Albany, NY Road Trips

It is home to just under 100,000 residents (2020), most of New York State's key government offices, seven colleges and universities, and is the seat of Albany County. Before the first European settlement by the Dutch in 1614, Albany and its surroundings were home to the Iroquois Five Nations group of indigenous Americans. Albany is the longest continually chartered city in the United States, the original eastern terminus of the Erie Canal, and was a center for the smuggling of alcohol from Canada during the U.S. Prohibition. Writer and journalist William Kennedy, an Albany native, uses the city and its history as the setting for most of his novels, plays and nonfiction books. Explore Albany website

Albany is an architectural haven, from historic buildings to newly built high-rise skyscrapers to churches and temples, Albany has got it all for architectural buffs out there. 1 Albany City Hall, 24 Eagle St, ☏ +1 518-434-5075. Designed by renowned architect H.H. Richardson in the Romanesque style he popularized. (updated Jan 2021) 2 Empire State Plaza, Madison Ave, ☏ +1 518-474-2418. The Empire State Plaza is something to behold. It lies between the New York State Capitol building and the New York State Museum. While many critics have found that the Plaza is architecturally intimidating, at best, it can be quite beautiful. Free concerts are often held on the plaza during the summer, ranging from Blues Festivals to Rock concerts. And the Fourth of July fireworks are spectacular. 3 New York State Capitol, ☏ +1 518-474-2418. Free guided tours, M-F 10AM, noon, 2PM, and 3PM; Sa & Su 11AM, 1PM, and 3PM. Free self-guided audio tours M-F, 9AM-3PM (driver license or passport must be left as collateral for audio player). Plaza Visitor Center, Rm. 106 Concourse, Empire State Plaza. Security screening will confiscate pocket knives and other sharp objects. 4 New York State Education building, 89 Washington Ave (between Hawk and Swan Streets). Impressive neo-classical colonnade. 5 State Street. The main street that runs to the Albany Waterfront. Though much of the lower portion is decayed and empty, it retains a regal air and is well worth a visit, particularly as revitalization of the area takes hold.

Public concerts. Held at the Empire State Plaza, Washington park and in the Corning Preserve/Albany Riverfront Park on the Hudson River during the summer. Playhouse, Washington Park. Plays held at the park playhouse during the Summer. First Fridays, ☏ +1 518-426-3501. 11AM-2PM, 5-9PM. Held every First Friday of the month, this event aims to bring to a wider audience the local artists and local shops of Albany. Artwork exhibitions, live entertainment and gallery openings bring Albany to life. For transportation; A trolley will stop at participating venues throughout Albany. The trolley leaves from the Upstate Artists Guild at 5PM and duration of the round trip is approximately 30 minutes. After the First Friday event, live music and original films are played from the Capitol Region Film Makers and people dancing. 1 Mohawk Hudson-River Bikeway. A 86-mile-long trail for biking, walking, jogging or skating which starts in the Corning Preserve in downtown Albany, right along the Hudson River, and stretches out to Rotterdam Junction in Schenectady County. 2 Corning City Preserve. Trails for biking, skating, jogging and walking in the 5-mile long park along the Hudson River, with picnic areas and a boat launch. Albany has one professional sports team, the Tri-City ValleyCats (baseball). The city has lost its teams in arena football, basketball, and ice hockey. Tri-City Valleycats, Troy. The Valleycats are nearby Troy's minor league baseball team.

Downtown area 1 Cafe Cappriccio, 49 Grand St, ☏ +1 518-465-0439. An upscale NYC-Style restaurant. Wonderful staff, beautiful live jazz. Dress accordingly, you won't be disappointed. 2 Fresh N' Pressed, 456 Madison Ave (just west of Lark St), ☏ +1 518-463-3829. M-F 8AM-4PM, Sa 8AM-3PM. Superb for healthful, super tasty and interesting sandwiches and wraps. Beautiful desserts to tempt you if you have room after their generous salads and sandwiches. Highly recommended, an outstanding value. 3 El Loco, 465 Madison Ave, ☏ +1 518-436-1855. A good Mexican restaurant, loved by locals. The food can sometimes be a bit expensive for what's being offered. 4 El Mariachi, Hamilton St (corner of Swan St), ☏ +1 518-432-7580. Authentic Mexican cooking. It's not expensive, and the food is exquisite. Recommended! 5 Gandhi, 1 Central Ave (corner of Henry Johnson Blvd and Central Ave), ☏ +1 518-449-5577. Indian restaurant boasts the best weekday lunch buffet in the area. 6 Jack's Oyster House, 42 State St, ☏ +1 518-465-8854. An Albany classic, its walls are adorned with misty photos of Albany's interesting past. The quality and prestige of Jack's has gone down, though it still may be the best place to get fresh seafood at a place that has defined downtown for almost one hundred years. Don't dress like a slob. 7 Mamoun's, 206 Washington Ave (near Lark Street), ☏ +1 518-434-3901. A wonderful Middle Eastern restaurant. The dim lighting and brick walls gives this place a unique classy atmosphere. Food is healthy and reasonably priced.

