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Hudson Valley The valley unspools north of the city as a stitched sequence of river towns, estates and working fields organised by its river. Start in Poughkeepsie and walk the Walkway Over the Hudson to map orchards, ridgelines and villages from a pedestrian vantage.
Rhinebeck offers country inns and farm stands; Beacon and Cold Spring deliver river-edge hikes and compact main streets; Hudson hums around repurposed warehouses, antiques rows and weekend markets. Dia:Beacon provides contemporary galleries, and the Mohonk Preserve offer carriage roads and scenic cliffside panoramas that slow your pace.
The valley’s cultural calendar is generous: concerts, small galleries and seasonal festivals mean an afternoon walk can lead to an intimate evening of music or a heady farmers’ market supper. Plus rail access makes spontaneous weekends away realistic.
Amtrak’s Empire Service
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Food in the valley is a locavore’s argument. The Culinary Institute of America has raised local standards, but the truest lessons happen at roadside cider mills in October, at spring farmers’ markets piled with greens, and at farm dinners where the person who produced the cheese sits at the next table. Innisfree and Untermyer’s terraces frame contemplative afternoons; music at Caramoor Centre for Music and the Arts and Boscobel pairs perfectly with long lunches.
The region’s restaurants range from country inns to farm-to-table kitchens and often the most memorable meals come from small producers rather than spectacle. If you like a gentle scavenger hunt, film and television have planted pins on the map. Westchester and other Hudson towns have become regular backdrops for contemporary productions.
Cold Spring-Shops
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Mohonk Preserve
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The Hudson Valley Film Commission notes that more than 500 productions have been shot in the region – including some recent high-profile blockbusters. Local tourism pages and fan guides make it easy to slot a location list between hikes and lunches and to see how a stone archway or a vintage diner becomes a moment on screen.
For more information visit iloveny.com
