskills brewery, has hunting-lodge-chic décor and a dozen West Kill Brewing beers on draft.
• Village Coffee and Goods, a pocket-size coffee shop in Midtown Kingston, is the place for a frothy flat white.
• Fantzye Bagels recently opened on a corner in Midtown Kingston serving hand-rolled sourdough bagels in a sunny space where families linger over breakfast.
• Camp Kingston, a summer-camp-themed cafe, is a popular new hangout in the Uptown Kingston district.
• Culture Cream is a Hudson ice cream shop with tropical vibes and imaginative flavors, like miso-and-roasted-strawberry.
• Rose Hill Farm, on a gravel drive outside the village of Red Hook, has a cider taproom in a wood-paneled barn beside the apple orchards.
• Kitty’s is a Hudson restaurant with fun upscale-diner décor and seasonal menus highlighting the bounty of the region.
• The Hereafter, a new Hudson cocktail bar, has pressed-tin ceilings, warm lighting, flirty late-night crowds and a House Dirty martini with oregano-infused gin.
• Morningbird, a serene Southeast Asian-inspired cafe in Kinderhook, serves sugar-coated mochi doughnuts and a superb breakfast sandwich with lemongrass-pork sausage.
• Nansense is a casual Afghan restaurant (and former Brooklyn food truck) in Beacon with great chapli kabab burgers, masala-spiced fries and cardamom rice pudding.
• Hudson Valley Brewery, one of the region’s top craft breweries, opened a sleek new tasting room in Beacon for sampling tart farmhouse lagers and berry-tinged sour I.P.A.s.
• Kinderhook Farm has a store, open daily, selling choice cuts of grass-fed beef, lamb and pasture-raised pork as well as farm-fresh eggs and picnic supplies.
• Churchtown Dairy, a biodynamic farm where cows munch hay in a beautiful domed barn, has an on-site shop stocked with cheeses, including buttery, semi-firm tomme.
• The Social Type is a cute stationery shop on Warren Street in Hudson.
• The Spotty Dog Books & Ale is the place to find a local author’s latest novel in Hudson.
• Jamestown is a hip Hudson store with clothing and accessories for men and women as well as a friendly shop dog.
• The Hotel Kinsley, in Kingston’s Uptown district, has a restaurant, a cocktail bar and 42 stylish rooms spread across four thoughtfully renovated buildings, including a pre-Revolutionary War cottage, a 17th-century Georgian stone house and a 19th-century former State Bank of New York building. Rooms from $259.
• Camptown, which opened in 2023 outside Catskill, is a converted motor lodge with 24 updated guest rooms, 26 glammed-up log cabins and an acclaimed restaurant, Casa Susanna, specializing in flavors from the Mexican state of Jalisco. Rooms from $189.
• Look for a short-term rental in Midtown or Uptown Kingston, two walkable neighborhoods within easy driving distance of points north and south in the Hudson Valley.
• Metro-North and Amtrak trains run along the eastern side of the river, and Gov. Kathy Hochul recently announced plans to expand and improve rail service in the region. But you still may want a car to make the most of a weekend.
ITINERARY
FRIDAY
A path leading down to an open structure along a river; dried foliage lines the path and the river is in the background. It's a gray day.
Brickyard Trail
3 p.m. Hike through Kingston’s history
Experienced hikers can tackle the challenging trails of Fishkill Ridge or Breakneck Ridge near Beacon, while the rest of us stretch our legs in Sojourner Truth State Park. This 500-acre Kingston park, opened in 2022 on the west bank of the Hudson, bears traces of the city’s brickmaking heyday, with discarded bricks along the riverbank and a glittering, water-filled quarry surrounded by limestone cliffs. Hike the Steep Rocks Trail, a moderately strenuous, 1.7-mile round-trip route with a panoramic bluff-top overlook. Or stick to the accessible, two-mile Hudson River Brickyard Trail, a part of the 750-mile Empire State Trail, where a new waterfront pavilion offers lounge chairs and benches for admiring the view.
