Need help with Hudson River Valley itinerary

We spent a few days in the Hudson Valley; click on my name to find the trip report.

The Rockefeller estate which is worth a visit is so close to NYC that you might as well pick up the car at La Guardia and make that site your first stop on your tour.

By far the simplest thing to do is to rent a car right at the airport.

Here's a thread from last summer on the region
http://www.fodors.com/community/united-states/hudson-valley-and-catskills.cfm

the OP, abram, also posted in several other threads around that time reporting on their trip. I think their summary is about the best I've seen on Fodors.

We spent six days touring the Hudson Valley in August. It was a challenging trip to figure out because of the varied days that places were open. We also found that our lodging choices seemed to be dunpy motels or fancy B&Bs--not much in between.

If you fly into White Plains (HPN), you're less than 20 minutes from Kykuit, the fabulous Rockefeller estate in Tarrytown--defintiely take the "Grand" tour.

In Hyde Park, we enjoyed the Roosevelt sites--except for Top Cottage, which we thought was a waste of time. The Venderbilt Mansion was also worth a look.

For art, DIA: Beacon is renowned if you like modern art--but we loved Storm King (a huge outdoor sculpture garden) on the west side of the river.

Other places we especially liked: Manitoga (Russel Wright Design Center--arrange for a tour in advance), West Point, Olanna, Walkway across the Hudson, Washington's HQ, Boscobel, a cruise on the Hudson.

The other choice for lodging is mid range chain motels in nondescript commercial areas. Hampton Inn, Courtyard, Holiday Inn Express, etc. Those I listed are in the Poughkeepsie area, about 10min south of Hyde Park on Rt 9.

Abram, we used the chain hotels J62 mentioned for our trip last Spring. We were traveling as an extended family of 8, and I thought the motels were dated & dumpy, and this was not a trip for fancy B&Bs or inns, although there were some lovely ones. Poughkeepsie worked as a good base for us, the sites are fairly close together and the driving was very easy. Also our hotel included breakfast. We did not visit West Point on that trip but I highly recommend it. Be sure to tour the CIA, call ahead for your tour reservation to avoid disappointment.

Here are a couple excellent websites to help you plan your trip:

hudsonvalley.org and hvnet.com

Definitely put Storm King and Olana on your must-see list.

Olanna is fantastic but check the hours.

The Hudson Valley is gorgeous from the train, like the Rhine through Germany. The perfect trip to me would be one way on the train to or from Albany so you can see the scenery, the other way by car, which you will need to get to the sights.

When you are near Hudson (the town with the famous antique stores) it is an easy hop over into the Berkshires for a day or an overnight in Great Barrington or Stockbridge, where there is much to see.

Thank you all for your feedback!! There seems to be so much to see and do in the area, its a bit overwhelming to figure out what to leave in and what to leave out. I think the idea of taking the train is cool. Otherwise, we are having to make a loop to and from the airport with the rental.

If you tell you plan to be in Manhattan for a day upon arrival (or at then end of your trip), then taking a train may make sense.

But as much as I enjoy the train, I think you'll burn a lot of unnecessary time & effort getting from LGA to Penn Station (Amtrak) or Grand Central (Metro North RR (to as far north as Poughkeepsie).

There are many places along the Hudson where you can get as good or better views if you have a car, and you'll need a car once there anyway.

If you're going back to Manhattan at the end of your trip you could drop off your car at Albany and take the train back.

If you haven't booked your flights yet, consider flying into LGA, HPN (white plains) or even SWF (Newburgh), and out of Albany so you don't backtrack.

I just recall you said you're from Austin. AUS-LGA is just beyond the 1500 regulatory limit for non-stop flights so you'll need to connect somewhere if you fly into LGA. Dallas is the best option on AA due to hourly flights on both legs.

For NYC to Austin I much prefer to take a non-stop flight from Newark (Continental/United), or JFK (JetBlue).

Another ps.

Getting from Albany to Austin is a real pain. I know several people who take that trip regularly and some actually drive from Albany to Newark to catch the non-stop flight rather than fly out of Albany.

Steady River
http://www.berfrois.com/2011/12/susan-rogers-hudson-river/

Yes, you see the dilemma, AUS to Hudson River Valley is not that easy/convenient. I think driving from LGA or Newark (better if non-stop), then dropping car somewhere and training back to Manhattan for a couple of nights would work.

Sformby: I live here in the Hudson Valley, A bit inland from Rhinebeck and Poughkeepsie. You are getting good advice from J62 and Abram's thread.

If you have any particular questions I'd be glad to try to answer.