Albany's bar scene is alive and well and, due to crackdowns with ID checks, the face of local nightlife has changed a lot. Make sure you have your license, passport or ID handy. SUNY Albany is no longer considered the #1 party school in the United States, but between its 11,000 students and the College of Saint Rose, you will meet lots of sloppy and belligerent 18- to 21-year-olds on a typical night out. Muggers and other opportunists capitalize on vulnerable drinkers, so avoid Washington Park after dark. The most popular and concentrated place to barhop is probably Lark Street, where more than a dozen bars from cocktail lounges and dives are crowded between Ontario Street and Central Avenue. Good bets include: 1 Oh Bar, 304 Lark St, ☏ +1 518-463-9004. A popular gay and lesbian bar that is friendly and has a nice happy hour. Check out Karaoke night on Thursdays. 2 The Lionheart, 448 Madison Ave, ☏ +1 518-436-9530. Good on weekends when the Romans come down for their orgy, good happy hour specials, a good selection of beer, and they have dartboards and pool tables. Very crowded on summer weekend nights. 3 Susies, 8 Delaware Ave. A fun subterranean bar with several great microbrews, darts and a great patio during the summer. 4 Hollywood Tavern, 275 Lark St. Attracts an average looking and refreshingly unpretentious crowd. It's more "meet your friends" than "see and be seen." Albany's largest patio in the summer and a large upstairs for the winter. Pearl Street is another good place to go out.

Downtown area 1 The Hilton Albany, 40 Lodge St, ☏ +1 518-462-6611. It is close to the State Capitol, Times Union Center, and a burgeoning downtown area on Pearl Street (Pearl, Jillian's, Skyline, Mad River, the Victory Cafe, McGeary's and the Bayou Cafe are all on or just off of Pearl Street). 2 Country Inn & Suites by Radisson, Downtown Albany, 300 Broadway, ☏ +1 518-434-4111, [email protected]. Check-in: 3PM, check-out: 11AM. Guest rooms and public areas are renovated. Fitness center, breakfast. Free parking. $109-159. New Scotland and Pine Hills area 3 Morgan State House - Luxury Inn, 393 State St, ☏ +1 518-427-6063. The Morgan State House is an excellent example of late 19th-century elegance and design. It has been restored to provide the most unique accommodations in the Capital District. Voted "Best in the Capital/Saratoga Region", The Morgan State House is an inn in the European tradition. It is centrally located in downtown Albany, on a quiet, tree-lined residential street overlooking Washington Park and was the longtime home of the artist and suffragette Alice Morgan Wright (1881—1975), who lived here from 1888 (when she was 7 years old) until her death. The house was designed by R.W. Gibson, the architect of the Cathedral of All Saints, for her father, Henry Romeyn Wright, who made a fortune in dry goods during the Civil War. The multiple peaked gables and intricate interior details reflect the Japanese-influenced aesthetic of the 1880s.

1 Albany International Airport (ALB IATA), 737 Albany Shaker Rd, ☏ +1 518-242-2200. Classified as an international airport due to a handful of flights from Canada. Several expansion projects since 1995 have transformed this formerly spartan little airport into a very attractive port of departure/arrival. Airlines that operate are American, Delta, Southwest, United, Air Canada, and Cape Air. Getting from the airport to the city is best done by pickup from a friend or by taxi; in 2019, a taxi to downtown Albany costs about $35. See also "By bus" below. 2 Albany-Rensselaer station, 525 East Street, Rensselaer. The Albany-Rensselaer station is Amtrak's 10th busiest. It is not in Albany itself but directly across the river in Rensselaer. Taxis from the train station are pricey due to a cab company monopoly, so get a ride if you can. Capital District Transportation Authority (CDTA) bus route 214 connects downtown Albany to the station M-Sa 6AM-11PM, Su 9AM-7PM. An additional bus route 114 connects downtown Albany, the University at Albany, St. Rose College and Crossgates Mall. (updated Oct 2023) See Rensselaer for details about train services. Interstate 90 (I-90), the strip of highway that crosses the upper United States, cuts right through the north side of Albany. There are many exits into Albany from I-90, and a lovely view of the skyline between exits 6 and 7. It connects to Buffalo and Erie, Pennsylvania to the west and Springfield, Massachusetts and Boston to the east. Interstate 87 (I-87), which connects New York City and Montreal, intersects with I-90 in Albany.

Getting around Albany and the Capital Region entirely depends on where you are staying and what you want to see. If you plan on spending most of your time within the city of Albany, most downtown sights are within walking distance of each other. Most residents and visitors get around by car. By the standards of larger cities, traffic is light and traffic jams are rare. Finding parking in some neighborhoods, particularly the Center Square area around Lark Street, can be a challenge. Enterprise, ☏ +1 518-472-1111. Hertz, ☏ +1 518-454-9701. Avis, ☏ +1 518-785-3081. Thrifty, ☏ +1 518-782-7654. Taxi cabs in Albany are not metered and go by a zone fare within the city limits. Some places are geographically not in the city limits but still may be referred to as "Albany" such as Colonie Center which is in the town of Colonie and Crossgates Mall which is in the town of Guilderland. This may at times leave you open to getting ripped off by the driver. It's best to call the company and ask for the fare prior to getting into the cab. Yellow Cab, ☏ +1 518-434-2222. Offers a flat fee between different areas of the city. Capital District Transportation Authority (CDTA), ☏ +1 518 482-8822. Many sights outside of downtown and even outside of the city of Albany can be reached by the public bus system, the Capital District Transportation Authority(CDTA).

Like most cities, Albany has blighted areas with crime problems. Use precautions that one would use in any big city. The areas between Washington Ave. and New Scotland Ave. are generally safe to walk, especially east of Lark Street. However, there have been physical assaults near the SUNY Albany downtown campus. Arbor Hill near Henry Johnson Blvd. is known as one of the most dangerous areas, though it holds no particular interest to travelers. Occasional muggings and armed robberies have been known to happen to drunk suburbanites on Lark, Madison and other bar streets.