People sitting up at a bar, eating, drinking and talking. Modern art hangs on a terracotta colored wall.
Eliza
6 p.m. Feast on the flavors of Midtown
The Midtown Arts District, a once-blighted neighborhood in central Kingston, now hums with art studios, galleries, colorful street murals, eclectic shops and dining options to suit every taste and budget. Step inside Eliza, a bustling bistro that opened in an unassuming storefront in late 2023, and join the local crowd dining on smoky eggplant dip with grilled focaccia ($15); charred octopus atop crisp fingerling potatoes, pickled shallots and spiced aioli ($18); and charcuterie from the deli next door ($9). A more casual option nearby is Top Taste, a no-frills Jamaican restaurant — and two-time James Beard Award nominee — that serves generous portions of meltingly tender jerk chicken with rice and peas, steamed cabbage and fried plantains ($9 for a small plate, which is plenty).
A concert venue, lit in blue. A band is on the stage; members of the audience, standing, are seen from the back.
Assembly
8 p.m. Choose a concert or a craft beer
Kingston’s newest live-music spot, Assembly, which opened in December on the top floor of a former schoolhouse in the historic Uptown district, is already drawing international touring artists. Check the calendar for upcoming shows, which include the folk-pop singer Brett Dennen, the group Fantastic Cat and the Nigerian Afrobeat artist Femi Kuti. Nothing on the schedule tonight? Then stay in Midtown and walk to West Kill Supply, a two-year-old taproom from a celebrated Catskills brewery with hunting-lodge-chic décor — antler tap pulls, wood-plank ceiling, taxidermy aplenty — and a dozen West Kill Brewing beers on draft, including the crisp Kaaterskill I.P.A., brewed with mountain well water ($7).
The main street in a town; lots of red brick structures and a church steeple up the block. People are crossing the street, others walking on the sidewalks.
The home-design shops and antique furniture stores along Warren Street, Hudson’s main drag, are astonishingly expensive but great fun to browse.
SATURDAY
A breakfast close-up: a potato and cheddar burrito sits on brown paper on a steel tray, condiments next to it; a coffee drink is also on the table.
Camp Kingston
8 a.m. Grab bagels or burritos for breakfast
Wake up in Midtown Kingston at the pocket-size Village Coffee and Goods with a frothy flat white ($4.25), made with beans from Partners Coffee Roasters, of Brooklyn. Then walk to Fantzye Bagels, which opened in November and serves hand-rolled sourdough bagels in a cute, sunny space where families linger over breakfast. Try a rosemary-salt bagel with a lemon-caper schmear ($6) or the outstanding Remix sandwich with folded egg, melted Jake’s Gouda, aioli and an herbaceous green sauce ($11). Or start Uptown at Camp Kingston, a popular community hangout that opened in 2023, with a warm potato-and-cheddar breakfast burrito ($11) and a campfire latte made with graham-cracker milk and a toasted marshmallow ($7).
Six powder-coated aluminum cloud shapes, painted in various shades of blue, are perched more than 30 feet atop giant ladderlike steel supports. They're outside on dry grass.
Olaf Breuning’s “Clouds” at Art Omi
10 a.m. Take a walk in the sculpture park
About 40 miles northeast of Kingston in the hamlet of Omi, a cluster of cheerful blue clouds hovers near the entrance to Art Omi, a nonprofit arts center and sculpture park. The cumulus sculpture, by the Swiss artist Olaf Breuning, is one of more than 60 works of art and architecture on display throughout the park’s 120 acres. Bring the kids, bring the dog (on a leash) and set off on a walk through the grassy meadows to spot Pippa Garner’s customized pickup truck, Iván Navarro’s neon-lighted water towers, Chemi Rosado-Seijo’s functioning skateboarding bowl, and new installations, like a climbable stacked-concrete tower by the architect Jimenez Lai. Admission is free (suggested donation $15; register dogs in advance).
