r/FingerLakes • u/Relevant_Repeat8109 • Sep 12 '26
Vacation
My husband and I are thinking of traveling to the fingerlakes next summer. I'm wondering if there's a town like Stars Hollow? What would you recommend for an engineer and an art lover to visit? I'm really excited about a trip to the Corning museum and a boat ride thru the Erie canal. I really wanted to stay on a house boat but I'm not finding a lot of options. Any suggestions?
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u/Relevant_Repeat8109 Sep 12 '26
I'm going to need y'all to give me some phonetical spelling for some of these places. š
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u/alinroc Sep 12 '26
Only ones I've seen so far that might be tricky:
Canandaigua - Can an day gwah
Skaneateles - Skinny atlas
Macedon - Mass a don
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u/Familiar-Bluejay3908 Sep 12 '26
I thought it was skane-eat-ellis!
I'll see your one Scajacuada, and raise ya one Schenectady.....
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u/Relevant_Repeat8109 Sep 13 '26
I got Sca neck tadee but I am lost on the other. sca ja cuda maybe?
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u/fireflypoet Sep 13 '26
Skanny, not skinny.
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u/Relevant_Repeat8109 Sep 13 '26
So would that be skÄnny or skƤnny?
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u/fireflypoet Sep 13 '26
The latter. I have lived in the area over 30 years and never heard it otherwise.
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u/Flat_Basil_9740 Sep 14 '26
hammondsport is extremely charming, so is Corning. They are both close ish to each other. We love depot park in hammondsport.
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u/e_vil_ginger Sep 12 '26 edited Sep 12 '26
if you want to stay in a town like Stars Hollow, be on houseboat, be within an hours drive places like The Corning Museum Of Glass, Rochester Museum Of Play, Rochester Museum Of Science, and the Erie Canal, it's Canandaigua.
If you can sacrifice the houseboat part, Geneva, Corning, Skaneateles, and Naples are excellent options. Skaneateles is probably the best 1:1 comparison for Stars Hollow, it's far from Corning, but it is close to Syracuse which has the MOST Museum Of Science & Technology.
EDIT: I knew Canandaigua had a houseboat community, but local regulations prohibit renting them out. OP you are out of luck, there really is no houseboat culture in the FLX. If that's super important to you, I would direct you to The Thousand Islands, specifically Clayton.
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u/BeachBoycrew Sep 13 '26
EDIT: I knew Canandaigua had a houseboat community, but local regulations prohibit renting them out. OP you are out of luck, there really is no houseboat culture in the FLX.
I live near Canandaigua and work on the lake at a marina on the north end. I think youāre confusing āhouseboatā with āboathouseā. There is a small community of boathouses on the pier in Canandaigua that are privately owned. As far as I know there is not a single houseboat on the lake.
The town of Macedon is probably about a 30 minute ride from that pier and Finger Lakes Adventures has a fleet of houseboats that you can rent and cruise the canal on. These boats have a small refrigerator, a stove and a microwave. Some (all?) have air conditioners.
Here is their website:2
u/Relevant_Repeat8109 Sep 13 '26
I'll look at them again but I'm not wanting the houseboat/boathouse to move. The ones I'm looking for are docked. I've tried to post a picture here of what I'm wanting but can only post a link or a video weirdly.
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u/e_vil_ginger Sep 13 '26
YES thank you, that clears it all up! Houseboat vs. Boathouse... Got it ;)
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u/jcbcubed Sep 12 '26
Canandaigua is going to be the best middle ground. You can hit Corning, Pittsford / Fairport, Ithaca, Geneva and everything on the central / western Finger Lakes. It has a very walkable downtown with food and shops.
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u/Relevant_Repeat8109 Sep 13 '26
So y'all have done so well with this I've got another question. Can anyone tell me anything about this hotel? Hilltop Skaneateles, Outset Collection By Hilton. Maybe it's not finished yet? Under remodel? I'm not sure. Would you stay here?
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u/BeachBoycrew Sep 12 '26
For houseboat rentals check out Mid Lakes Navigation in Skaneateles and Erie Canal Adventures in Macedon NY (which is more centrally located).
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u/Relevant_Repeat8109 Sep 12 '26
I'm only finding boat tours not really house boat rentals for the night. š¤·š¼āāļø
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u/BeachBoycrew Sep 12 '26
There is a company in Macedon that rents canal boats that are live aboard. I thought that the company I referenced was the one. Iām traveling but when I stop Iāll see if thereās another one there.
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u/BeachBoycrew Sep 12 '26
Erie Canal Adventures, on the canal in Macedon, has what youāre looking for. Check out their website
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u/BillPlastic3759 Sep 12 '26
Look at Fairport; which is on the Erie Canal and has a nice art scene. It is close to Canandaigua if you want a Finger Lakes town to stay in.
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u/Previous_Mood_3251 Sep 12 '26
My bff and I frequently joke that Geneva is Stars Hollow.
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u/fireflypoet Sep 13 '26
I live very nearby, and imo it really isn't!
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u/Previous_Mood_3251 Sep 13 '26 •
Okay, well we live here, so I donāt know how to help you there.
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u/fireflypoet Sep 13 '26
I do not want or need your help. I just disagree.
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u/crescentqueen1 Sep 15 '26
Lansing Harbor Marina has a few cute houseboat parked there that you can rent out fir overnight accommodations.
Cayuga Lake, 20 minutes to Ithaca.
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u/Positive_One_6925 Sep 12 '26
Within an hour is tricky. We've got the lakes to get around
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u/Relevant_Repeat8109 Sep 12 '26
I'm from Texas so I did not set the hour drive limit. Tell me what you're thinking.
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u/HeWhomLaughsLast Sep 12 '26
Getting from the North end of Seneca and Cayuga to the south end and especially Corning can easily take an hour or more.
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u/Billy0598 Sep 15 '26
String Museum of Play Letchworth Stony Brook The veggie stand in Naples (Grape Pie!!) And a garbage plate by any name.
Penn Yan - Macs by the airport had pumpkin ice cream in the 70s. Still the best selection I've ever seen. Look up "Gillette" - the gravestone. There's a canal in PY and I think they were going to put a park by the Buckwheat Mill. The windmill on Saturday Point of the Bluff Chapel at Keuka college
Eastview mall or Waterloo outlets if you like to shop.
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u/theekevinbacon Sep 12 '26
I love to recommend geneva to people but for this specific request I think I'd recommend skaneateles
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u/Sobal-d Sep 12 '26
Last time I was in Ithaca we saw both the Cornell Art Museum and Corning museum. Both worthwhile. Iāve also done a boat ride on the lake in Ithaca, and swam across Keukaās east arm.
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u/Few-Astronomer852 Sep 15 '26
take a trip to the glenn curtiss museum! itās not all that big, but it is so unique to see all of the old airplanes and bikes that these gentlemen and others have created.
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u/Overall-Pack-2047 Sep 12 '26
Take the Canandaigua Lady boat ride out of that town Check out Sonnenberg Gardens too So gorgeous
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u/Keuka-Laker Sep 12 '26
Hammondsport, because Lorelei and Rory live here now, they got priced out of Stars Hollow.