This Day Trip Will Have You Peeping Fall Foliage and Celebrating Oktoberfest While Cruising the Hudson River
New York City has many amazing things: great food, incredible skyline views, top notch theater and some of the best outdoor drinking spots to while away the mild fall evenings. But sometimes you need to get away.
One of the best ways to do that this fall is to sail up the Hudson River and take advantage of the expansive fall foliage all while sipping a German beer and dancing to a live Oom-pah band to celebrate Oktoberfest.
The Circle Line’s 8-hour Bear Mountain Oktoberfest Cruise sets off from Pier 83 in midtown every Saturday and Sunday from Sept. 21 to Nov. 10, offering people an easy way to leave the city and go for a hike in open-air Bear Mountain State Park, which features a four-mile loop and parts of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail.
Craig Kanarick, the CEO of New York Cruise Lines, told Travel + Leisure that the cruise gives people “a fun and accessible escape” from the concrete jungle and a chance to “experience the natural beauty of fall.”
“This cruise does just that by eliminating the hassle of traditional transportation and providing an all-day celebration up the Hudson with scenic fall foliage, cold German beer, and live entertainment,” Kanarick added.
Sip Warsteiner beers, available for purchase, as you look at out at the colorful foliage, the leaves turning to golds, reds, and warm oranges. Then dance to polka music and fill up on Schaller & Weber bratwurst and sauerkraut, German potato salad, Bavarian pretzels, and traditional pork schnitzel before reaching the park itself
Later, work it off with a leisurely hike to take photographs of the fall leaves with an afternoon picnic in hand or visit some native turtles, snakes, frogs, toads, and salamanders at The Trailside Museums and Zoo.
Prices start at $65 for adults, and $52 for children 3 to 12 years old.