A domed barn with cows munching hay. A walkway overlooks the area where the cows are. A lot of light comes into the barn.
Churchtown Dairy
12 p.m. Visit small local farms
Support this agricultural region at the source: small working farms, many of which have stands or stores open to the public. Near Art Omi, Kinderhook Farm has been providing the community with grass-fed beef, lamb and pasture-raised pork for over two decades. Visit the farm store to stock the freezer with choice cuts or pick up picnic supplies, like salsiccia stagionata or finocchietta salami. Drive south to Churchtown Dairy, a biodynamic farm where cows munch hay in a beautiful domed barn, for a wedge of buttery, semi-firm tomme cheese. Farther south, at the family-run Greig Farm, the operation includes a market, a cafe, a taproom and a bulk-refill store. There are also goats to feed out back (50 cents per serving) and pick-your-own opportunities, beginning with asparagus in May.
A storefront painted in pastels with "Culture Cream" written on the awning.A window advertises what's sold in the ice cream shop, which includes bone broth and coffee/espresso.
2 p.m. Shop and snack on Hudson’s main drag
The curated home-design shops and antique furniture stores along Warren Street, Hudson’s main drag, are astonishingly expensive but great fun to browse. First, fuel up at Mel the Bakery, which moved to Hudson from a tiny storefront in Lower Manhattan in late 2023. One bite of a laminated croissant ($5), an iced cinnamon roll ($6.50) or a flaky kouign-amann pastry ($6) is all you’ll need to understand the devoted following of the baker Nora Allen. Then check out the stationery offerings at the Social Type, buy a local author’s latest — Shanekia McIntosh’s poetry collection or Adelle Waldman’s novel — at the Spotty Dog Books & Ale, pet the friendly shop dog at the hip clothing store Jamestown, and sample imaginative ice cream flavors, like miso-and-roasted-strawberry, amid the tropical vibes at Culture Cream.
Two people stand at a counter/bar, presumably ordering as someone behind the counter listens. A dog is lying on the floor. Lots of bottle are in a refrigerator by the counter.
Left Bank Ciders
4:30 p.m. Get in on the craft-cider craze
In this apple-rich region, sample one of the valley’s favorite craft beverages at Left Bank Ciders, a small-batch cidery with a taproom across the river in the village of Catskill. Try Northern Spy, made from the heirloom apple of the same name, or Car Trouble, a complex cider aged in whiskey and cognac barrels ($9 each). Prefer to sit within apple-throwing distance of a tree? Rose Hill Farm, on a gravel drive outside the village of Red Hook, features a taproom in a soaring wood-paneled barn beside the orchards. Join families on the patio sharing bottles of the farm’s sparkling pétillant-naturel-style ciders and co-ferments made with apples, plums and blueberries.
Close-up of a plate with pea-shoot-and-potato dumplings.
Kitty’s
7 p.m. Dine down by the depot
Opposite the Amtrak station in Hudson, Kitty’s opened in 2020 as a market cafe offering great fried chicken, pastries and my favorite breakfast sandwich in the area (egg, cheese and sauerkraut). Eventually the popular spot expanded next door into a full-service restaurant with fun upscale-diner décor: red-pleather booths, a U-shaped bar counter, butter yellow tiles and an abstract mural splashed across one wall. At a candlelit table in the bustling dining room, standouts on the seasonal menu recently included a colorful Caesar salad with local chicories and citrusy yuzu-colatura dressing ($21), pea-shoot-and-potato dumplings ($26) and cinnamon-sugar churros dipped in dark-chocolate sauce ($12).
The interior of a bar, with patrons seated at the bar and a bartender behind it. The atmosphere looks warm and inviting.
