Day trips offer a satisfying sweater-weather getaway for time- and budget-squeezed travelers. Here are five single-day sojourns to try less than three hours’ driving distance from Long Island that offer history, fun and adventure for all ages.
Japan Village
DRIVING DISTANCE FROM LI: About 1 hour
Industry City, 934 3rd Ave., Sunset Park, Brooklyn
Take a calligraphy workshop in Japan Village. Credit: Japan Village
Overlooking Brooklyn’s waterfront, this two-level, mall-like culture center is a one-stop destination for tea ceremonies, lessons in origami, calligraphy and other traditional Japanese arts.
Sake’s Bar is a lively spot for unwinding and enjoying authentic Japanese drinks. Credit: Japan Village
Tea ceremonies are held on Mondays in a traditional chashitsu tea room on the second floor (y-nagano.jp/class; $60). If that’s not your cup of tea, specialty food workshops are held regularly, including a tuna-cutting demonstration on Dec. 28 and a traditional sake barrel breaking ceremony — with free samples — on New Year’s Day.
For more hands-on fun, at Bandai Namco Cross Store (52 35th St., 2nd floor, shop.bandainamco-am.com), “fans can see, touch and explore characters and products” like One Piece, Naruto and Pac-Man trading cards, and play “arcade games with blaring lights and sound,” says events coordinator Alice Lorant.
WakuWaku + Oldies, an izakaya-style Japanese restaurant, offers a taste of classic Japanese comfort food. Credit: Japan Village
Continue your staycation at Taro’s Origami, a paper-folding studio (tarosorigami.com), Kiddleton kiddie arcade (kiddleton.info) or Book Off, a secondhand book and collectibles shop (bookoffusa.com).
Need snacks or drinks? Try the pan-fried gyoza dumplings and fruity cocktails at lantern-lit WakuWaku + Oldies (269 36th St., 347-584-4577) or draft beer and sake at Sake’s Bar in the food hall, and sing your heart out in the private rooms at J-Tunes Karaoke Bar.
MORE INFO japanvillage.com
The Met Cloisters
DRIVING DISTANCE FROM LI: About an 1 hour
99 Margaret Corbin Dr., Manhattan (North end of Fort Tryon Park)
The Cloisters is a branch of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Credit: The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The uptown branch of the massive Metropolitan Museum of Art can easily be seen in a day, says Met publicist Margaret-Anne Logan. Popular artworks include the Mérode Altarpiece triptych depicting the “Annunciation to the Virgin Mary” and “The Unicorn Rests in a Garden” tapestry, Logan says. The 1,000-work collection also encompasses paintings, illuminated manuscripts and carved sculptures.
The latest temporary exhibition, “Spectrum of Desire: Love, Sex and Gender in the Middle Ages,” features 50 medieval — and often titillating — artifacts, including gold jewelry, ivory sculptures, stained glass, illuminated manuscripts and woven textiles (through March 29).
The Late Gothic Hall at The Cloisters. Credit: The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Cloisters was built in 1933 as a tranquil space to reflect and recharge, with architectural elements of Middle Ages religious spaces and domestic interiors, Logan says. Three gardens were inspired by tapestries and other historic sources.
The gift shop sells jewelry, stained-glass ornaments and other merchandise inspired by The Met collection.
Driving in? Park for free in Fort Tryon Park (Riverside Drive to Broadway, West 192nd Street to Dyckman Street) a 67-acre green space featuring paths, playgrounds and courts overlooking the Hudson River and the New Jersey Palisades.
MORE INFO 212-923-3700; metmuseum.org, nycgivparks.org.
Hamilton Heights/Sugar Hill Historic District, Manhattan
DRIVING DISTANCE FROM LI: About an 1 hour
Walk in the footsteps of Black history’s giants in this posh African American neighborhood “way up in Harlem,” as immortalized by Duke Ellington’s ”Take the ‘A’ Train.”
The bandleader was among the African American celebrities “living the sweet life” in Sugar Hill and Hamilton Heights during the mid-20th century Harlem Renaissance, says Claudette Brady, executive director of the Save Harlem Now! landmark preservation organization. Stroll Edgecombe Avenue to number 409, dubbed “The House of Celebrities” by poet Langston Hughes, and onetime home to civil rights pioneer W.E.B. Du Bois and Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall (nypl.org). “The entire block is spectacular,” Brady says of the fashionable addresses that also include 555 Edgecombe Ave., one-time home to singer-actor Paul Robeson, composer Count Basie, singer/actress Lena Horne and world heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis.
Built in 1882 by Gilbert Robinson Jr., Sylvan Terrace features 20 wood-frame rowhouses concealed from the outer neighborhood. Credit: Getty Images/Barry Winiker
Step into the Morris-Jumel Mansion (65 Jumel Terr., 212-923-8008, morrisjumel.org; $10), built in 1765 and one of Manhattan’s oldest residences. The new “Below Stairs” exhibition takes visitors to the 18th century-era kitchen where enslaved African Americans toiled. The manse also served as Gen. George Washington’s and later British headquarters during the American Revolution and was a tavern and a private home before becoming a museum in 1904. Next door, on Sylvan Terrace, walk by some of the city’s last 19th century wooden townhouses lining a cobblestone street.
