Finger Lakes Essential Info
Overview
Wine and water define the Finger Lakes, a region of New York state south of Lake Ontario. Eleven elegantly elongated bodies of water arrayed across 80 miles of rolling countryside have produced one of the top wine regions in the country, the East Coast answer to California's Napa Valley.
While the wineries that dot the slopes above the Finger Lakes—over a hundred of them—are a major draw, visitors also enjoy the region's many waterways, from the Finger Lakes themselves and Lake Ontario, to the mighty Genesee River and the historic Erie Canal. In the fall, leaf-peepers turn out in force, and wintertime sees skiers heading to the area's slopes.
After a day enjoying the sights and tastes of the Finger Lakes, head to Rochester, the state's third-largest city, for urban amenities and nightlife, or enjoy the college-town atmosphere of Ithaca overlooking Cayuga's waters. Wherever you go, you'll find a friendly, "come look at this next" attitude from the region's residents, each touting a different favorite spot to take a visitor.
Whether you follow the locals, one of the many rural highways, or just your own instincts, the Finger Lakes has culinary—and cultural—flavors to suit any taste.
Description is available from Wikitravel under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 license. A list of contributors is available at the original article.
Basics
Best Time To Go
May-Jun, Sep-Oct
Current Weather
Partly Cloudy
Popular Foods
- Cornell Chicken
- Dinosaur BBQ