Planning the Perfect Day Trip

We (well I) love taking a day trip to the Finger Lakes. It’s about 2.5 hours from us, and honestly makes the perfect getaway for the day.

My absolute favorite lake to visit is Cayuga. The small city of Ithaca, NY is at the bottom of Cayuga Lake, and if you’ve never visited, it’s an adorable college town (Cornell University and Ithaca College) that has so much going on. When my husband worked in Rochester, NY for a couple of years, we would meet in between at cities like Ithaca. It has what I call a ‘crunchy’ vibe. Think organic, homemade, healthy, bring your own shopping bags, etc.

When in Ithaca, we love to hit The Ithaca Bakery for a meal either before or after the wineries. What an awesome spot for a very interesting sandwich…so many choices. I usually leave here with at least one loaf of incredible sourdough bread.

The Ithaca Farmer’s Market is hands down the BEST farmer’s market I have ever been to, and I love Farmers Markets ! (See my post on what is worth buying there.) This one is huge, and has such a wonderful variety of vendors. This region has so many people growing and making their own amazing things like produce, fruit, cheese, baked goods…as well as homemade jewelry, clothing, etc. You could spend hours here- get some lunch and listen to live music.

Another great place in Ithaca is the Greenstar Grocery Store. It’s a co-op (Talk about crunchy!), so shoppers can volunteer time for discounted groceries. The store itself feels to me like a miniature Whole Foods. Bring a jar and pour your own syrup kind of thing. All organic produce and super healthy everything! They have a little cafe serving fresh pressed juices, and I always leave with a delicious cleansing juice with lemon, ginger and cayenne. (See my post on making your own detox drinks.)

Now for the Wineries!

It’s cool that the Cayuga Wine Trail is recognized as the first wine trail in the US, established in 1983. Since that’s the year I graduated High School, it certainly doesn’t seem that old to me! 😂 It’s surprising that it is older than California trails like Napa Valley and Sonoma. Interesting!

This region, just so you know, is well known for its award-winning rieslings, a beautiful dry white variety. I particularly love the dry riesling, which is very similar in flavor to my favorite Sauvignon Blanc. (See my post on my choices for taste and value!) Each winery produces many other varieties, so there are plenty of choices of reds, sweet, fruit and even ice wines. But the climate in upstate New York is most conducive to the dry white. Just an FYI!

The drive up the wine trail from Ithaca is so easy, just basically one road that travels around the lake. And it is quite beautiful.

The trail map just makes it so easy to find what you’re looking for, with addresses and distances.

Several of the wineries are not right on the lake, which would really be impossible with the amount of land each needs for their vines. So you will not always have a lake view, but a view of the vineyards is so nice, too!

Before You Go

First, check out cayugawinetrail.com to get a copy of the wine trail map, as well as any events or live music going on when you’re there. Many wineries have live music in the summer, and in my world, nothing beats opening a bottle of wine and enjoying some music outside.

Plan a meal at the Farmer’s Market or downtown Ithaca, or munch on some great food along the wine trail. You can find out which wineries offer food on the website. Buttonwood Winery, for example, offers a fun food truck on site, while Thirsty Owl and Montezuma offer full service cafes to enjoy a little break from the day.

I think an amazing idea is to pick up some fruit, homemade cheese and crackers at the farmer’s market and stop along the wine trail for a picnic! Perfect!

Attend a festival! These are just so much fun. The wineries often have smaller individual events (like this weekend for Mother’s Day), but these festivals include multiple wineries and have some wonderful themes. Like:

• Galentine’s Weekend
• Pinch and Pour
• Bacon on the Laken
• Wine and Herb
• Jingle and Mingle

The festivals last the full weekend, so if you didn’t get the chance to visit every winery on the list (which is likely), you can continue the journey into the next day, which is nice.

You just start your journey at one of the participating wineries where they give you a little passport-type booklet and a wine glass. You then proceed to as many other wineries as you wish where they will stamp the booklet and give you a gift, some food, and selected wines to pair with the food. For example, we just went the Wine and Herb festival recently. At each winery, we got an herb plant, a small dish made with that herb, and a wine tasting to complement the dish. You come home with a bunch of fresh herbs to plant, great tasting recipes, and a little buzzed, too. 🤪

I love that they accommodate designated drivers too. The ticket price is reduced, and they provide an adorable mug instead of a wine glass, along with drinks along the way like iced tea and lemonade.

You can certainly easily do a full weekend visiting Ithaca and the Cayuga Lake Wine Trail, especially if you’re coming from farther away or want to experience a festival. But for us, this is just the BEST day trip. Definitely look into a bus, van or limo service too, if you’re traveling with a bunch of people and don’t want to worry about having a DD.

If you’re looking for a great trip this summer with your significant other or friends, I highly recommend the Cayuga Lake Wine Trail! I hope you enjoy!