Hudson River Valley Estates: Which Ones to Visit?
 

I’m having trouble deciding which/how many estates I can visit over the course of two days in the Hudson River Valley, New York. I’ll be staying in Tarrytown at the Tarrytown House Estate and have already made dinner reservations at Chiboust and Blue Hill at Stone Farm. (I wish that I could stay at the Castle on the Hudson, it’s out of my budget; I also considered several of the chain hotels in Tarrytown, as well as the new Ritz-Carlton Westchester, but the Tarrytown House Estate looked like it had some personality, as well as good deals on room rates.)

To me, it seems the not-to-be-missed estates are Kykuit, Springwood, Vanderbilt, and Lyndhurst, but others look interesting as well, including Phillipsburg Manor, Sunnyside, Boscobel, Val-Kil, Wilderstein, Staatsburgh, and Olana.

I’m thinking that I can see two estates each day, perhaps Kykuit and Lyndhurst one day, followed by Springwood and Vanderbilt the next day. Does that sound like a reasonable plan? Should I try to squeeze in more sights, or change the four that I’ve selected? Any ideas or itinerary suggestions are appreciated. Thanks!

Definitely do not miss Kykuit. You will need to make advance reservations for a tour time for this estate. Along the way, a stop at the Pocantico Union Church will work to see the Chagall stained windows (especially if it's a sunny day). You could also do this on your way to dinner at Blue Hill (depending on your dinner time).

Lyndhurst is a good pairing with Kykuit and you could probably also squeeze in Sunnyside. They're all close to each other and none are so big that they take up that much time.

On the way up to Vanderbilt, you can stop at Phillipsburg Manor, there's not much to see there, nice grounds, sometimes they have some kind of festival going on. You can also stop at Boscobel on the way up or down. The views of the Hudson are great from there.

If you get an early start, I think you can squeeze all of this in over two days.

If you need any further help, let me know, this is my backyard and stomping ground :)

BTW, the Tarrytown House is very nice and does have a lot of personality (and ghost stories).

Philipsburg Manor makes a good kids school field trip, or if you want to take a tour of a working farm.

Staatsburg I rank lower on the list. Great location (grounds) for a festival or a hike near the river, but not worth a detour just to visit.

Boscobel - also a nice grounds to visit. Better yet is a picnic on the grounds followed by a summer Shakespeare play. This summer schedule is posted online. hvshakespeare.org The 3 plays this year are Shrew, Troilus, and Bomb-itty of errors.

My tolerance for historic mansions is about 1 every summer. Not sure I could handle 4 in two days. Given a choice, I'd mix in Storm King art center (just south of West Point) and skip another mansion. www.stormking.org

I think you could add another estate to the Springwood/Vanderbilt day. We toured both of those two estates in 1/2 day although we did not linger on the grounds because the weather wasn't great.

A perfect pairing with the Vanderbilt Estate is FDR's home and museum. All are in Hyde Park and close to each other.
Phillipsburg Manor can easily be included on your Kykuit/Lyndhurst day. It's very convenient since that is where you park your car and get transported to Kykuit. I agree that you should not miss Kykuit. Of all the estates in the lower Hudson Valley, that's my favorite.
I agree with the recommendation of Boscobel, especially if you'll be coming when the roses are in bloom. The mansion is interesting, the grounds are beautiful and the views of the Hudson River are magnificent.
I also strongly agree with the recommendation of including Storm King in your plans.

During your estate-hoping extravagaza, remember there are amazing restaurants along the way! Hudson Valley chefs are notorious for their farm-to-table fares and seasonal menu, which you can pair with a Hudson Valley wine!

I'm pretty sure that Storm King Art Center is north of West Point.

We had a great weekend in the Hudson River Valley! There's so much to see that we already know we'll take another trip sometime in the future.

On our first day, we visited West Point before crossing the Hudson to see Vanderbilt and Vassar. Ate lunch at the Beechtree Grill in Poughkeepsie, just off the Vassar campus. It didn't look like much from the outside, but the food and service were very good. We ended up staying in Tarrytown at the Springhill Suites, which suited our purposes just fine. (Although we cancelled the Tarrytown House Estate, we did drive around the property, and that would have been a fine choice.) Dinner at Chiboust was quite good, particularly the desserts.

On our second day, we visited Kykuit, which was lovely. If you have just one mansion to see, this should be it! But definitely make a reservation, and try to visit early in the day. Tours seem to sell out quickly (maximum of 18 people per group), and parking (at Phillipsburg Manor) is at a premium. (You are bused from Phillipsburg to Kykuit.) We ate Sunday brunch in Tarrytown at Sweet Grass Grill, which was delicious, and the outdoor patio tables are a nice place to dine. Afterwards, we visited Union Church to see the Chagall and Matisse windows, and then toured Blue Hill at Stone Barns. We ate dinner at Blue Hill in the evening, but because jacket and tie are requested for men, we thought it best to do our tour of the gardens, greenhouses, and livestock pens in more casual dress. Our meal at Blue Hill was the most unique we've ever had in terms of ingredients. Presentation wasn't overly fussy, but rather rustic and natural. The service wasn't as good as I had expected, but overall it was worth the cost and the effort (reserving two months in advance). My best advice for Blue Hill is to take an early reservation--it takes 3 to 4 hours for a full meal, depending on whether you choose 5 or 8 courses, and we recount at least 10 amuse bouches were served before any of the actual courses were placed in front of us. Bring your appetite!

On our last morning, we visited Lyndhurst, which was worthwhile, but hard to stand up to Kykuit, even though it was very different in style. We probably should have also stopped at Washington Irving's Sunnyside before departing for home, but at that point we were somewhat "mansioned out" as a previous poster thought we might be.

All in all, it was a great 3-day weekend, and next time we'll move a little farther north to see the mid and/or upper Hudson region.

You definitely made some excellent choices both in terms of sites and restaurants. We agree about Kykuit being the best and are equally high on Chiboust.
The next time, you must include Storm King.