Ithaca is a city in New York’s Finger Lakes region found at the southern tip of Cayuga Lake.
The longstanding play on words is that “Ithaca is Gorges” (gorgeous) due to the area’s abundance of ravines, valleys, and waterfalls, all formed over tens of thousands of years by the same melting glaciers that created the Finger Lakes.

With an abundance of state parks, scenic viewpoints, museums, annual festivals, local dining, and more, Ithaca is such a fun option for an upstate NY getaway. I’ve visited a dozen or more times and still have a long list of things I’d like to see and do.