Day Trip from NYC - Tarrytown, Bannerman Island or what?
 

Will be visiting NYC in the fall and am planning a day trip out of NYC. If my choice is to either spend the day in Tarrytown or do the boat trip to Bannerman Island, what's the better way to spend the day?

How about a visit to Kykuit, the Rockefeller estate in Pocantico, followed by a fabulous dinner at Blue Hill at Stone Barns?

http://www.hudsonvalley.org/content/view/12/42/
http://www.bluehillfarm.com/food/blue-hill-stone-barns

That's what I planned to do if I go to Tarrytown. Kykuit, Philipsburg Manor and Sunnyside and then maybe just walk around the town a bit.

That would be a lovely day.

I would not rate a trip to Bannerman island high on my must do day trips.

If you come to Cold Spring, you can train up, and rent a kayak to go around Bannermans (weather permitting) or go on a walk to the overlook from Route 9d, or go up Bull Hill to look down on it. There are boat trips to Bannermans occasionally from Beacon through the Bennermans Island group. People generally enjoy them. http://bannermancastle.org/
You can also visit Boscobel and Manitoga.

Cold Spring also has great restaurants!

Another vote for Tarrytown, (I'm a bit prejudiced as I live there), great historic sites with a cute Main Street and nice restaurants (plus we have two right on the Hudson, by the train station).

I do not vote for walking around Sleepy Hollow but Tarrytown is fine. I too am prejudiced as I live there as well. Hi neighbor.

Another vote for Cold Spring ... take the train.

Both options are good. We took a tour of Bannerman Island a few years ago and found it most interesting. If you have access to a car, I'd recommend a third option, namely, a trip to Storm King Art Center in Cornwall. It's spectacular in the fall. If you don't have a car, then I lean towards Kykuit, our favorable Hudson Valley destination.

actually you could do Tarrytown and Cold Spring both. We are not that far apart!

About 35 miles apart, to be exact!

I only have one day :-(.

I have a feeling my next trip to NYC, I need to set aside more than 1 day and just take the train and see the other towns along the train route and then Bannerman Island.

Yes, the Hudson Valley is worth many trips!

Today is our seventh (and last) day of a Hudson River Valley trip--and we certainly could have used more time. We've had a wonderful vacation-- combination of history, art, and nature.

We started in Tarrytown, had lunch at Lefteris (very good) and toured Kykuit (I recommend the three hour "Grand" tour), had an excellent Indian dinner at Tanjore in Fishkill.

Sunday we went to Boscobel, Manitoga (fabulous) and DIA:Beacon (reminded me that I'm too unsophisticated to "get" modern art),liked the Eveready Diner in Hyde Park.

Monday, the Vanderbilt Mansion, the Roosevelt sites, Poet's Walk Park, good sushi at Wasabi in Hudson.

Tuesday, Olana, the Martin Van Buren site, afternoon with an old friend, dinner at an odd place in Tannersville--hiking to Kaaterskill Falls got rained out.

Wednesday, first Senate House (not worth it), river boat cruise in Kingston, Maritime Museum, Walkway Over The Hudson in Highland, hiking in Mohonk Preserve, very good Thai dinner at Lemongrass in New Paltz.

Thursday, Huguenot St, Washington's HQ, Storm King (amazing), good Mexican dinner at Maria Bonita in Highland Falls. We're staying at the Thayer Hotel in West Point--what a mistake!.

Today, we'll tour West Point, go to Fort Montgomery, then back to Tarrytown for the weekend. The reason for our trip is the Ardsley HS class of '66 reunion.

Nice trip Abram, you covered a lot of ground. No meals at the CIA though? What happened at the Thayer? We stayed there a few years ago for a little getaway weekend and thought it was nice. This must be a weekend for reunions, a friend of mine has one in Hastings too.

Travelbug - hello neighbor to you too!

Red Iced Tea - you could do both Cold Spring/Tarrytown if you get up early in the day. Spend the AM in Cold Spring then work your way back South. If you drive, it might be to your advantage to rent a car for the day, very easy driving from NYC.

Nice trip Abram.

I've been to Tanjore Indian for lunch (buffet) but never dinner. I'll add it to my mid-Hudon restaurant list.

If you like large scale modern art then the Dia is great. It's not a place I'd frequent, but a one time visit is interesting. Downtown Beacon is undergoing a revival of sorts, and there are other art galleries in town that are interesting. Things are scattered around Beacon, so it's not a simple stroll from the train to the Dia to Main St, (either end).

Apparently there are a few good restaurants that have opened up in Beacon, but I don't have any of my own recommendations yet.

How did you like Lemongrass in NP? Also not on my list as I've never been there.

For Red Iced tea, I also recommend renting a car if you can. If you're sticking to just one location, e.g. Tarrytown & nearby Kykuit then you could get by with RR and shuttle or taxi, but if you want to visit 2 towns, or add in a museum then car is a nice to have.

I would not rate Cold Spring worth a morning visit. It's a nice little village to stroll going to/from a nice restaurant, but not worth a stop just to see. My 2c.

My compliments, abram, for a well planned and executed Hudson Valley experience. You really did hit the high spots.
And, I definitely agree with the recommendation for RedIcedTea to rent a card. Sure, we have wonderful Metro North train service, but not for visiting multiple destinations!

thanks for all the ideas. I think definitely renting a car will have to be for my next trip. Actually Cold Spring and Beacon were one of the first towns I was looking at before I found Tarrytown so definitely will be visiting in the future.