Get Outta Town With The MTA!

Fall in love with Autumn in Duchess County 

The season is upon us and I want to share with you a little known secret that I have known for years. 

The MTA has getaway packages for day and weekend trips for sale! Right now!

Traditionally, they were set for just the fall season.  However, they have expanded and added museum, attraction and festival visits for all year round.

This is, in fact, how I became enamored with the state of New York's country side.  All you must do is purchase a ticket, get on the train and a tour bus will be waiting when you arrive an hour later in upstate New York (in some cases an hour in a half)

The MTA has been in cahoots with Duchess County tourism board for over ten years.  They offer a multitude of day trips starting at the end of August.

A typical trip will have 3 stops in day.  They will include a visit to small historical towns like Millerton, Rhinebeck, or Beacon. 

This will be followed by an encounter at a farm with piggy’s, cows and chicks waiting for hands for petting ( ex. McEnroe Farms).

Then, will be topped off with a tour of a vineyard (ex. Millbrook), maple syrup farm (ex. Madava), a distillery (ex. Duchess Spirit’s) or of course apple picking (ex. Meade Orchards).

Yes, you will do all this via tour bus and will be back on a train headed to the city by 6pm.  It doesn’t seem possible because the scheduling seems a little crammed but it is a quite lovely relaxing day.

Don’t forget the amazing views of the mountain ranges and valleys right off the country lane as you are driven from each location.

For a few years I have made my own itinerary and now travel via car.  I also book on AirBnB so I can take my wine, cheese, chocolates from local vender's of the day back to a quaint room to relax so I may possibly take in more sights the next day. 

Eventually, as you become more acclimated to different sites you will feel more comfortable to do the same.  As New Yorkers, it can be stressful to just want to get out of your head for the day or the weekend.  Instead, you find your face in a map or glued to the GPS on your dashboard nervous you've missed a turn to a place out in the middle of nowhere you have never been before.

Calgon… I mean MTA, take me away!

Note: If anyone takes my advice and uses this opportunity to travel outside the city, I will gladly post your trip as a guest blogger in the fall. Looking forward to hearing from you and enjoy!