Rolling vineyards, waterfall gorges, charming lake towns, and unforgettable wine tasting make this Finger Lakes weekend getaway plan one of the most rewarding escapes in all of upstate New York.
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Every fall, I start looking for one place that gives us all the things we love most. Good food. Quiet roads. Pretty views. Small towns where we can walk slowly without a plan. And if there is wine nearby for me and F., even better.
F. had been suggesting the Finger Lakes for a couple of years. I kept putting it off because, well, life happens. Then fall break appeared on the school calendar, and I thought: if I am finally going to do this, I want to see the Finger Lakes in October, when the hills turn orange, and the vineyards go gold before they go bare. So we packed the car and went.
I'll be honest. I went in with low expectations. The kids had never been to a working vineyard. I had vague images of flat countryside and tourist wine trails. What we found instead was something genuinely beautiful: eleven narrow lakes pressed into the earth like fingers, each one surrounded by steep hills that roll down to the water, lined with vineyards and apple orchards, dotted with waterfalls you stumble onto almost by accident.
We packed up the Kia EV9 in Montreal and headed south for the perfect weekend in New York’s Finger Lakes.
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So this is our Finger Lakes itinerary. Three days, four lakes, more wine than I expected, and enough fall foliage to make even the drive feel like the destination. If you are planning a weekend in the Finger Lakes or looking for a long weekend getaway that actually delivers, start here.
How to Get There
The Finger Lakes region sits in central New York, about halfway between New York City and Niagara Falls. It's roughly between Syracuse to the east and Rochester to the west. Both cities have airports.
Most visitors drive to get to the Finger Lakes, and once you are there, a car is essential. Trust me. The lakes are long and narrow, the wineries spread along the shores, and the best stretches of road in the whole Finger Lakes area are the ones that hug the water.
We drove down from Montreal, which is roughly five to six hours, to Skaneateles. What surprised me most was how easy the drive was in an electric vehicle. I had worried a bit, especially with kids in the back seat, but charging around the Finger Lakes area was simple, with several fast charging spots near places like Geneva and Ithaca.
The EV9 handled the road trip beautifully, and with its real-world range of around 270 to 300 miles, plus fast-charging support, we only needed one quick stop near the New York border before comfortably reaching Skaneateles.
By Car
If you're from the US, approximate drive times include:
- From New York City: 4.5–5.5 hours
- From Buffalo: 2–3 hours
- From Rochester: 1.5–2 hours
- From Toronto: around 4 hours
- From Philadelphia: about 4.5 hours
By Train or Bus
You can also take an Amtrak train to nearby cities like Rochester or Syracuse, then rent a car for the rest of the trip. Bus services connect some towns, but public transportation around the lakes is limited.
Where to Stay
Skaneateles Fields Resort & Spa
The only full-service resort in the Finger Lakes, Skaneateles Fields opened in 2024 on 100 acres just outside the village. There are 89 rooms, including family suites and couples lodge suites with fireplaces and soaking tubs, a full spa, heated outdoor pool, barrel saunas, cold plunge, and a lobby bar designed by the team behind Brooklyn's Maison Premiere.
If you are looking for a place to stay in the Finger Lakes that does everything well and feels genuinely rooted in the region, this is it. We have a full review of Skaneateles Fields Resort & Spa here.
Inns of Aurora Resort & Spa
If you want to break the trip across two hotels or spend more time on the Cayuga Lake stretch, this is the right choice.
Five beautifully restored historic inns in the small village of Aurora, right on the lake, 28 rooms total, each individually furnished.
The spa offers hydrotherapy circuits, deep-tissue massage, and outdoor spaces overlooking Cayuga Lake. Unhurried, personal, and exactly right for the pace of the Cayuga Lake wine trail.
Day 1: Skaneateles Village
We arrived in Skaneateles in the morning and spent the first hour just walking. The village is small and easy: a short main street, good coffee, independent shops, and a glimpse of the water at the end of nearly every block.
In October, the trees were full of color: orange, amber, deep red. The hills came right to the waterline on both sides. It looked like a painting of a place rather than an actual one.
Tap Root Fields Farm
A short drive from the village, Tap Root Fields is a 50-acre farm using regenerative growing practices: living soil beds, composting from municipal waste, and careful attention to biodiversity.
Jessica, the head produce and flower grower, told us that the farm grows everything from garlic and squash to edible flowers, ginger, turmeric, and carrots. At one point, Jessica told me, “Carrots and beets are like little presents. Every time you pull one from the ground, it’s a surprise.” That stayed with me for the rest of the trip.
Their Farm Cart runs from Memorial Day through October, which means we just made it. We bought a few things, walked around, and let the kids ask the kinds of questions they never think to ask in a grocery store.
