8 Towns In The Finger Lakes With The Best Downtown Areas

The Finger Lakes region of New York pulls travelers in with eleven glacial lakes, vineyards, and gorges. But the downtowns of those communities hold up just as well. The eight stops below each carry a defining feature. Susan B. Anthony stood trial in one of them. Elizabeth Cady Stanton read the Declaration of Sentiments in another. The list below covers what makes each main street worth the drive.

Geneva

Geneva sits at the north end of Seneca Lake, the largest of the eleven Finger Lakes by volume. The city claims the title Lake Trout Capital of the World based on the Seneca Lake fishery, and the National Lake Trout Derby runs every Memorial Day weekend out of Lakefront Park. South Main Street carries the densest stretch of Federal and Greek Revival row houses in upstate New York, often compared to Boston's Beacon Hill, anchored by Pulteney Park. The 1894 Smith Opera House on Seneca Street hosts live music, films, and touring productions in a restored Beaux-Arts theater. Belhurst Castle, an 1880s Romanesque Revival house on Lochland Road, operates as a hotel and restaurant with three on-site wineries. Hobart and William Smith Colleges anchor the lakefront with one of the country's older small-college campuses.

Watkins Glen

Watkins Glen sits at the south end of Seneca Lake, where Watkins Glen State Park draws over a million visitors a year to its 1.5-mile Gorge Trail past 19 waterfalls. Franklin Street downtown carries the bulk of the local shops and restaurants in 19th-century commercial brick. Nickel's Pit serves wood-smoked pig wings that regularly sell out by mid-afternoon, with a sunny dog-friendly patio on North Franklin Street. Seneca Harbor Station, an 1876 New York Central depot, now operates as a waterfront restaurant on the bay with original timber beams intact. The Watkins Glen Harbor Hotel on Lake Street earned USA Today 10Best Reader's Choice recognition for waterfront hotels, with rooms facing the lake and the marina. Watkins Glen International racetrack five miles south hosts NASCAR Cup Series and IndyCar weekends each summer.

Ithaca

Ithaca sits at the south end of Cayuga Lake on a network of gorges and waterfalls that earned the town its Ithaca is Gorges slogan. Cornell University on East Hill anchors the local economy and runs the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, home to the country's largest archive of bird recordings and wildlife sound. The Cornell Botanic Gardens cover over 4,300 acres of formal gardens, arboretum, and natural areas open to the public. The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, designed by I.M. Pei in 1973, holds over 35,000 works including Asian, contemporary, and American art collections. The Commons, Ithaca's pedestrian downtown along East State Street, carries dozens of independent restaurants, shops, and galleries with weekly summer concerts. Aurora Street's Restaurant Row covers Vietnamese, Ethiopian, and Northeastern farm-to-table cuisine within three blocks.

Penn Yan

Penn Yan sits at the north end of Y-shaped Keuka Lake, the only branched lake in the Finger Lakes. Birkett Mills on Main Street has milled grain continuously since 1797, making it one of the oldest operating mills in the country and the largest single producer of buckwheat flour in North America. The Arts Center of Yates County on Main Street runs a free public gallery with rotating exhibits from regional artists. The Windmill Farm & Craft Market on Route 14A just south of town brings together 170+ Amish, Mennonite, and other regional vendors every Saturday in season. The Keuka Lake Wine Trail runs around the shoreline with stops at Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery, the founder of vinifera grape farming in the Finger Lakes. Birkett Mills' Pancake Day every September draws crowds to Main Street for a record-setting batter pancake and live music.

Hammondsport

Hammondsport sits at the south tip of Keuka Lake with a population of about 580. Pulteney Square anchors the village center as the original town green, surrounded by Federal-era buildings now housing wine-tasting rooms, gift shops, and the Bully Hill Vineyards tasting room. Vern's Bakery on Mechanic Street draws lines for outsized cinnamon rolls and morning pastries. The Glenn H. Curtiss Museum on Lake Street displays early aircraft, motorcycles, and inventions from the local aviation pioneer who lived here and built the country's first successful seaplane. The Finger Lakes Boating Museum next door collects wooden launches, sailing yachts, and Penn Yan canoes spanning more than a century of Keuka Lake boating. Champlin Beach at the south end of Keuka Lake holds the public swimming area, with the Park Inn on the square offering rooms a block from the water.

Canandaigua

Canandaigua sits at the north end of Canandaigua Lake with a name from the Seneca for chosen spot. Susan B. Anthony stood trial here for the federal crime of voting at the 1858 Ontario County Courthouse on Main Street in June 1873, fined $100 that she famously refused to pay. Sonnenberg Gardens & Mansion State Historic Park on Charlotte Street covers 50 acres of Victorian formal gardens around the 40-room 1887 mansion of banker Frederick Ferris Thompson. The Granger Homestead and Carriage Museum displays 80+ horse-drawn vehicles in the original 1816 Federal-style home of Postmaster General Gideon Granger. Downtown Main Street holds locally owned restaurants, boutiques, and the New York Wine and Culinary Center showcasing the state's food and wine traditions. The Canandaigua Lake Wine Trail runs over 20 miles of vineyards and tasting rooms around the lakeshore.

Seneca Falls

Seneca Falls hosted the first women's rights convention in the United States in July 1848, where Elizabeth Cady Stanton read the Declaration of Sentiments before 300 attendees. The Women's Rights National Historical Park on Fall Street preserves the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel where the convention met, the Stanton House, and the M'Clintock House where the Declaration was drafted. The National Women's Hall of Fame occupies the restored 1844 Seneca Knitting Mill at 76 Fall Street, honoring more than 300 inductees with rotating exhibits and a research library. The It's a Wonderful Life Bridge on Bridge Street is widely believed to have inspired Frank Capra's 1946 film, with the Seneca Falls It's a Wonderful Life Museum running themed exhibits a few blocks away. The Ludovico Sculpture Trail along the Cayuga-Seneca Canal offers a mile-long accessible walk past works honoring women in history. Van Cleef Lake at the center of town provides paddling and fishing access in a downtown setting.

Skaneateles

Skaneateles sits at the north tip of Skaneateles Lake, one of the cleanest natural lakes in the United States, supplying unfiltered drinking water to Syracuse since the 1890s. The lake's clarity allows visibility past 25 feet on calm days, with public swimming at Clift Park and Thayer Park along the village waterfront. The 1807 Sherwood Inn on West Genesee Street has operated continuously as a tavern, stagecoach stop, and inn for over two centuries, with lakefront dining and a small collection of rooms. Mid-Lakes Navigation runs daily mailboat cruises from the village dock through the summer, delivering mail to lakeside cottages as the only US mailboat service still operating today. Carpenter's Falls Unique Area south of town offers a short walking trail to a 90-foot waterfall on Bear Swamp Creek. Skaneateles Country Club with its 18-hole course sits along the western lakeshore with views to the eastern hills.

The Finger Lakes Downtowns

The eight downtowns above each carry their own story. Geneva has its row houses and opera. Watkins Glen has its harbor and gorge. Ithaca has its university and gorges. Penn Yan has its mill and wine trail. Hammondsport has its village green and aviation history. Canandaigua has its Anthony trial and Sonnenberg Gardens. Seneca Falls holds the women's rights story. Skaneateles has its lake clear enough to drink. Together they form one of the densest collections of walkable, historic downtowns in the Northeast.