Hudson Valley National Heritage Area NY Bike Tour

Upstate New York’s Hudson River Valley
We’ll let you in on a secret: the bicycling in New York’s mid and upper Hudson Valley is some of the best to be found anywhere. Recreational and avid cyclists alike treasure this network of quiet country roads offering views of open farm country, the distant Catskill Mountains and the wide Hudson River.  The landscape feels very much like that in nearby Vermont, but with gentler terrain. Join us in touring some of the most picturesque routes in the Hudson Valley.

World-Class Restaurants, Wineries, Horse Farms and Fertile Farmland
If you are a foodie, you will love this tour. The Hudson River Valley is known for restaurants owned by world-class chefs. At night, enjoy dinners at some of the region’s top restaurants. By day, travel through fertile countryside, past idyllic dairy and agricultural farms, traversing manicured fields where horses, sheep and alpaca roam. Pedal through orchards to hilltop vineyards with long-range views. Taste several of the region’s award-winning wines, some of which have graced White House dinners. Sample artisanal cheeses, fresh fruits and heirloom vegetables by day, and feast on gourmet dinners each night filled with food from the very farms we’ve cycled past and prepared by the region’s finest chefs.

Mansions and Gardens
The bike tour of New York’s Hudson Valley includes visits to preeminent historical sites as well. Ramble through stately mansions built for the Livingstons, Vanderbilts and Roosevelts. See formal gardens designed by some of America’s foremost landscape architects and stroll the grounds at these stunning riverfront estates. Walk to a bluff with sweeping views of the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains, a setting said to have inspired the writing of Washington Irving.

Exciting Towns
Explore funky, chic Hudson, home to 65 antique shops, stellar art galleries and world-class restaurants.  A walk down Hudson’s Warren Street, described as a “dictionary of American architectural design,” is like a walk down through the centuries as you near the river. Feel the palpable excitement of Hudson’s recent renaissance.

Historic Places
Casually elegant Rhinebeck, another stop on the New York bike tour, is a charming village listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Enjoy the beautiful architecture of the historic homes, period barns and carriage houses while walking to lovely shops and restaurants. Watch for old hitching posts and carriage stepping stones too.

Wine, Art, History and Superb Cycling
The ridges, valleys, and plateaus framing the Hudson River create a spectacular setting, one that inspired a whole new art movement – The Hudson River School of Art. Great Freedom Adventures’ bike tour of New York’s Hudson Valley National Heritage Area will immerse you in the beauty, history, art, wine and cuisine of this remarkable region.

For another trip, which like this New York bike tour, includes cultural and historical gems along with great bicycling, please see our New England bike tour on Massachusetts’s North Shore.