Quaint Towns For the Weekend Between Binghamton NY & Lancaster PA.

[tarheelmjfan]

DH & I are once again finding ourselves with a last minute weekend open between these two cities. Under normal circumstances, we would have chosen to visit Philadelphia, but I'm still having health complications that make walking a city or taking lengthy excursions impossible. We've found driving around cities isn't remotely as fulfilling as experiencing them, so we want to avoid large cities for the time being. We'd like to find a smaller city that has a lot to do for the weekend, but is still walkable on a small scale. Something similar to the size of Binghamton would be perfect. FWIW, we've recently been to the Lancaster & Gettysburg areas.

 

[PaDisneyCouple]

Hershey Pennsylvania
Williamsport
Is going west of Binghamton an option?
Corning New York

 

[Pooh2]

Lititz, Pa was a nice stop for us on a recent road trip.
Spent way to much in the Olive Oil shop though!
Lots of fun little stores and cute downtown.

 

[RUDisney]

Come to Scranton, PA.

We have Steamtown National Historic Park. You can take a ride on the train and tour the museum and train yards.

You can also go down into a coal mine on a tram car and the guide will tell you about the importance of mining in the region and the horrors of actually being a miner... from the age of 5-up.

Scranton is the home of the Office in the US. There is a really fun store inside of Cooper's Restaurant and you can drive around to see the sites from the opening credits and from some of the shows. (Poor Richard's Pub... Alfredo's Pizza Café... etc.) Cooper's is a seafood restaurant that isn't bad, but if you want really good Italian food, go to Russell's Restaurant in Dunmore. The restaurant has been in the family for 3 generations and their sauce is amazing!

The architecture in Scranton is truly beautiful.

 

[holden]

In and around Bucks County in PA. New Hope, Doylestown, Lahaska...even Labertville, NJ (just over the bridge from New Hope, PA). Cute towns with lots to do.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Lehigh Valley has lots of spots to enjoy. In particular, Main Street in Bethlehem, PA is full of nice restaurants with tours I think, plus the Casino and Event Center always have things going on for entertainment, Hotel Bethlehem is very nice. There is also a nice to walk outdoor shopping area right off of 78 called The Promenade Shops at Saucon Valley with lots of restaurants, a grocery store and & movie theater. There is another great shopping area at Hamilton Crossing not too far and also near the highway with Whole Foods and a Target nearby I think. You'll find Walmart scattered around the whole valley for that sort of shopping too. Overall, the Lehigh Valley is a great area to pause.

 

[wvjules]

We visited Lake Placid, NY last year. Loved it! I would go back again in heartbeat.

 

[adkkev]

We visited Lake Placid, NY last year. Loved it! I would go back again in heartbeat.

Just a tad north of Binghamton …

 

[Pink Partridge]

New Hope (you can walk to Lambertville, NJ... in fact, stay at Lambertville Inn). If you like antique stores, this is the area for you.

Bethlehem (stay at historic Hotel Bethlehem)...a lot of outdoor dining. A very nice bookstore across the street from hotel

Jim Thorpe (stay at The Inn at Jim Thorpe)

Hershey (stay at Hershey Hotel and have a spa day)

 

[Pink Partridge]

Come to Scranton, PA.

We have Steamtown National Historic Park. You can take a ride on the train and tour the museum and train yards.

You can also go down into a coal mine on a tram car and the guide will tell you about the importance of mining in the region and the horrors of actually being a miner... from the age of 5-up.

Scranton is the home of the Office in the US. There is a really fun store inside of Cooper's Restaurant and you can drive around to see the sites from the opening credits and from some of the shows. (Poor Richard's Pub... Alfredo's Pizza Café... etc.) Cooper's is a seafood restaurant that isn't bad, but if you want really good Italian food, go to Russell's Restaurant in Dunmore. The restaurant has been in the family for 3 generations and their sauce is amazing!

The architecture in Scranton is truly beautiful.

I went to Scranton about 10 years ago. I will admit, I initially found it depressing. I am not into trains, so maybe that is why. A lot centered around trains.

BUT, I was shocked at the quality of Italian food in this area. Better than NYC, and I don't say that lightly. And then the Polish foods. Wow! I would go back to Scranton for the food scene.

 

[Ray Ford]

Sounds like you are looking for Ithaca NY. Just a little north of Binghamton.

 

[570traveler]

Any of the above are great. Jim Thorpe, PA is a nice area as well.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Thank you all for the suggestions. I really appreciate it. I'm going to spend the night looking into all of them, then get back to you.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Update: We decided to try to stay in NY, because we've spent quite a bit of time in PA in the last year & will be returning fairly soon. After researching the suggestions here, we chose to stay in Corning, NY. Tomorrow we're doing a day trip to Watkins Glen & Ithaca. Sunday we'll have a short drive to our next destination, which will give us more time to experience Corning.

Thanks again for all of the suggestions. I'll return to this thread for ideas, when we're in the PA/NY area again.