Mimii

Our family from Europe will be visiting us in California this summer, and we'd like to meet them in NYC and take them around. We visited NYC a few years ago, and will repeat those wonderful sites for them, but we have never ventured outside the city. Could you give any advice on...1) Where is upstate New York - North towards Montreal, or West towards Buffalo? I've heard upstate NY is very beautiful, and I'm wondering if it would be worthwhile to try to visit that area en route to Niagara Falls? Perhaps upstate NY is not even on the route to Niagara Falls. 2) I've seen many references to "flying" to Buffalo from NYC to visit Niagara Falls. We enjoy scenery and have thought about renting a car to do this - would it be a pretty drive in summer?3) We're also thinking about Washington DC, but I see this is the OPPOSITE direction from Niagara Falls. I read you can do NYC-DC by Amtrak. Could we run down there for say, three days, and have a worthwhile visit?

corezopa

Upstate New York can be defined in several different ways, with ptobably the most common being the area directly north of the metropolitan New York City area. Buffalo is actually included in the western part of the state. A drive to Buffalo from NYC would be very pretty in the summer.An Amtrak train ride from NYC to DC would take anywhere from 2 1/2 hours to 4 hours one way, depending on the train used and time of day. My family and I have travelled on Amtrak a couple of times and recommend it for comfort and price.My family and I have also visited DC and were able to see quite a bit in about three or four days. Choose the monuments/memorials you want to see, a couple of the Smithsonian museums that you want to visit, and a couple of other landmarks (Ford's Theatre, Arlington National Cemetery, National Cathedral, etc.). The Metrorail offers outstanding transportation service to most sites.Good luck planning your itinerary! Have fun!

harryk7659

1) If you live in NYC upstate NY is Yonkers and above. If you live in Albany upstate NY is Lake Placid. It's all relative.2)Driving from NYC to Buffalo will take about 7-8 hours.3)Yes you can take Amtrak to DC. The Acela is the only high speed train in the US.

kidadventure

If you're on your way to Niagara Falls, try the Catskills. Lots of ski resorts, beautiful mountain scenery.

soothsayer

1) upstate new york is anything above westchester and rockland county. if you want to visit places in new york state in the summer, i recommend you drive up through the adirondacks. it is new york state's largest state park, very beautiful. lots of small towns and farm country up there that are nice to visit. or browse this guide that will give you some very useful ideas.http://www.iloveny.com2) yes, drive, either drive up the scenic and historic hudson river. and then cut through on the ny state thruway to buffalo, or cut through binghamton through ithaca through the adirondacks.3) washington dc is scenic, but it's a verrrrrrrrrrrrry boring city. zombies who stand at crosswalks waiting for the countdown timer to reset so they can cross the streets. no eating french fries on the subway, like that 12yr old girl who was ARRESTED by police for doing that. very clean adn sterile city. no payphones on the streets, you have to be rich and powerful to live in downtown DC, or poor and miserable living in the DC ghettos. skip DC, and instead to go philadelphia, much more interesting city.

parmamagoo

just outside the city is a very historical area called the Hudson Valley. http://www.rocklandcast.com revolutionary War unfolded in rockland county- Stony Point, West Point, Washington HQ's and lots of unique river towns along the way. Its a good day trip from NYC and very scenic.further north you have Lake Placid, and the finger lakes. western ny has niagra falls. outside of NYC is like another world of natural beauty... have fun..