Planning a Day Trip from Poughkeepsie (Returning by 6pm)
 

Hello, Dear All,

I'm arriving to Poughkeepsie, NY, in 3 weeks from now (mid-March) for a conference. I'll have one free day (midweek), during which I'd like to travel to somewhere nice. I'll be in NYC before and after the conference, so for this day I'm looking for something else. I'll rent a car in the morning and will have to return it by 6pm, when the office is closed. So far for limitations.

Now for wishes... I love nature and love to trek. I love historical towns. Also, I love good, authentic (vegetarian) food (especially sweets ;-) ). And I love to learn new things.

I'd appreciate any recommendations of a nice day trip that will meet my limitations and wishes. Will it be possible at all to trek/walk, I mean will there still be snow everywhere?...

Thanks in advance!

Why not a trip to Saratoga Springs? http://www.saratoga.com/
The northbound Amtrak Adirondack is in POU about 9:45AM. It gets to Saratoga about noon. Spend 4.5 hours in Saratoga and take the southbound Adirondack at 4:45PM getting back to POU before 8PM.

There's lots to do in Hyde Park - tour the FDR Home/visit the Library/visit the mansions. And you could dine at the CIA - Culinary Institute of America

http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel...rk-TG-C-1.html

http://www.ciachef.edu/newyork/

Further north Rhinebeck is cute and has a lot of nice restaurants - several listed as vegetarian.

I meant to say I don't know about the weather as I'm further north but suspect that even if the snow has gone it will be wet for traditional hiking.

Son used to teach at Vassar College and we love the Hudson Valley. I think I'd recommend touring one or several mansions: Wilderstein, Vanderbilt, Olana (Frederick Church), Martin VanBuren Historic Site, Val Kill (Eleanor Roosevelt) and certainly Springwood (Nat'l Historic site of FDR). Further south is West Point and yes Culinary Institute if you can get in might be good. We've enjoy all of these. Yes, Rhinebeck and other towns, too. Someone help me remember...a winery in the area? Is it Millbrook?

Will you have a car or do you need something that you can get to via public transit/train etc?

Thanks all for the great responses! I'll sure check out all of them, as they sound terrific!

As for transportation - I can definitely rent a car, maybe even the day before. In that case, however, I'm limited by time of arrival back in Poughkeepsie.

If paths are not yet accessible to waking/trekking, I guess the best option would be indeed to explore the Hudson Valley.

You can have a meal at the CIA, tour the FDR home, a nice day. Add the Vanderbilt Mansion if you have more time.