The farm supplies the kitchen at Skaneateles Fields Resort directly, which tells you everything about how short the food chain is here.
Beak & Skiff Apple Orchard / 1911 Tasting Room
In the fall, Beak & Skiff is the stop that makes you understand why people plan road trips around the season. The orchard sits on a hillside outside the village of Lafayette, and in October the whole place smells like apples and woodsmoke.
You can pick your own apples, which Leo and Lin took very seriously, approaching it with the energy of people who had been waiting their whole lives for the opportunity.
There is a kids' playground, plenty of open space to wander, and enough going on that you could easily spend a couple of hours here without touching the tasting room at all.
But do not skip the tasting room. The 1911 brand — named for the year the Skiff family first pressed apple cider on this property — pours hard ciders and apple spirits made entirely from the orchard's own fruit.
The range is wider than you expect, from crisp and dry to fuller and funkier, and the staff is generous with samples.
Do not leave without the apple donut. It comes warm, dense, and dusted with cinnamon sugar. The apple cider frosty is also not optional. Leo and Lin both had two of each. We did not complain, and honestly, we were not far behind them.
Anyela's Vineyards
Anyela's is the only vineyard on Skaneateles Lake, and the view earns its reputation. The winery sits at an elevation, and from the outdoor patio, you look across vineyard rows to the lake below.
The Nocek family founded Anyela’s with the idea that visitors should stay for an entire afternoon, not just stop in for a quick tasting, and that atmosphere still defines the experience today.
During the fall, the place is surrounded by fall foliage on every hillside, easily making it one of the prettiest spots in the entire Finger Lakes.
Day 2: Cayuga and Seneca Lakes
We drove west toward Cayuga Lake in the morning. The roads between the lakes may have been my favorite part of the whole Finger Lakes road trip.
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Every turn revealed another barn, another vineyard, or another long view of the water through the trees. In October, with the hills in full color, the drive alone is reason enough to come.
Cayuga Lake is the longest of the Finger Lakes, stretching 40 miles from north to south. The Cayuga Lake Wine Trail is America's oldest, established in 1983, and the wineries here are mostly small and family-owned. Spend the morning on the west shore, stopping at a tasting room or two, then head north toward Geneva.
Geneva and the Taste NY Market
Geneva sits at the northern tip of Seneca Lake and is one of the most underrated towns in the Finger Lakes area. Walk down to the boardwalk along the water, have lunch on the main street, and stop at the Taste NY Market near the waterfront to pick up local wines and provisions before heading south.
The market is a genuinely useful stop. You can taste before you buy and get a sense of the whole Finger Lakes wine region in one place.
From Geneva, Route 14 runs along the west side of Seneca Lake for miles. Seneca Lake is the deepest of all the Finger Lakes and is home to the most wineries in the region. In the fall, the drive south is spectacular.
The hills slope down to the water on both sides, the vineyards go golden, and the lake catches the light in a way that makes you slow down, whether you mean to or not.
Wineries Along the Seneca Lake Wine Trail
Day 2 is the most wine-forward day of the trip, and the Seneca Lake wine trail does not disappoint. The Seneca Lake wine trail alone has 35 members. The whole Finger Lakes wine region has over 140 wineries. You will not run out of reasons to come back.
In Geneva, Trestle 31 is run by Nova Cadamatre, the first female Master of Wine in the United States, Her Burgundian-style Chardonnay and award-winning rosé are reason enough to visit.
A few miles south, Billsboro makes 13 dry, food-friendly varietals and offers a juice flight for kids and non-drinkers that has become one of their most popular offerings.
Further down the lake, Hermann J. Wiemer is one of the original Finger Lakes wineries. It's certified biodynamic, with no herbicides for 20 years, and a library tasting that shows exactly how well Riesling ages.
On the east shore, Forge Cellars is a French-influenced operation making bone-dry wines from 16 single vineyard sites, served alongside tinned fish in the tasting room. Pick two or three of these and go slowly.
Day 3: Keuka and Canandaigua Lake
By the third day, something shifts. The trip stops feeling like a trip and starts feeling like somewhere you actually live for a little while. We knew the roads a bit better. We knew which lake was coming next.
Leo had stopped asking how far and started asking what we would eat when we got there. Lin had developed opinions about which tasting room had the best view. F. had a ranked list of hot tubs.
Day 3 takes you west and south, away from Seneca Lake and into a different part of the Finger Lakes altogether. The landscape changes: the valleys get deeper, the villages get smaller, and the whole pace of things slows down another notch.
