6 Most Scenic Small Towns in the Finger Lakes
The Finger Lakes Region, home to eleven snaking lakes in west-central New York, is a scenic paradise for water lovers, hikers, and wine connoisseurs. With many small towns offering views from the shores, taste the full spectrum of lakeside living in the quaint upstate New York town of Seneca Falls at the picturesque northern tip of Cayuga Lake.
Trumansburg is home to Taughannock Falls State Park, with a plunging namesake waterfall—one of the highest waterfalls east of the Rocky Mountains—from 215 feet over the rocky cliffs into a gorge. Visitors can enjoy fascinating historical sites, galleries with art inspired by nature and local cuisine, and vibrant events like the Strawberry Festival in June in Owego.
Canandaigua
Perched on the upper tip of the eponymous lake, Canandaigua welcomes visitors for a charming lakeside retreat. With a proportionately inviting embrace and a number of attractions for the largest town in the Finger Lakes, you get the full taste of lakeside living even on a short escape. The local love for water sports is as immense as the vast shores to share for every group's serene enjoyment while swimming, kayaking, and fishing this summer in the warm waters. From art galleries to boutiques and wineries, don't miss Canandaigua's historic Ontario County Courthouse, the 1873 site of Susan B. Anthony's trial after she voted in the 1872 presidential elections.
Abounding in welcoming inns, charming B&Bs, and lakeside cottages, for a luxurious hotel stay along the shores, the Lake House on Canandaigua offers scenic views, a spa and morning yoga, world-class dining, and craft beverage tastings, including wine pairing dinners. Home to several historic buildings, the Granger Homestead & Carriage Museum reminisces of the Granger family's life and role in establishing the town, while Kershaw Park features lakefront walkways, a public beach, a dock, and a playground. From strolls through the past to a variety of natural attractions, Sonnenberg Gardens & Mansion State Historic Park offers a fair share of history and spectacular beauty in botanical gardens.
Honeoye
From the largest to the second-smallest of all of the Finger Lakes towns, this may be a quieter Finger Lakes town, but its welcoming ring echoes along Honeoye Lake in Ontario County. Honeoye's love for the outdoors, breweries, and vineyards is heard far and wide, like one of the most popular breweries, the intriguing Noble Shepherd Craft Brewery, within a geodesic dome begging to be photographed. Don't miss the Wizard of Clay in downtown Honeoye before taking a detour into the pretty park for a scenic stroll along the trail following Honeoye Creek right to the lake!
It appeals to city dwellers with a subdued lakeside lifestyle and a year-round list of activities and attractions, like nature centers, and there's even skiing at the Bristol Mountain Ski Resort, which is just a quick drive away. While here, catch the Comet Express chairlift for the vast view of Canandaigua Lake in its wintertime glory and enjoy snowboarding on over 130 skiable acres. Inviting vibes and friendly local banter prevail over good food and drinking options at Mill Creek Cafe and the Birdhouse Brewing Company.
Lansing
The scenic town of Lansing offers sweeping Cayuga Lake views and a quieter feel than its next-door neighbor, the college city of Ithaca and Cornell University. Featuring a shoreline bisected by Salmon Creek, which flows into Cayuga Lake, visitors can enjoy fishing and a creekside stroll to the lake for other water pursuits. No wonder the town is a hub for agriculture, with excellent soil and numerous farms comprising over 17,000 acres of farmland around, some under the original family ownership. Visitors can taste the fresh produce and other farm bounty through local restaurants like Ciao at the heart of town, markets, and roadside stands.
Lansing Village is a shopaholic's dream come true, with thriving retailers and shops at Ithaca Mall, Cayuga Mall, and Triphammer Marketplace. Offering a homegrown feel along its impeccable streets, with several churches, a synagogue, many inns, bed and breakfasts, and restaurants for every taste, extends a lakeside getaway to the spectacular Myers Park on the eastern shore of the lake. Its 31 acres of inviting grass-covered, tree-shaded land give way to the extensive Cayuga Lake frontage, with a public boat marina, pavilions, picnic tables, and barbecue grills throughout.
