These lesser known New York attractions and tours might stump some readers. Y’all probably know about Niagara Falls. But were you aware of the concentration of spectacular waterfalls in New York’s Fingerlakes? Or that the Erie Canal once ran right through downtown Syracuse? Or that there’s a museum devoted to toys and play, another to Comedy greats? Discover all these and more on this list of quirky, lesser known New York State tours and attractions. Read on.
Care to turn these tours into weekends away, and stick to New York? Read our ideas in this Best Romantic Getaways in NY post.
Lesser Known New York State Tours and Attractions
Tour the Finger Lakes and visit multiple waterfalls in comfort with Experience! the Finger Lakes
Offering the most popular vineyard and waterfall van tours in the area, Experience the Finger Lakes! has some pretty serious wine knowledge cred. Laura Winter Falk – who owns the tour company with her husband Alan – is a certified Sommelier. She and other trained guides drive guests around all of the Finger Lakes in posh 14-seat vans stocked with snacks and water bottles. Although the majority of requested full day tours are “wine related,” EFL also offers hidden waterfall tours, guided hikes, and interpretive walks as well.
Imagine you’re a 19th century summer resident on a Discover Cayuga Lake Boat Tour in Ithaca
On your two hour narrated tour six miles up and back on the 39 mile long Cayuga Lake, try to imagine it’s the late 1800’s, and this is just one of the 17 passenger ferries plying the water, transporting summer residents to their waterfront cottages. Back then, though horse and buggies trudged the dirt roads that ringed the Lake, steamships were the most efficient and comfortable option.
Birdwatchers flock to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology at Sapsucker Woods Sanctuary, just outside of Ithaca
You just might misconstrue the Lab of Ornithology as a bland science building. But, it’s thrilling and often overlooked about five miles from campus and town. Yes, Cornell Undergrads and Graduate School students do research here. But the public is welcome on the grounds of this 400 acre nature sanctuary with open arms and a knowledgeable staff.
Hike and then float down the magnificent Ausable Chasm, just like your Great-Grandparents did – in the Adirondacks
Wow! How did you ever miss this? The Ausable Chasm?? Pressing through walls of rock in an inflatable raft on a chute of whitewater, you might experience the nirvana that tourists did back in the 70’s – the 1870’s that is – when larger wooden boats were pulled back into place through an elaborate pulley system. The boats may have changed, but the grandeur has not, and it’s certainly worth the 40-minute drive from Lake Placid.
Beak and Skiff Orchards, near Syracuse NY is one of America’s Top Family Orchards, with 1911 Established Distillery strictly for grownups
Families love Beak & Skiff each fall for “Pick Your Own Apples,” an annual tradition for many around here. Adults come for the concerts and creatively wacky adult beverages at the 1911 Established Distillery. Fifth Generation, Eddie Brennan (whose mother, Debbie, is a Skiff), has expanded the Orchard-Distillery into both a concert and wedding venue as well.
The Erie Canal once ran right through the center of downtown Syracuse, NY as you’ll learn at the Erie Canal Museum
The older part of the Erie Canal Museum was, in 1850, the Weighlock Building – where canal boats were weighed for tolls, like semi-tractor trucks are today. It stands as the last remaining canal boat weigh station in America. Since the museum first opened in 1962, it doubled in size with a new 2016 first floor exhibit showcasing “functional interactives” (read: phone stations where you can listen to stories) amid text panels and artifacts.
Discover the indigenous Nation that taught Ben Franklin about democracy and peacekeeping at the Ska.Nonh Great Law of Peace Center, a Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Heritage Site near Syracuse
Franklin was inspired by the way the five nations of the Haudenosaunee made treaties with each other and with the Europeans.
Meet the American suffragist who was too “radical” for even Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton at the Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation Center and Museum near Syracuse
Gage was the inspiration for Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, and was also one of the three founders of the National Women’s Suffrage Association (NWSA) with Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Yet we never hear of Gage today. Learn why at this lesser known New York State attraction.