The Grange was Founding Father Alexander Hamilton’s home from 1802 until his death in 1804. Credit: Getty Images/MDoculus
Another indoor must see: The Hamilton Grange National Memorial, built by West Indies-born Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, who was the inspiration for Broadway’s smash “Hamilton” musical. Hamilton lived in the house from 1802 until his death in an 1804 gun duel with former Vice President Aaron Burr. The house was moved from its original site, Brady says, and is open Wednesday to Sunday for 25-minute tours of one historically preserved floor. (Open Wednesday to Sunday, 414 W. 141st St., 646-494-5366, nps.gov; free.)
MORE INFO Download a self-guided walking tour of the Hamilton Heights/Sugar Hill historic district at morrisjumel.org.
Philadelphia
DRIVING DISTANCE FROM LI: 2 hours, 40 minutes
The Rocky Statue at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Credit: Visit Philadelphia/J. Smith
Day trippers may find it hard to resist visiting The Liberty Bell, Independence Hall and the “Rocky” steps and statue at the Philadelphia Art Museum (2600 Benjamin Franklin Pkwy. at Kelly Drive, visitpham.org).
But there’s much more to embrace in the City of Brotherly Love, at attractions often “tucked into unexpected corners,” which “makes exploring Philly that much more memorable,” says Angela Val, president and CEO of Visit Philadelphia.
Among the newest attractions is Calder Gardens, which opened in September displaying 50 years of artwork, including mesmerizing mobiles, by native Philadelphian sculptor Alexander Calder (2100 Benjamin Franklin Pkwy., 215-278-7250, caldergardens.org; $5-$18).
Another hidden gem: the Richard Allen Museum and Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church. Artifacts and documents celebrate one of the nation’s first Black religious denominations and its founder, Bishop Richard Allen. (419 S. 6th St., motherbethel.org; $5-$10). In West Philadelphia, Paul Robeson House & Museum showcases the renowned singer, actor, athlete and civil rights champion’s fight for racial justice and global human rights (4951 Walnut St., 215-747-4675, paulrobesonhouse.org). Continue exploring African Americans’ vital role in America’s founding on Visit Philadelphia’s “The Black Journey: African American History Walking Tour of Philadelphia” (267-702-3479, blackjourneyphiladelphia.com; $20-$35).
Philadelphia’s Rosenbach Museum & Library, part of an 1860 brownstone, displays some of the world’s greatest literary treasures. Credit: Visit Philadelphia/C. Smyth
Bibliophiles who fancy fantasy will want to explore The Rosenbach Museum & Library, where the rare book and manuscript collection includes a recently acquired first American edition of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” and Bram Stoker’s notes for his classic 1897 novel, “Dracula.” (2008-2010 Delancey Pl., 215-732-1600, rosenbach.org; $7.50-$20). And one of America’s longest continuously operating LGBTQ+ and feminist bookstores is a stop on Beyond the Bell Tours’ Philly Gayborhood / LGBTQ History Tour of Philadelphia (beyondthebelltours.com; $59).
MORE INFO 1-800-537-7676, visitphilly.com
New Hope, Bucks County, Pennsylvania
DRIVING DISTANCE FROM LI: 2 hours, 25 minutes
If you’re in a holiday mood, New Hope sparkles with colorful lights, gift shops, a gingerbread display and a train ride with Santa.
“The holidays in New Hope truly capture the spirit of the season,” says Paul Bencivengo, Visit Bucks County’s president and CEO. Browse Main Street’s boutiques and historic general store for books, vintage clothing, sweets and even beef jerky.
“Families can hop aboard the North Pole Express on the New Hope Railroad, where Santa and his elves spread cheer on a festive ride through Bucks County,” he says. (Through Dec. 30, 32 W. Bridge St., 215-862-2332, newhoperailroad.com; $83-$85.)
Visitors ring in the season at Peddler’s Village market in Pennsylvania. Credit: Getty Images/Jonathan W. Cohen
Nearby, Peddler’s Village” sparkles with millions of lights and 60-plus specialty shops” selling wreaths, candles and crafts, Bencivengo says. The annual Gingerbread Competition & Display features more than 100 entries during shopping hours from Nov. 14 through Jan. 17 in the Peddler’s Village Visitor & Event Center (100 Peddlers Village, Lahaska, 215-794-4000, peddlersvillage.com; free).
New Hope’s Bucks County Playhouse was founded in 1939 as one of the nation’s first summer stock companies. “Elf The Musical” spreads holiday cheer from Nov. 21 through Jan. 4 (70 S. Main St., 215-862-2121, bcptheater.org, $32). The Playhouse Deck overlooking the Delaware River serves up a full food menu and cocktails named for Broadway’s Audra McDonald and Bernadette Peters.
MORE INFO visitbuckscounty.com