Owego
Owego, a unique Finger Lakes town, blends all kinds of small-town charms against the natural beauty of the scenic shores along the Susquehanna River. Its thoroughfare, Front Street, alone, offers a bounty of shops, cute cafes, and antique stores, made quaint by historic landmarks, and comes alive once a year. Bursting with flavor and juicy sights, the famous annual Strawberry Festival, a block party, overtakes the Historic Owego Marketplace in June with a parade, food, craft vendors, and family-friendly entertainment.
Attracting visitors from all over for this special event, there's something fun for everyone year-round in Owego, like the immersive nature of its Tioga Gardens, featuring 11 full greenhouses and tours. Another favorite highlight in town can be your historic stay at Belva Lockwood Inn, a gorgeous restored 1872 home. Paying homage to the former town resident abolitionist in the 19th century, Belva Lockwood, the first female to run for president twice in 1884 and 1888, spent her entire adult life fighting for women's equality.
Seneca Falls
From Bedford Falls movie lore to the birthplace of the modern women’s rights movement, Seneca Falls is a famous town, holding special allure in the Finger Lakes region for filmmakers and historians. Its reputation meets reality as a fascinating place to visit, where even Frank Capra, the director of It’s a Wonderful Life, felt welcome. Mutually enamored of its small-town charm while getting a haircut, Seneca Falls named a museum after the film to honor the event. Resting at the picturesque northern tip of Cayuga Lake, Seneca Falls State Park is the place to be in the summer for camping right off the lake, swimming, fishing, and your favorite boating pursuits like kayaking and canoeing.
Visitors can follow the Cayuga Lake Wine Trail from Swedish Hill Vineyard in Romulus, around Cayuga Lake, and end the night at Montezuma Winery, just north of town. Welcoming visitors, Wellesley Chapel is a seemingly plain church where, in 1848, suffragette Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a local, and her peers organized the Women's Rights Convention. Other commemorative landmarks include the Women’s Rights National Historical Park and Cady Stanton’s home to hunt for in between your favorite movie-scene sites. There's also the Montezuma Wildlife Refuge, the Ludovico Sculpture Trail, and the Cayuga-Seneca Canal for every taste of the outdoors.
Trumansburg
While not directly on the lake, Trumansburg is a genuinely fascinating town in Tompkins County, some 10 miles northwest of Ithaca. Just a quick drive from Cayuga Lake, which you can cover on a beautiful bike ride, or a good hike along Trumansburg Creek, which flows into the lake, there's enough scenery to stick around right here in "Tremaine's Village.” Named after Abner Treman, an early mill and tavern owner in the area in the late 18th century, a postmaster's misspelling changed its name. "Trumansburg" is home to Taughannock Falls State Park, with one of the highest waterfalls east of the Rocky Mountains. Towering nearly 400 feet above the gorge, Taughannock Falls plunges 215 feet over the rocky cliffs with spectacular views accessible from above and below.
Visitors can enjoy the nearby multi-use trail for hiking and cross-country skiing, as well as campsites and cabins overlooking Cayuga Lake in the summer with a marina, boat launch, beach, and winter activities like sledding and skating. Home to a thriving arts scene, Trumansburg boasts several galleries with works by local artists and has celebrated the Annual GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dance for over 30 years over a four-day festival of music and the arts. Attracting folk, blues, reggae, and rock fans for live performances, there are also dance workshops and more local art to browse and buy from local artisans in a vibrant, family-friendly atmosphere.
Discover the Charm of the Finger Lakes
Home to several state parks and national forests, with lakes like Hemlock, Canadice, Canandaigua, Keuka, Seneca, Cayuga, Owasco, Skaneateles, and Otisco, the vastly agricultural region is home to some real outdoor lovers. The hidden gems offer spectacular historical landmarks like Canandaigua's historic Ontario County Courthouse, Wellesley Chapel in Seneca Falls, and the Belva Lockwood Inn in Owego.
The first town is the largest in the Finger Lakes, with amenities and events like Halloween Fest at Lincoln Hill Farms in October and the Bristol Mountain Fall Festival. Honeoye, the second-smallest of all of the Finger Lakes towns, appeals for a quiet escape with exciting shops and a craft brewery in a geodesic dome. Lansing is a hub of agriculture with a great restaurant scene, and Lansing Village is a dream for shopaholics.
