7 Serene Finger Lakes Towns For A Weekend Retreat

A calm Finger Lakes weekend can mean a mailboat dropping letters at lakeside cottages, or an afternoon on a winery patio above the water. Hammondsport puts a swimming beach and an aviation museum a few minutes apart. Aurora has no stoplights at all. Taughannock Falls drops farther in one plunge than Niagara, just outside Trumansburg. Penn Yan has Mennonite farm stands and an old canal towpath. Wineries draw crowds to a few of them, and the smallest go dark by dinnertime. All of them ring the Finger Lakes.

Skaneateles

Skaneateles Lake is clean enough that Syracuse drinks it unfiltered. At the northern tip, the village threads along Genesee Street by the shore, past old storefronts and the Sherwood Inn, which has poured drinks on the same spot since 1807. Boat tours and kayak rentals leave from the pier at Clift Park, and Mid-Lakes Navigation still works a summer mailboat, dropping letters at the lakeside cottages.

Outside the village, the Charlie Major Nature Trail follows an old railroad bed, flat and shaded. Wineries dot the surrounding hills, most working in Riesling. Anyela's Vineyards pours reds and whites on a patio over the lake, down the west shore.

Geneva

Geneva is the biggest of these towns, but it quiets down at the lake. Seneca Lake State Park is right at the edge of downtown, with swimming and boat launches. A few blocks up, South Main Street has the densest run of Federal and Greek Revival rowhouses in upstate New York. People compare it to Boston's Beacon Hill. The 1894 Smith Opera House still books films and concerts.

The Seneca Lake Wine Trail starts at Geneva. More than two dozen wineries line the shore south of town, most pouring Riesling. Belhurst Castle, an 1880s stone house on the lake road, pours from its own cellars.

Penn Yan

Penn Yan started as a mill town, and Birkett Mills has ground buckwheat on Main Street since 1797, one of the oldest working mills in the country. The Oliver House Museum traces the old canal trade, and the Arts Center of Yates County shows local work.

At the north end of Keuka Lake, the Keuka Lake Outlet Trail follows an old canal route seven miles to Dresden, past old mill sites. Indian Pines Park has a swimming area and marina less than a mile out. Mennonite farms surround the town, and their roadside stands sell produce and baked goods cheap.

Hammondsport

Hammondsport built its name on flight. Glenn Curtiss got one of the country's first public airplane flights off the ground here in 1908, and the museum named for him displays his original aircraft and engines. The village square nearby has the shops and restaurants for a slow afternoon.

Dr. Konstantin Frank started his winery in these hills in 1962 and proved European vinifera could survive Finger Lakes winters. Down at the water, Champlin Beach off Route 54A has a public swimming area and a boat launch. Keuka Lake State Park is a short drive north.

Aurora

Aurora has no stoplights, just one main street of old buildings along Cayuga Lake. At its center, the Aurora Inn has worked as a hotel and restaurant since the 1830s, with lake views from the dining room. The whole village falls inside the Aurora Village-Wells College Historic District, listed on the National Register.

Just north of the village, MacKenzie-Childs gives free tours of its Victorian farmhouse, where Highland cattle graze the 65-acre grounds and the shop overflows with hand-painted ceramics. The Cayuga Lake Wine Trail passes through, and Long Point Winery and its state park are a short drive off.

Trumansburg

Garrett's Brewing pours its beer inside the old Rongovian Embassy, a Main Street music hall that drew touring acts from 1973 until it closed. Live music has come back to the room. Otherwise Trumansburg is a quiet village northwest of Ithaca, where the Ulysses Historical Society has exhibits on the town's farming roots.

Just out of town, Taughannock Falls drops 215 feet in one plunge, taller than Niagara. The main trail follows the creek to the base, a flat three-quarter-mile walk. Rim trails climb to higher views and a swimming beach on Cayuga Lake. The state park has campsites and picnic areas.

Dundee

Some of the region's oldest vineyards ring Dundee, set high between Seneca and Keuka Lakes. Hermann J. Wiemer and Glenora Wine Cellars are both a few miles off on the Seneca side, working mostly in Riesling. Farm stands along Route 14A sell local produce and baked goods.

Watkins Glen State Park is the area's best-known stop, a deep gorge of stone staircases and waterfalls. It is best in the fall. The west shore of Seneca Lake has boat launches and small marinas. Closer in, Starkey's Lookout pours its own beer and wine over the lake.

A Weekend That Finally Slows Down

The Finger Lakes are best in their smallest towns. A morning on the Keuka Lake Outlet Trail and a slow dinner at the Sherwood Inn make a weekend that needs no plan. Wiemer and Glenora pour the wine around Dundee. Garrett's brings the music to Trumansburg. Geneva opens onto the lakefront. The lakes do the rest.