The Hereafter
10 p.m. Stay up late in Hudson
After dinner, hop across town for a nightcap at the Hereafter, a stylish cocktail bar that opened last year on the upper end of Columbia Street and features pressed-tin ceilings, warm lighting and a long wooden bar. A welcome addition in a town that typically tucks into bed early, this atmospheric bar attracts a lively late-night crowd eager to flirt over inventive cocktails, such as the House Dirty martini with oregano-infused gin ($16) and the Good Denim, a smoky mix of mezcal, amaro, sweet vermouth and local pear brandy ($18).
A couple walking a dog on a path through a park, along the water.
The Hudson Valley offers a variety of hiking trails, some more strenuous than others. The two-mile Hudson River Brickyard Trail, part of the 750-mile Empire State Trail, is accessible, with a view of the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge.
SUNDAY
Close-up of a toasted bun sandwich with sausage, a fried egg and sauce on it.
Morningbird
8:30 a.m. Greet the day with an Asian treat
The sleepy village of Kinderhook, a 20-minute drive northeast of Hudson, is home to the Kinderhook Knitting Mill, an 1870s textile factory that was recently repurposed as a hub for creative businesses. One tenant that warrants an early-morning detour is Morningbird, a serene cafe with beautiful ceramics on display from a local Korean American artist and a menu of Southeast Asian-inspired specialties. Try the breakfast sandwich with lemongrass-pork sausage, fried egg, chimichurri and sambal mayo on a toasted bun ($13.50) and at least one of the divine sugar-coated mochi doughnuts ($4.25).
The interior of an exhibit space with a few people in it. The walls are white, and handing from the ceiling are brightly colored banners with words and sayings on them ("Constellation of People and Place" is an example).
Renée Green’s “The Equator Has Moved” at Dia Beacon
11 a.m. Pull over for contemporary art
On the drive south, stop to see what’s new at Dia Beacon, a sprawling contemporary art museum beside the Hudson River exhibiting works from the Dia Foundation’s collection, covering the 1960s onward (admission $20). The industrial complex — formerly a Nabisco box-printing factory — contains 240,000 square feet of gallery space filled with monumental steel ellipses by Richard Serra, a subterranean light-and-sound installation by Steve McQueen (through May 26), and in the central corridors, a new exhibit with colorful fabric banners by Renée Green. Later this year, an eight-acre landscape expansion project designed by the architect Sara Zewde is scheduled to open to the public.
A bright interior of a restaurant, three people sit at a table in the foreground. Others stand at a counter in the background.
Hudson Valley Brewery
12:30 p.m. Sample the bounty of Beacon
Up the hill in central Beacon, stroll Main Street past boutiques and thrift shops to the Beacon Farmers’ Market, held on Sundays year-round. Chat with vendors from across the Hudson Valley and snack on an aged, stout-washed goat cheese from Edgwick Farm or a lion’s-mane-mushroom tart from Four Wall Farm. Then walk to Nansense, an Afghan restaurant (and former Brooklyn food truck) that opened its first brick-and-mortar location nearby last year. Order a juicy chapli kabab burger ($7), masala-spiced fries ($5) and cardamom rice pudding ($6). Then roll down the hill to Hudson Valley Brewery, one of the region’s top breweries, to sip tart farmhouse lagers and sour I.P.A.s, like the brunch-style Peach Silhouette ($7), in the sleek new tasting room.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/04/10/travel/things-to-do-hudson-valley.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Sk8.Etpl.OFghHpKofYCF&smid=url-share
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/04/10/travel/things-to-do-hudson-valley.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Sk8.Etpl.OFghHpKofYCF&smid=url-share&fbclid=IwY2xjawLOSdNleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETFOaWVVNzdPZk9UejJ2U0V4AR5rsRpNMBcjP-TPRTOVc1kLjRdgqsBIUttwnMXgphurbXZpxEUlqCiYzk5buA_aem_HAFKtdjaHZy9kIInT
Within two hours of New York City, the Hudson Valley is the perfect escape: locavore restaurants to fit every taste and budget, cider breweries, farmstands, hiking trails and art galleries.
