Upstate New York fall travel ideas

Boldt Castle, The Thousand Islands, New York

*All photos are my own, and I claim copyright under the Copyright Laws.

Fall is an almost ideal travel time in my book. Summer’s incessant heat relents, the cold weather doesn’t settle in just yet, and, as long as the rain stays away, one can experience days that are simply gorgeous.

After our short stay in Upstate New York in the early fall of 2019 - a year that was unforgettable for us, I have begun to have stronger feelings for this season. I’m not a person that likes the cold, and I certainly don’t dream of living in a 4-season place ever again, but I can admit that each season has its own charm, even if that charm is short-lived in my book - there’s nothing charming about a winter that lasts 5-6 months. That in itself is a very depressing thought for me. Anyway…

I’ve never appreciated fall that much, not until we moved to, and subsequently left Southern California, where this season is pretty much non-existent. After traveling for most of 2019, we stopped in Upstate New York for a while to figure out our next “move”. That’s when I fell in love with autumn.

Since it was the end of the “fun season”, the area was mostly deserted by tourists and other partial-residents that usually escape the city and spend their summers, or at the very least, their weekends Upstate.

A mostly deserted area is the ideal vacation spot for me, and the reason why we found our time there blissful; the views alone were breathtaking!

If you’re craving a place away from people, I say that the Upstate New York region and Vermont might be the best choices, though, the areas have become more popular, especially during this pandemic, and some places might be busy.

However, if you want to experience fall and everything it has to offer, those are the places to go. I don’t have specific recommendations for places to stay or eat at, as we stayed at a family’s place, and cooked our own meals, but as general recommendations, check out what I wrote about things to do in the Adirondacks, and/or Upstate New York - I strongly recommend visiting Niagara Falls this time of year (check their website for COVID updates for the USA, and here for Canada).

Other activities I fully recommend to do this fall in Upstate New York:

getting on any kind of boat (even kayak) and stopping somewhere in the middle of a lake to take in the views and sounds (like I shared here),
driving on scenic roads - there are so many up there,
getting on Whiteface Mountain,
visiting Boldt Castle, a work of art with a heartbreaking story, and
hiking The Taughannock Falls and Buttermilk Falls state parks, for some incredible natural wonders and views (we visited these in mid-October, and as you can see, some areas had more foliage than others).