I will be leaving NYC on a Friday later afternoon in early October and need to be in Buffalo by 10 am on Monday morning. Can anyone suggest a scenic route and sweet places to stay while we are meandering back to Buffalo? We will have already visited the Falls earlier in our trip. All suggestions would be welcome. We are looking for scenery and / or color changes.
Thanks

Through Cooperstown with a stop at the MLB Hall of Fame

I love route 20 which goes through the finger lakes...

Taconic Parkway towards Albany. A lovely, scenic Highway. When you get up toward Albany, explore nearby Hudson Valley and/or the Berkshires. Stockbridge Mass is a nice side trip that is not much out of your way. The foilage in the Hudson Valley and Berkshires can be outstanding if you hit it at the right time. From Albany, take Rt 20 west. That will take you close enough to Cooperstown if you like that and skirt the northern Finger Lakes. Spend time meandering a bit south among the lakes and then pick up 20 west again.

IMHO, just about anywhere you drive in New York state will be scenic. It really is a very pretty state.

CAPH-You are so right about that...

I'm also planning a drive through the eastern sections of NY State soon and wonder if the highways (Taconic, etc.) are in any better condition than they were on my last trip several years ago. I loved New York and its scenic beauty but the highways were horrible.

Make sure you visit Letchworth State Park, southeast of Buffalo. Skaneatlas in the Finger Lakes, southwest of Syracuse is a very pretty town, with nice shopping and restaurants. Ithaca, also in the Finger Lakes, is also a nice town with a few state parks nearby for nice scenery.

If you do decide to come west along Route 20, I have a few suggestions. Stop at the Women's Rights National Historic Park or the National Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls:
http://www.nps.gov/wori/
http://www.greatwomen.org/visit.php

Further west, you can stop in Geneva and take a fall foliage train ride:
http://www.fingerlakes.org/press_rel...es/9-12-07.htm

And still further west, you could stop at the New York Wine and Culinary Center in Canandaigua:
http://www.nywcc.com/

I also strongly second the vote for Letchworth State Park which on Columbus Day Weekend has a huge outdoor arts and crafts fair.

Also, the Konstantin Frank Vinyard in the Finger Lake area is a very nice one to visit.

If you're driving up the Taconic (which is in the repaving process in parts), Rhinebeck is a small town with some nice shops and restaurants. The Culinary Institute is a great stop but check the restaurant hours and make reservations if you can. Bard College has some interesting exhibits and architechture. Olana is an interesting mansion and has great views of the Hudson. The town of Hudson has a lot of antique shops. Chatham has shops and nice restaurants for lunch or dinner (and an old-fashioned $5 first-run movie theater--marquee with light bulbs instead of neon!). Chatham/Ghent also has Omi, an open-air art and writers' institute and if you keep your eyes on the right/east as you head north just before Chatham on the Taconic you'll see a few huge sculptures in a field. Route 22 (north/south road) from Dutchess County thru Columbia County can bring you to route 20 (east/west)--it parallels the Taconic and takes you through some lovely valleys and farmlands. The intersection of rts 20 and 22 is in New Lebanon NY, only a few miles from the Shaker Village in Sheffield Mass (on rt 20 going east)--very interesting and definitely worth a stop.There are several bed and breakfasts in New Lebanon and several motels in the Pittsfield area. Beautiful time of year in NY! Have fun!

Thank you all SO much for the helpful ideas. A foliage viewing train ride sounds awesome. I'm printing out all the ideas and I'm going to plan a route on my brand new NY state map!
thanks again