bleason

My wife and I are retired and are physically active. We plan a trip to Long Island, New York toward the end of March of this year. We want to say in a bed and breakfast in an interesting place. Any recommendations? We will have a car. We are looking at Oyster Bay and in the Hampton Bay area, but are open to other areas. We will stay two nights. We plan to take the ferry to Connecticut on departure unless advised not to.

Second, what are must see attractions on Long Island for this time of the year?

Bobby in New Orleans

bmw732002

I would skip OB and head out to the Hamptons area.

Montauk is always beautiful if you love that end of the world ocean views.

Sag Harbor area is fun to explore

Cannot help with places to stay, sorry

-john

nytraveler

Oyster Bay has Teddy Roosevelt's home to explore. Westbury has a fairly large air and space museum. Old Bethpage has a colonial federal village. In season there are a lot ot demonstrations by docents of how life was lived in those time - but in March you will have to check hours for all of these places - not sure when they will be open - espeically if you are not there during the weekend.

The beach is always wonderful but you really have to dress warmly - since the winds off the north Atlantic can be very strong. I grew up on LI and we often went to Jones Beach or Robert Moses State Park off season - and you will probably see a couple of fisherman - but possibly also seals on the beaches.

When you get out to the Hamptons a lot of places will be closed for the season - many start opening weekends in May - and full time just before Memorial Day. Sag Harbor and Easat Hampton have museums, the north fork has a bunch of wineries yuo can tour and Montauk has a great park and lighthouse. Don;t know the hours of anything off season. We have also done whale watching from Montauk and it was incredible - but that was in the fall when they were headed south. I think March may be too early for them to head back north - but you could google and see when the boats go out. (In a half day trip we saw 3 whales, one adult with a young one and a juvenile. The young one seemed to thnk the boat was a toy and kept popping up on either side of the boat to stare at people - while mamma hung back. The uvenile came close but not as close as the young one - and breached a couple of times.)

nytraveler

as to places to stay - we usually rent a house for the summer - or stay with friends for weekends - so can't help with Inns. Would imagine many are closed - but can;t make any recos.

Bowsprit

Check out the North Fork wine trail while you're there; it's fabulous.

http://northforkwinetrail.com/

Bowsprit

Trip Advisor has a complete listing, with photos, of all the lodging options on Long Island. Take a look over there and see if anything interests you.

Aduchamp1

I do not know about jewels on LI but there are places to see and as NYTraveler points out The Hamptons will be quiet, but my nephew owns a pizza place in Westhampton Beach that makes great pizza.

ronkala

Aduchamp, I hope he didn't learn from Ma Bergman who had a pizza place in East Hampton in the early sixties. We laughed about how bad they were for many, many years.

Aduchamp1

No. I actually googled the place and he received good reviews from others. I know he puts good ingredients into his stuff. One of his daughters painted a mural in the store which is about 15 feet wide by 10 feet high and has members of the local volunteer fire department, which he and his son were members.

bleason

Thanks all for your consideration. Look for a brief trip report in April

mclaurie

March is not a great time weatherwise on Long Island, but the places to visit apart from the Hamptons/North Fork are:
Old Westbury Gardens & the mansion
Teddy Roosevelt's home, Sagamore Hill
The gold coast mansions that might be open to visit.
http://www.goldcoastmansions.com/

You either have to decide to do one area or the other or possibly stay a night in/near Oyster Bay to do Old Westbury and Sagamore Hill and then head to the east end. The Hampton Maid is Hampton Bays is not a b & b, but gets good reviews and will be a lot less expensive than a b & b in the Hamptons proper. If cost isn't an issue, look at A Butler's Manor in Southampton or the Maidstone Arms in East Hampton.

There are 2 different locations for ferries to Ct., Port Jefferson to Bridgeport Ct. or Orient Point (at the end of the North Fork) to New London. Both are expensive and don't really save time, just driving.

cindymal

I live on LI and very close to Oyster Bay,TR at Sagamore Hill is under renovation.It is very nice in OB but more of a residential community than a place to vacation.I would rec. the North Fork.It will be very nice at the end of March.There are so many lovely B&B and small Hotels along with wineries that are fun to visit.Great restaurants too.
If you take the Ferry into Port Jefferson,it is a very cute town to check out and have lunch prior to your ride to the North fork Wine Country area.
Also if you are staying in the Northfork you can take a quick ferry to Shelter Island or Sag Harbor

ekscrunchy

The restaurant that is generally agreed to be the best on the North Fork runs an inn that might suit you:

http://northforktableandinn.com/about/

There are many other options, of course. I would stay 2 nights and perhaps take a day trip to Sag Harbor on one day. En route to the ferry, take a drive through the miniscule "downtown" area of historic Orient village and maybe visit the museum there. Check their events calendar if your stay is on a weekend:

http://www.oysterpondshistoricalsociety.org/

The Orient Country Store is a local institution and a cute place for a snack or takeout lunch to bring on the ferry. Good pastries. On Village Lane, just off the main road to the ferry.


Ferry schedule and info:

https://www.longislandferry.com/default.aspx

nohogal

Aduchamp1: I'd love the name of a good pizza place in Westhampton and any other LI restaurant recommendations, as we'll be there for 4 days next week. Thanks!

330east

jewels of LI might include Cold Spring Harbor, Northport Village and Plantng Fields arboretum. As stated above the weather might be a little brisk. But one never knows. You might luck out.

Aduchamp1

It is Firehouse Pizza on Montauk Highway. He and his son are volunteer firemen in Westhampton Beach. One of the men pictured in the mural died unexpectedly and the son, who is also pictured in the mural, organizes and plays in a charity concert for the Fire Dept evey year.

The mural was also the focal point of the son's personal statement for his college application. The fireman, who was one of the chiefs, died a week before the application was due. And he wrote how he had heroes in his life and saw them every day when he went to work to help father. It made his mother cry.

http://www.thepizzaweb.com/firehousepizza.html

nohogal

Aduchamp1: thanks for the recommendation. We'll plan to stop by Firehouse Pizza. What are some other great (and/or trendy) restaurants (any price range, any location) on Long Island? Since we'll be there four days we hope to get to Montauk as well as other areas. Thanks again!