jimmyT123

hey
going to be in nyc for a week in mid september with my gf, so i thought about renting a car and taking some time to see something outside of the city, i though about doing a trip to niagra falls for 2 days +- (that the idael amount of time that i think will leave me enough time to enjoy the city) so i planned the following trip, drive times were calculated by google maps, don't know if its realistic, perhaps i will be spending too much time at some place or too little at a place that deserves more, or i will be arriving at hours when its closed

1st day (supposed to be friday)
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leave manhattan at 08:00
arrive at albany at 10:30 - places to see : New York State Capitol, USS Slater
drive to howe caverns, reach it at around 16:00, take the 80 minutes tour
leave caverns at around 18:00 , drive to itacha, sleep there

2nd day (saturday)
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visit cornell university
take some tour (wines/waterfalls etc'), leave itacha at around 17
drive to niagra falls (us side), reach it at around 20,sleep there

3rd day (sunday)
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leave niagra falls at around 14,
drive to corning, to visit the glass musem
reach corning 16:30
leave corning at 18:00
reach manhattan at 22:00


what do you think? the idea is not to drive for 6.5 hours straight from nyc to the falls but to make stops along the way for all kinda cool stuff. except howe caverns (which seems like a thing that shouldn't be missed) nothing is written in stone.

IMDonehere

It is a longer drive than 6.5 hours in total.

If you have been to NYC or NY State before than I can understand the trip, otherwise there are many more interesting places to visit. Albany could also be used as a sleep clinic. At Cornell the gorges are pretty, but it is at the bottom of the Ivies for having a nice campus.

And Niagara is worth a day. Although people say the Corning Museum is very interesting. Thus you are basically a week to spend 1/2 day at the Falls.

tomfuller

Take the train from Penn Station at least as far as Rochester.
This is too much driving for 2 hours look at Niagara Falls.
If you have passports, the Canadian side is better.

sf7307

I think IM is seriously wrong in his opinion of the Cornell campus. It's one of the most beautiful I've ever seen (and way up there among the ivies)

IMDonehere

I have taken the train from NY Penn to Syracuse many times. The on-time rate is abysmal. In fact we are going soon, and I spent some extra money to fly.

garyt22

This entire trip is a bad plan... you are zig zagging all over...

Instead... go NYC to Ithaca...then Watkins Glen State Park... then drive up the lake stopping for wine tours...then head for Niagara Falls...

After Niagara... head to Corning and back to NYC...

Skip Albany... if you want a nature experience, substitute Letchworth State Park after leaving Niagara... it's called the Grand Canyon of the east and it's on the way to Corning...

jimmyT123

thanks for all the responses!
i have been in nyc for 3 days last year so that's why i think a week will be too much now.
@tomfuller - i can also fly there since its going to be about 4 hours door to door with flight time to buffalo (30 minutes taxi to airpoirt, be there 90 minutes before, 90 minutes flight, 30 minutes) i think i would rather drive and see some nice stuff along the way. i have passports so the canadian side is an option.


@garyt22 - that's exactly the reason i posted this message, because i figured i might have come up with something that only looks good on paper..
i didn't understand, how exactly are you suggesting to split the days?
i would say that i don't mind skipping albany, nothing special about there, but i think i would't wanna skip howes cavern

so taking your advises into consideration i changed the plan as you will see, but i think from what i saw finding a wine tour at the time i will reach itacha area is going to be an issue (perhaps it doesn't even makes sense because it will be too dark outside then), the latest i see a tour starting is around 1330.

what do you think?


friday
---------

leave new york 08:00
reach cavern 11:00
leave cavern 13:00
drive to the itacha area / wetkins glen - reaching it around 16
???
sleep in itacha

saturday
------------

leave for niagra falls at around 08:00, reach it in 11, spend the full day there


sunday
------
leave niagra falls at 08:00
Letchworth State Park 09:30
leave park 13:30
reach corning at 14:30
leave corning 16:30
reach new york 20:30

georgeb944

I've been to Howe Caverns. If you are a geologist, I'm sure you would like it. Otherwise, it's a cave, with names that are designed to make it less cavelike and more interesting than a cave. (It's a waste of money and time.)

After visiting there, I thought they should rename it to "Howe did they ever come up with this idea?"...

jimmyT123

lol ok will check this issue more, if its indeed not worth it i can just go straight from nyc to itacha reaching it by 1230 and that solves all my problems..

SeaF

You can combine Niagara Falls with Niagara-on-the-Lake , Ontario which is a short drive from the Falls (20 miniutes or so). There are nice wineries in the area. You could do both in one day.