79 Best Sights in Albany and Central New York, New York

Within the visitor center is the which presents various shows and lectures. The star-sighting program, an interactive show, is held the second Saturday of each month at 1 pm.

Upstairs at the 1834 is a large dollhouse assemblage.

Try your luck at prospecting: hammer open the right rocks and you'll find double-terminated quartz crystals, aka Herkimer diamonds. Two open pits are easy to reach. The first is adjacent to the gift shop. Upstairs you can watch an explanatory video or stroll through multiple scientific displays, including exhibits about dinosaurs and fluorescent minerals. The mines are just south of Middleville.

You can stroll the gardens, attend a multimedia show, and tour the restored Georgian-style mansion that was home to Revolutionary War general Nicholas Herkimer. Costumed historical interpreters inform you about the history, crafts, and lifestyle of the 18th century. Picnicking is encouraged.

It's great to read about and trade cards of your favorite players, but this museum puts you face-to-face with them. Thirty-odd baseball legends are immortalized in wax, and will perhaps interest kids more than adults. When your interest in all that wax starts to wane, you can slug it out in the virtual-reality batting cage, buy a team pennant or jersey in the gift shop, or grab lunch in the café.

The 1787 Georgian house was the home of Philip Van Rensselaer, one of the region's original Dutch settlers. Guided tours focus on Catherine Putnam, Rensselaer's niece, who lived in the house during the Civil War and World Wars I and II. The collection of family memorabilia encompasses more than 20,000 objects, including furniture, artworks, kitchen items, and pottery pieces; 3,000 photographs; and extensive documents and records. To visit the house you must take the tour, which lasts about an hour and starts on the hour. Note that Cherry Hill is closed currently for restoration.

Examples of Federal, Dutch, Gothic, Victorian, and Greek Revival architecture are found among the homes and churches here, which date from 1690 to 1930. The Stockade is one of the oldest continuously occupied neighborhoods in the nation. (George Washington slept here.) In warm weather you see people running and relaxing in tiny Riverside Park, along the Mohawk River. Residents open their homes to the public for guided tours during Walkabout Weekend, held in September. At the Stockade Villagers Art Show, also in September, painters set up easels and tents to display their works.

Crowds gather outside the Italianate Canfield Casino, a former gambling hall within the park, to watch the tuxedo set enter one of the August balls. The 1870s building also houses the where exhibits of Victorian furnishings, paintings, original gambling paraphernalia, and historic documents bring the city's history alive. From Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day, the museum is open Monday through Saturday 10–4 and Sunday 1–4; the rest of the year it's closed Monday and Tuesday.

An elevator takes you down 156 feet to reach these caverns. The 80-minute guided tours lead you along paved walkways and include a ¼-mi boat ride on an underground lake. The temperature down under hovers just above 50°F all year, so dress appropriately. On Friday and Saturday evenings visitors (13 and older) can opt for a lantern-lighted tour; call ahead for a reservation. The grounds include a restaurant and a motel.

Its legacy is as remarkable as its architecture: from the time it was built in 1819 until it was sold to New York State in 1964, Hyde Hall remained in the same family. Money from estates here, in Europe, and in the Caribbean enabled George Clarke (1768–1835), a prominent figure in colonial New York, to finance what is, according to many historians, the largest residence built in this country before the Civil War. Ongoing restoration projects—and the chance to question artisans about their work—add texture to a tour of the 50-room mansion. The property adjoins Glimmerglass State Park on the north end of Otsego Lake.

In 1982, residents of Canastota and boxing enthusiasts wanted to honor two hometown boxers, late 1950s welterweight and middleweight champion Carmen Basilio and his nephew Billy Backus, the 1970 winner of the world welterweight title. Their efforts resulted in the 1989 opening of boxing's first hall of fame and museum, where you may see memorabilia from such notable boxers as Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis, and Billy Graham. The hall of fame is 6 mi southwest of Oneida.

Displays of ancient and modern artworks, archaeological relics, and ever-changing cultural exhibits and events celebrate one of the mightiest American Indian confederacies of the Northeast. The museum, which sits on 45 park acres in a building designed to recall a longhouse, includes an area devoted to exhibits for children.

The park sits along the Helderberg Escarpment, one of the most fossil-rich formations in the world and the most dramatic natural feature of the regional landscape. From the escarpment ledge you can take in panoramic views of the Hudson-Mohawk Valley, with the Adirondack foothills and the western mountain ranges of Massachusetts and Vermont off in the distance. The park is the ending point for the Long Path, a 349-mi hiking trail that starts in Fort Lee, New Jersey, and crosses public and private land. Within the park you can hike the Indian Ladder Trail, which runs along the Helderberg cliff. The trail, open from May to mid-November, is furnished with interpretive signs, and guided hikes are available. Another 12 mi of trails are open all year. In warm weather the trails are used for hiking, biking, and nature walks; cross-country skiing (on groomed and ungroomed trails) and snowshoeing are available in winter. Facilities include an Olympic-size pool ($2 in season) and picnicking sites.

The on the Nott Memorial's second floor, shows history-, science-, and art-related exhibits.

