Where to Go from NYC: The Berkshires
Tick off all the boxes on your iconic New England checklist: rolling farmland, pristine lakes, maple sugaring, mountain ranges. And, also, cultural hub: The Berkshires is known for its incredible roster of dance, music, and performing arts centers.
WHERE TO STAY
The Old Inn on the Green
The Briacliff Motel
Red Lion Inn
Cranwell Resort & Spa
The Porches Inn at Mass MoCA
WHERE TO EAT
Allium
Nudel
Old Inn on the Green
Prairie Whale
Southfield Store
WHAT TO DO
Jacob's Pillow, a beloved cultural campus. Dance classes in the morning, lectures, free shows, evening performances, a restaurant, and a bar.
Barrington Stage Co., a non-profit performing classics (South Pacific, West Side Story) and premieres in a 1912 vaudeveille theater.
The Berkshire Fringe, summer theater festival showcasing avant garde work.
Mass MoCA, museum and performance space for contemporary works.
Canyon Ranch, a serene health spaand resort.
Shakespeare & Company, a 30-acre compound celebrating, teaching, and preserving the works of Shakespeare. Summer brings a jam-packed schedule of performances.
Downhill skiing (Butternut, Catamount)
Skinny dipping (Buckley Dunton Lake)
Bartholomew's Cobble, for a romp in the woods.
Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, for a good stretch.
WHERE TO SHOP
Bizalions Fine Food, artisanal food stuffs.
Brimfield, site of enormous (superlative) flea market for six days in May, July, and September.
Germain, a spacious home store filled with industrial furnishings, minimalist pottery, and clothing.
Painted Porch, an antiques shop in Sheffield.
Metropolitan French Antiques, vintagey goods in Great Barrington (631 Main Street).
Rubiner's, a gourmet food shop and cheesemonger.
LOCAL COLOR
@ArtsPittsfield
Berkshares (local currency!)
Berkshire Creative
Berkshire Eagle
Rural Intelligence
WAMC
Berkshireradio
MORE ON FATHOM
Breathing Lessons in the Berkshires
Norman's Place, Stockbridge, MA
How Locals Spend a Sunday: Cambridge, MA