Ithaca/ Tompkins County

24 Hours in Ithaca

 Start your day with a stroll around the beautiful gardens at the Cornell Botanic Gardens. An extensive living museum with a mature botanical garden and arboretum, discover herbs, perennials, vegetables, ornamental grasses, flowering trees, shrubs, and ground covers.

 While on the Cornell Campus, visit the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art. With an impressive collection that spans six millennia and art from most world cultures, the museum is recognized as one of the most important university museums in the country. Don’t forget to pause on the 5th floor for a magnificent view of Ithaca and Cayuga Lake. (Admission is free)

 Head down the hill to Six Mile Creek Vineyards, Ithaca’s own winery and distillery. Open daily for tastings, enjoy award winning wines at their picturesque location.

 Spend the afternoon wandering the Downtown Ithaca Commons, one of the few pedestrian malls left in the country. Newly renovated, the Commons is alive with fine shops, boutiques, and diverse dining. Check out F. Olivers for a unique oil and vinegar tasting, Cellar D’Or for a marvelous selection of wines and ciders, Handwork for high quality crafts, and finish at Life’s So Sweet Chocolate for some handmade confections.

 Now that you’re relaxed, check in to any one of Ithaca’s distinctive Hotels, Motels, Inns, and B&Bs. You’ll come away feeling refreshed, renewed and wanting to return.

 Once you’ve had a moment to explore your surroundings, head Downtown for dinner at the area’s largest concentration of restaurants on the Commons. Discover fresh, local fare in Ithaca’s diverse dining scene.

 Don’t forget dessert! Local favorite, Purity Ice Cream has been providing original recipe, small batch ice cream to Ithaca for generations! Ithaca is the birthplace of the ice cream sundae after all!

 No trip to Ithaca is complete without visiting some of our many, splendid waterfalls. Take a short drive south to Buttermilk Falls State Park, home to ten waterfalls and two glens. Buttermilk Creek descends more than 500 feet in series of cascades and rapids.

 Robert H. Treman State Park is not far away, Enfield Glen being the highlight of this park. Trails follow the winding gorge for nearly three miles, passing twelve cascades including 115 foot Lucifer Falls.

 End your experience at Taughannock Falls State Park, one of the most outstanding natural attractions of the Northeast. Exciting to behold in any season, the 215 foot falls plunges through a rock amphitheater whose walls reach nearly 400 feet.