Weekend getaways from New York

A former factory town turned Hudson Valley art hub: Dia:Beacon's vast galleries, a mile of indie shops and cafes on Main Street, and the Mount Beacon climb, all an easy Metro-North ride up the river.

Best time: Year-round

Long Island's fabled South Fork: white-sand beaches at Southampton and East Hampton, art stops in Bridgehampton, Sag Harbor's marina, and Montauk's surf breaks and lighthouse at the very end.

Best time: May to September

The birthplace of American independence is 90 minutes by train: Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, Reading Terminal Market, a mile of world-class museums and a serious cheesesteak rivalry.

Best time: Year-round

Laid-back mountain hamlets two hours northwest: tube the Esopus Creek in Phoenicia, hike to waterfalls and big-view ledges, then browse Woodstock's galleries and shops along Tinker Street.

Best time: May to October

The capital makes an easy no-car weekend: Amtrak drops you about three hours from the Smithsonian museums, the National Mall's monuments, Rock Creek Park trails and a top-tier food scene.

Best time: Year-round

A storybook Hudson Highlands village 70 minutes by Metro-North: antique shops on Main Street, riverside strolls at Little Stony Point and the famous Breakneck Ridge rock scramble next door.

Best time: April to November

Yale's hometown packs free world-class museums, a leafy green and America's most argued-over pizza tradition ('apizza' at Pepe's vs Sally's) into a compact, walkable city two hours up the coast.

Best time: Year-round

A salty Connecticut seaport: tour the Charles W. Morgan, the world's last wooden whaleship, at Mystic Seaport, wander the drawbridge village and linger over chowder along the harbor.

Best time: May to October

Western Massachusetts culture country: MASS MoCA's giant installations, Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, Tanglewood summers, farm-town dining in Great Barrington and green hills to hike between them.

Best time: June to October

Gilded Age Newport: tour a Vanderbilt mansion, watch yachts fill the harbor, and graze the wharves and Bellevue Avenue boutiques on a salty New England city-by-the-sea weekend.

Best time: May to October