The three-story brick house and its 34 acres were the home of the 19th-century utopian Oneida Community, founded in 1848 by John Humphrey Noyes. The sect believed that the second coming of Christ had already occurred and that a new Eden could be achieved on Earth. Followers considered themselves sinless and believed in the sharing of property and spouses. The group, which supported itself by making silk thread, animal traps, canned foods, and silverware, eventually led to the formation of tableware manufacturer Oneida Ltd. The mansion, a 93,000-square-foot National Historic Landmark with beautiful mansard roofs, was constructed in stages between 1861 and 1914 and contains 35 apartments (some occupied by descendants of the original community members), a large hall, a dining room, and a museum. Guided tours are the only way to see the interior.

The state-chartered museum's extensive collection of bottles dates from the 1700s. On-site is a glassworks that sometimes hosts a sale of contemporary art-glass pieces. The museum is 7 mi south of Saratoga Springs.

Five galleries house photographs, videos, costumes, and archives that explore the history and development of dance as an art form. The Hall of Fame honors top dancers, choreographers, and costumers. You may even watch dancers rehearsing in the performing-arts studios.

Exhibits, including memorabilia from famed horse Seabiscuit, relate the story of Thoroughbred racing in the United States. In the Hall of Fame, video clips of races bring to life the horses and jockeys enshrined here. For an additional fee you may take a tour of the training track.

Wraparound porches, a balconied gable, and turrets provide evidence of the 1856 building's progression of architectural phases, from Italianate to Second Empire and finally Queen Anne. The mansion has served as the official residence of New York's governors since 1875. To see the interior, you must take one of the guided tours, which last about an hour; because visiting times are so limited, reserve at least two weeks in advance.

The museum explores the state's history, geography, nature, and art; exhibits include a re-created Iroquois village, a display about New York birds, and a working 1916 carousel (with horses from the 1890s). A display about the September 11 terrorist attacks documents, through photographs and artifacts, rescue efforts at the World Trade Center. In February the museum hosts the regional flower show, "New York in Bloom."

The site contains several 18th- and 19th-century buildings, including the 1772 church that served as a fort during its early years. A log stockade was erected in 1777, and the building came under attack by the British three years later. During the Civil War it was used as an armory. Converted to a museum in 1889, the interior serves as a museum within a museum, with hundreds of artifacts exhibited in cases that have changed little in the past century.

The August 6, 1777, battle fought here is said to have been one of the bloodiest conflicts of the American Revolution, and is viewed as key to later rebel victories. It involved Brigadier General Nicholas Herkimer and the 800 men and 60 Oneida warriors he had assembled to march to the aid of the rebels at Fort Stanwix, which British forces had attacked. As Herkimer's group marched toward the fort, it was ambushed in a ravine by British forces, Tories, and their Seneca and Mohawk allies. The losses, heavy on both sides, caused the British side to retreat.

The 19th-century Carr Building contains the historical society's offices as well as a research library that, through old photos, maps, diaries, and letters, documents Troy's development from the 1800s through the following century. Next door is the Hart-Cluett House, an 1827 Federal town house with a white marble exterior and period furnishings; tours are available by reservation.

This 1930 Georgian Revival building has 42 treatment rooms and a 13,000-square-foot fitness center. An herbal mineral bath is $45. Other treatments include reflexology, shiatsu, aromatherapy, body polishes, mud wraps, and assorted facials.

Learn how the F. X. Matt Brewing Co. creates its Saranac-brand traditional lager, pale ale, pilsner, Adirondack amber, and old-fashioned root beer. The same family has operated the seven-story brick brew house for more than a century. Inhaling the yeasty aroma of fermenting hops and malt, you can see several steps of the brewing process. Tours are on the hour and end with a beer or root-beer sampling. Call in advance for reservations.

America's love affair with the car is celebrated in this museum in a former bottling plant in Saratoga Spa State Park. Included are three galleries and an orientation theater. Changing exhibits display classic and racing cars.

The museum, on the grounds of Saratoga Raceway, displays antique horseshoes, high-wheeled sulkies (the two-wheeled vehicles used for harness racing), and horse-related artwork.

The Battle of Saratoga, fought 12 mi southeast of Saratoga Springs at this site in 1777, is recognized as the turning point in the American Revolution. The visitor center at the Route 32 entrance provides historic information and an orientation to the park, which encompasses the battlefield and two sites in the nearby villages of Schuylerville and Victory. Ten stops along a 9½-mi tour road through the battlefield explain the battle and its significance. Reenactments and other living-history programs are scheduled throughout the summer. The road is popular with bicyclists in warm-weather months and, when closed to traffic in winter, with cross-country skiers. The John Neilson House, the only structure standing on the battlefield that was here in the time of the Battle of Saratoga, might have served as headquarters for Benedict Arnold.

Developed for the study and therapeutic use of the mineral springs here, this 2,200-acre park is now listed on the National Historic Register of Historic Places. It is home to the Gideon Putnam Resort and Spa, the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, the Lincoln and Roosevelt baths, the Spa Little Theatre, and eight active springs. Recreational facilities include walking trails, 36 holes of golf, two pools, clay and asphalt tennis courts, picnic facilities, an ice-skating rink, and 12 mi of cross-country skiing trails.

A stenciled floor and a huge 1930s dollhouse are among the highlights of this museum, which fills the 1896 Georgian-style Dora Jackson House with its 18th-century furniture, paintings, costumes, toys, and household and military items. The Grems-Doolittle Library has Revolutionary War records, newspapers from the 1800s, and the papers of Charles Steinmetz, an inventor who developed alternate-current motors.