Watkins Glen State Park
Location: 1009 N Franklin St, Watkins Glen
This is probably one of the most dramatic places in all of New York State, and it sits right in the middle of a regular town, which somehow makes it more surprising every time.
Within two miles of the trail, the gorge drops 400 feet past 200-foot cliffs with 19 waterfalls. The path winds through tunnels cut into rock, over stone bridges built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s, past falls that spray you as you walk through them.
Take a look at our family day at Watkins Glen State Park if you want to know more!
Keuke Lake
From Watkins Glen, head north to Keuka Lake. It's the Y-shaped one, also called the Crooked Lake. The vineyards come right down both arms of the Y to the water, and fall color here is among the best in the entire Finger Lakes region.
Walk through Hammondsport at the south end of the lake before you start the afternoon. It is a small, pretty village with a central square, a few good lunch options, and a waterfront that is worth a slow loop before you get back in the car.
Keuka Lake is where American wine history started. Dr. Konstantin Frank proved that European vinifera grapes could survive the Finger Lakes climate in the 1950s, working alongside Charles Fournier from Veuve Clicquot.
The wineries here carry that history lightly. They are serious about the wine without being serious about themselves, which is one of the things that makes this region easy to love.
Naples
From Keuka Lake, head west to Naples. It's a small village tucked into a valley at the southern end of Canandaigua Lake in Ontario County and famous above almost all else for grape pie.
In fact, it's famously recognized as the “Grape Pie Capital of the World." If you visit during September, you can experience the Naples Grape Festival, an annual event hosted by the local Rotary Club that celebrates the harvest with live music, a grape pie contest, and various grape-inspired foods.
Canandaigua Lake
From Naples, the drive north along Canandaigua Lake is the last long stretch of water on the trip. Pull over at Carolabarb Park for the scenic overlook. It gives you one of the best single views of Canandaigua Lake in the area, and in the fall, it earns every superlative.
The New York Kitchen in the town of Canandaigua is worth an afternoon stop if you have time. It's a non-profit running wine tastings, cooking classes, and beverage education year-round, and one of the few places in the region where you can learn about the whole Finger Lakes wine region in a single sitting.
Wineries Along the Keuka and Canandaigua Lake Wine Trails
The Keuka Lake wine trail and the Canandaigua Lake wine trail together give you a full day of tasting if you want it.
Dr. Konstantin Frank's winery is fourth-generation family-run and one of the few in the country still licensed to use the word "champagne." Their traditional method sparkling wines are excellent.
In Naples, Inspire Moore is one of the most personal wineries in the Finger Lakes, founded by Diane Moore and her late husband Tim, now made by their son Nathaniel, known for Austrian varietals, including Blaufränkisch and a pet nat that won best in New York State in 2024.
Where to Eat
I highly recommend the hotel restaurant at Skaneateles Fields Resort, and the best meal you will have on the trip. At Fields, 85 percent of produce comes from Tap Root Fields next door, all meat is grass-fed, and fish is flown in daily from Boston.
The menu changes with what is growing. Do book ahead. Trust me, people drive out specifically for this restaurant.
In Skaneateles, La Patisserie is worth a morning stop for pastries and bread, and Gilda's is a reliable Italian dinner after a long day on the road.
Kindred Fare and FLX Table are the two best sit-down options in Geneva, and Shtayburne Farm Creamery does a cheese and ice cream flight worth knowing about.
Around Seneca Lake, Stone Cat Cafe in Hector is the local favorite for dinner. In Watkins Glen, Toby's Donut Shop, before the gorge trail, is non-negotiable. In Canandaigua, Nolan's on the Lake is the right choice for dinner. In Naples, have lunch at Roots Café and grape pie from any farm stand on the way out of town.
Come for the Lakes, Stay for Everything Else
The Finger Lakes surprised me. That is the honest version of how this trip ended. Planning this trip didn't prepare me for the many attractions in the Finger Lakes.
I came in expecting pretty scenery and tourist wine trails and found something with a lot more substance: winemakers who have spent decades building something serious, farms that supply restaurants down the road, and small towns that have figured out how to be welcoming without losing what makes them worth visiting.
By the time we checked out and headed home, Leo and Lin had both developed strong opinions about which lake view was best. And I had a long note on my phone about everything we did not get to, which is always a sign of a trip worth taking.
If you love wine tasting, quiet roads, and unforgettable views of the lake, this corner of upstate New York delivers all of it with surprising depth. The region’s 11 lakes each feel distinct, from the polished elegance of Skaneateles to the dramatic view of Cayuga Lake from the winding roads above the vineyards.
If you are planning a getaway to the Finger Lakes, come in the fall if you can. Actually, come back whenever you get the chance. Even better if you take a weekend trip.
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