Our October 16th weekend in New York City has morphed into a weekend getaway FROM NYC (loooong story). So, we arrive at JFK on late Wed night the 15th of October and leave to return home early Monday morning the 20th. So if we rent a car we can take off for four full days. We are open to any suggestions - antiquing, city lights, fall colors, etc. We have been to the East Coast cities and Cape Cod but nowhere else on the East Coast. Help????? Thanks!

Anyone?

Here is recent thread that you might find helpful

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...1&tid=35153513

Go to east end of Long Island. Montauk and the Hamptons are great at that time with far less crowds.

Or do Hudson River Vally...West Point, Hyde Park. Shoudl still have some great fall foliage. Even going into western Massachussets (Berkshires).

What about Providence/Newport (approx three hours from NY)? There's a new Chihuly (glass) exhibit at RISD in Providence. Newport has wonderful inns to stay in and great mansions to visit. Both cities have very good restaurants.

We recently had a wonderful time here:

www.mohonk.com

the link to the trip report is below - it is about 90 minutes outside NYC and seems like it is in another world -

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...1&tid=35154228

Wow, lots of good suggestions. Looked at Mohonk but $700 plus per night is a bit out of our league. Would anyone recommend going to Mystic, Connecticut? Never been to that area. Any other inns to look into (not more than $250 per night)? Thanks!

Unless you happen to be interested in maritime history, Mystic is good for a couple of hours, not much more. Best to stop in on the way back from Newport.

There many articles for this in the New York Times and New York Magazine. Every year, before summer starts, you see something like top 50 Weekend Getaways. Go to the NYTimes website travel section and search on Hudson Valley or weekend getaway.

Oh, and you don't have to explain why you want to get away *from* NYC. Not uncommon.

Wow - we paid about $400 per night for the Golf Cottage mentioned in my trip report - and there were four of us -but that was late June, and from the prices you go fall is probably a high season for them - plus if you were looking at the main house, that was more expensive b/c it included 3 meals a day and we didn't want to do that -

anyway - at that it is still more than 250 - so....other suggestions -

If I was going to go to Newport, Ri , I would probably fly into Providence on Southwest - not drive from NYC -

I'd tend to go toward the parts of NY state mentioned
before - Montauk or Hudson Valley -

I'm sure you could see go to the New Paltz area (we saw lots of antique stores, Huguenot homes/history, etc -

or how about a drive through some of NY State 'wine country - here is a link to a driving trip from wine spectator magazine - that part of the state is beautiful - we did the drive many years ago but I still remember the little farms along the way, great views -

http://preview.tinyurl.com/475e6t

We have to fly to JFK and go from there. My original post said we had planned a getaway IN New York City but plans have changed. Would spending the 4 days on Long Island make sense? Are there B & B's on/near the beaches? Things to do besides walk on the beach? Keeping options open but must make a decision soon! I'll check out NYT and New York Magazine. Thx!

I think it would help to know who you are (age, where you're from) and why you're not going to NYC as planned. Fall colors will have probably peaked by then but you can certainly head north through the Hudson Valley. Head to Tarrytown maybe for your first night. Check out Kykuit and then continue north.
http://www.hudsonvalley.org/content/view/96/160/

If you're interested in films, the Hampton Film Festival is taking place then. http://hamptonsfilmfest.org/films-sc...08-film-guide/ This could make finding accomodation more difficult (or more expensive than it would normally be at that time).

Newport, RI could be nice, touring the mansions.
http://www.newportmansions.org/page3555.cfm

If you do that, you could come back to JFK via ferry from Connecticut if you wanted to. There's a ferry from Bridgeport Ct. to Port Jefferson. Further east you can go from New London to Orient Point.

I think the Mystic area is more interseting with kids.

In 4 days you don't want to spend a lot of time on the road and you'll have to plan around airport check in.

Suggestions: Look into the Berkshires (Mass), Adirondacks (upstate NY), even Pittsburgh and the Amish Country in PA.

mclaurie - I like your idea of Newport. We are from Minnesota so the seashore appeals to us vs the Hudson River Valley. As far as our ages and why we don't want NYC, it seems irrelevant, but we are 50- somethings and we planned this trip to NYC to see our daughter and it turns out, last minute sort of, that she will be out of the city on those days. Since we have gone to NYC a gazillion times, we want to rent a car and see something else. We have never been to Conn. or RI, so I am thinking going along the water. Can you recommend a place to stop the first night, B and B or inn? Also, tell me about taking a ferry to get back to JFK? Don't know Port Jefferson or Orient Point. Is that near JFK? Thanks!

Consider this - you can take the ferry to Orient Point (most eastern point on north fork of LI) and spend a lovely, leisurely day driving the north fork - farms, vineyards, tastings, etc.) and then spend the night near JFK for your morning flight.

The other ferry (from Bridgeport to Port Jeff) will leave west of New London and arrive west of Orient Pt and closer to JFK.

You should look at a map to decide. IMO, you don't want to go to Orient PT unless you would like to spend the day on the North Fork. I did this drive 2 weeks ago and it was lovely.

Thanks. I booked 3 nights in Newport, RI. Will decide later if we want to take the ferry or just drive back to JFK the way we came. Thanks so much for all the good advice.

LOng Island has - besides somewhat chilly beaches - a bunch of wineries, several smallish museums and bunch of galleries, shopping of all types (from discount mall to uber upscale). There are many B&Bs - but none on the beach. Beaches are either town owned (no building allowed) or part of the multi-million dollar properties of either the old rich (400) or the new (entertainment).

Hither Hills is a state park with beaches. And Montauk has beaches plus a lighthouse and a cute restaurant/dock area at Gosman's. There is also whale-watching - but not sure if your dates are too late in the year.

Heading up the Hudson there are Bear Mountain State Park, West Point Military Academy and a whole bunch of i nteresting houses/towns: FDR's Hyde Park, Rockefeller's at Kykuit (sp?) and a bunch of other mansions to be toured. Some of the town have antiquing and nice restaurants. And the fall colors should be very dramatic - esp if you drive Storm King Highway above the Hudson.

The most straightforward route from JFK to Newport takes you along I95 in Ct. This road is always jammed with traffic. Since you're arriving late on Wed., I'd consider staying somewhere not too far from JFK, maybe in Westchester or just over the border in Ct. You asked for a b & b or inn. The Harbor House Inn in Old Greenwich would fit the bill, but it gets very mixed reviews on tripadvisor. (I've never stayed there).

If you want to take a ferry in one direction, you could also consider taking it TO Newport. If you took the Port Jefferson ferry, there's a hotel right near the ferry terminal in Port Jefferson called Danford's Inn. http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev..._New_York.html

You could also just stay here and continue on east to Orient Point the next day and take the ferry from there.

Taking the ferry doesn't shorten the trip, it just cuts off some of the driving on 95 and puts you on a pleasant boat ride (assuming it's good weather) although the ferries have gotten pricey. YOu need to book the ferries in advance.

I do agree if you take the ferry coming back to JFK, if you want to stop along the way, there's more to see coming from Orient Point than there is from Port Jefferson.

Actually, after about 8PM I-95 will not have much traffic heading east. Probably the fastest time of day to make the drive.

We arrive at 11 PM on Wed night and were going to stay at an airport hotel before driving to Newport the next morning. Is this a bad idea? I think we will skip the ferries and just drive but will a Thurs morning drive from JFK be a nightmare? I hate to take off and start driving too far after 11 at night after working all day. Unless someone has a good idea of a hotel or away from JFK, on the way to Newport, but not too far.