Affordable Vacations from New York City

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Today’s post is for anyone who has been despairing over the outrageous costs of travel these days. At the very luxurious end of the spectrum, a quadruple digit price tag per night for an African safari or seaside Italian holiday has become par for the course (see: nearly all of the hotels mentioned here). But spending nearly a thousand bucks per night on a cutesy boutique hotel in Upstate New York feels like a particular punch to the gut. There’s a lot to say about how we arrived in this place (see: What the F Has Happened to Hotel Prices?!), but not a lot mentioned about how we can make a sharp right toward a more accessible weekend away. So let’s start by exploring two easily accessible destinations from New York City: one north, one east, both with – giddy-up! — horses, along with a handful of other great East Coast options.

Old + New Montauk for Under $200 a Night

Even if you think you know what Montauk is about, I assure you you will be surprised and impressed with the autumn scene at the tip of Long Island, which has nothing to do with Ubers filled with rich girls in going-out tops and has everything to do with dune walks, horseback rides, and sweaters at the beach. During a few days this fall, just as the leaves began showing off in shades of gold, I made my way to The End (3 hours by car from NYC; 2.5 hours on Long Island Rail Road) to check out the quieter, more rustic side of Montauk I fell in love with as a kid.

I walked the wildflower-filled path along the Shadmoor Cliffs down to the Ditch Witch food truck for a breakfast burrito and surfer watch. As the temperature shifts, the full wetsuits come out, and it’s a great scene. I took a fun, guided horseback ride on one of the most beautiful paths I can remember (and which I’ll write about in more detail later) — the former cattle ranch grounds of Deep Hollow Ranch, apparently the oldest in the nation. (Who knew?) The sweetest horse led me through a pasture of rolling hills, through walls of fiery foliage and vines ripe with wild grapes, down to the beach where I saw two seals poke their heads up out of the gray-blue waters. Perfection. A meal at Inlet Seafood, a long-running dock-to-dish restaurant owned by six local fishermen, was lively, cozy, and satisfying.

The rest of this article — Ponies, Parks, and Performances in Saratoga for Under $200 a Night and Five Fave East Coast Cuties That Keep It Cheap and Cheerful — is for subscribers. Sign up for our newsletter, Way to Go, for your all-access pass.