Where to stay in Finger Lakes region
 

My husband and I are planning a weekend trip to the Finger Lakes area in July to visit some wineries and scenic areas. Looking at area around Ithaca or Hammondsport/Penn Yan area. Would appreciate any advice as to what these areas are like and any nice B&Bs.<BR>Thanks.<BR>

Janessa, I taught at Syracuse for years, these are 2 of our favorite B&B in the Finger Lake Region : The Morgan Samuel Inn, and my first choice: The Rose Inn - people on this board often talk of www.bedandbreakfast.com (message board) I use it alot now, check there as well.

One town I'd recommend looking into is Skaneatelles. It's a quaint town on the lake. There is one Inn right across the street from the lake, Sherwood Inn I believe, with many different choices of rooms to chose from, but overall, I just love the town.

Also check out Watkins Glen. It's at the south end of Seneca Lake and is a nice little town with a gorgeous state park - Watkins Glen State Park - and a couple of great restaurants. Plus it's location is perfect for hitting the wineries. Most of my favorite wineries are on Keuka Lake and Seneca Lake. There is some amazing wine being made in the Finger Lakes these days. Also, the Finger Lakes Wine Festival is held in mid July and is big fun!

Thanks for the info on bedandbreakfast.com - I was unaware of the site. I'll post a message there as well.<BR><BR>What do you know about Hammondsport? There seem to be a lot of places to stay and it's near a lot of winerys. I've read that it is a quaint, nice town - is it?

Thanks for your reply.<BR>I've read that Skaneatelles is a nice place, but we're coming from Philadelphia, and it's a little farther north than we had originally planned to go. Do you know anything about Hammondsport, and would you say that Skaneatelles is worth the extra distance?

Janessa,<BR> A second for Seneca Lake and Watkins Glen. We also went last July for the Finger Lakes Wine Festival. After that, we chose some good ones to visit. We stayed at the Inn at Glenora, which was new, lovely and peaceful. The food there was great! It was wonderful to sit on our porch overlooking the vineyards and the lake at the end of the day. One word of caution- it was heavily booked when we called. We got one of the last rooms. There's not many rooms in the area and everything in Geneva was gone! We got lucky....

To the poster who asked is Skaneateles was "worth it". I live in Syracuse, about 25 miles from Skaneateles, and although it is a wonderful town with beautiful homes and shops it is EXTREMELY crowded in the summer months. Do not go without a reservation for accommodations and plan on having some difficulty parking. If at all possible, save this excursion for a less hectic time, you will most likely enjoy the Village more. Also, if anyone is considering the Sherwood Inn, the rooms are very nice, but the (expensive) food is mediocre at best; try some of the other eateries instead.

Janessa probably already went and came, but I just returned from staying near Watkins Glen, on the west side of the Seneca Lake and loved it. The Inn at Glenora looked like a nice place to stay, a bit busy for me, though. We stayed at a wonderful B&B called The Lakehouse B&B. Dixie is a superb hostess, bakes the nest cranberry muffins. Quiet location ($107/king size with bath, sumptuous breakfast included), I posted extensively already earlier. The Red Newt restaurant, on the east side of Seneca Lake was a great choice. Have dinner at the deck overlooking the vineyard. Favorite wineries: Glenora, Prejean, Fox Run, Heron Hill is by Hammondsport (great, quaint town!), not to be missed.

We also just returned from staying on Keuka Lake in the Penn Yan area. Although we've been to the area several times in the past, we've always stayed in Watkins Glen on Seneca. We stayed at a great little rustic inn right on the lake. Very inexpensive with 1000 feet of lakefront. Went to as many wineries as possible on Cayuga, Seneca and Keuka. Amazing wine being made in NY!!

Last summer, we were in Watkins Glen for a weekend. It is extremely convenient for wine tasting since it is close to so many good wineries. However, as for its "main street", there wasn't much going on. If you're simply looking for a quiet weekend with good wine, I recommend it.

Sharon, you mind sharing the name of the Inn? Sounds glorious!<BR><BR>Claire, agree with you. Hammondsports's main street is actually livelier. <BR><BR>Agree about the wine. We were pleasantly surprised!