Visit the Jell-O Gallery Museum in the tiny town of Leroy NY (Genesee County), known as the “Birthplace of Jell-O”
Although Jell-O is no longer produced in LeRoy NY, vestiges of “America’s Most Famous Dessert” remains. It just takes one tweak of an existing product, followed by marketing moxie, to create a gangbuster product: which is basically the short story of Jell-O. You’ll learn that and more at a visit to the Jell-O Gallery Museum, situated in the very town in which this ubiquitous dessert was invented and produced for decades.
Have a laugh – or a million – at the National Comedy Center in Jamestown NY
This zingy, incredibly interactive museum is an outgrowth of the annual Lucille Ball Comedy Festival, in Ball’s hometown. The daffy but shrewd businesswomen, Ms. Ball, didn’t want a shrine to her alone – she preferred that her hometown be a destination for comedy as a whole. And, so it was. And it’s phenomenal.
Learn, relax, and play music at the Chautauqua Institution
Chautauqua (20 minute drive from Jamestown) was founded in 1874 as a retreat from “everyday life” for Methodist Sunday School teachers on the pristine Lake Chautauqua in the Western NY wilderness. Since then, this 9-week-long summer learning/recreational village has grown into a multi-faith lakefront resort.
The list of attractions runs long: with fine and performing arts, classical and rock concerts, lectures by stellar politicians, scientists, academics, religious figures, and visionaries, movies, golf (two 18-hole courses), sailing, tennis, fitness centers, two beaches, and so much more. It is, as those involved say, “a festival for the mind, body and spirit.”
Have tons of fun at the The Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester NY
This humongous (285,000 sq ft.) temple of toys sprang from the toy chest of buggy whip company heiress, Margaret Strong, in 1968. Needless to say, The Strong Museum, opened to the public in 1982, is “family friendly.” But it also transports adults back to childhood, with cherished playthings of yore that spark conversations between parents and children.
Go through a lock on the Erie Canal on Sam Patch Canal Boat near Rochester
The Erie Canal, declared a National Heritage Corridor, was built starting in 1817 to transport goods from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. But it became nearly obsolete when completed in 1825. Travel a few miles of the originally 40 ft wide, 4 ft deep 323 mile long canal – and into one of the locks that allowed early freighters to navigate these waters on this eye-opening tour. “NY is not flat, and boats don’t like going downhill,” our guide quipped. “The level change from one end to the other is the height of a 50 story building.”
Explore the historic buildings of Genesee Country Village and Museum near Rochester NY
Genesee Counrty Village & Museum is the third largest living history museum in the USA (in number of historic buildings, after Williamsburg and Greenfield Village). If you want to explore all 68 pedigreed historic buildings (one, the boyhood home of George Eastman) on 20 acres, come mid-May to Mid October, when costumed docents bustle around, tending to the duties of a working 19th century village.
Revel in The Woodstock Music Festival at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts in Sullivan County NY
Can you believe that the Woodstock Music Festival took place over 50 years ago? In 1969? As a lesser known New York attraction, the name “Bethel Woods” might not ring a bell. But this was Yasgur’s Farm! It’s now a fantastically moving museum and once-again live music venue. Bethel Woods is hallowed ground and a touchstone for Boomers who lived through the 60’s. And also for youngsters intrigued by that era.
Ride smoothly on a square wheeled bike at the Museum of Mathematics aka MoMath in Manhattan’s Chelsea Neighborhood
Though it may sound a tad academic, the innovative and interactive MoMath is a two-floor playground for number nerds. And also for those who claim to have no faculty for figures. Despite aptitude, all who enter here will thrill at maneuvering a car on a mobius strip, running through virtual “gates,” sinking basketballs, and peddling a trike with square wheels. Along with many more mathlete-approved merriments.
Discover J.P. Morgan’s glorious secret book stash at the Morgan Library and Museum in downtown Manhattan
Most tourists don’t know about this terrific museum and the exquisitely preserved library. John Pierpont Morgan – founder of J.P. Morgan – commissioned Charles McKim of McKim, Meade and White, to build this edifice to literature in 1906. The 2006 expansion by Renzo Piano – a magnificent glass box atrium – connects a lovely restaurant and other galleries to the incredible 4-room Library. It was restored in 2010 to its original splendor.
