Rhinebeck

Rhinebeck is a township in Dutchess County, New York. The township encompasses the village of Rhinebeck and the hamlet of Rhinecliff. The downtown area of Rhinebeck is small enough to walk around within an hour or so, exclusive of extra time to visit churches and shops, have a meal, etc., and well worth it, as it is full of beautiful, lovingly decorated houses. It also has a beautifully preserved, functioning Roosevelt-era post office (built from 1939-1940) with murals that depict the history of the area and other interesting documentation.

Local information

 * Village of Rhinebeck website

By plane

 * Stewart International Airport, 1180 First St, New Windsor, +1 845-564-2100.
 * Albany International Airport, 737 Albany-Shaker Rd, Albany.

By train

 * Routes stopping in Rhinecliff:
 * Adirondack operating daily between Montreal and New York City including stops along the way in Saint-Lambert, Rouses Point, Plattsburgh, Westport, Ticonderoga, Saratoga Springs, Schenectady, Albany (Rensselaer), Hudson, Rhinecliff, Poughkeepsie, Croton-on-Hudson, and Yonkers.
 * Ethan Allen Express operating daily between Burlington and New York City including in Middlebury, Rutland, Saratoga Springs, Schenectady, Albany (Rensselaer), Hudson, Rhinecliff, Poughkeepsie, Croton-on-Hudson, and Yonkers.
 * Empire Service operates twice daily between Niagara Falls (New York) and New York City including stops in Buffalo, Buffalo (Depew), Rochester, Syracuse, Rome, Utica, Schenectady, Albany (Rensselaer), Hudson, Rhinecliff, Poughkeepsie, Croton-on-Hudson, and Yonkers.   Additional daily trips operate between Albany (Rensselaer) and New York City.
 * Maple Leaf operating daily between Toronto and New York City, in partnership with VIA Rail Canada. Stops between Toronto and Niagara Falls (New York) include in Oakville, Burlington, Grimsby, St. Catharines, and Niagara Falls (Ontario). Stops between Niagara Falls (New York) and New York City are the same as those made by the Empire Service. Border crossing processing takes place in Niagara Falls, where passengers must detrain with their baggage. Train crew members are staffed by VIA Rail within Canada, and by Amtrak within the United States.
 * Lake Shore Limited, operating daily between Chicago and Boston or New York City. It makes stops at most stations along the route, though it does not stop at some of the smallest stations. Trains consist of train cars from both branches between Chicago and Albany (Rensselaer).   The trains split into separate branches between Albany (Rensselaer) and both Boston and New York City.   Stops between Chicago and Albany (Rensselaer) include South Bend, Elkhart, Waterloo, Bryan, Toledo, Sandusky, Elyria, Cleveland, Erie, Buffalo (Depew), Rochester, Syracuse, Utica, and Schenectady.  Stops between Albany (Rensselaer) and New York City include Rhinecliff, Poughkeepsie, and Croton-on-Hudson.
 * Lake Shore Limited, operating daily between Chicago and Boston or New York City. It makes stops at most stations along the route, though it does not stop at some of the smallest stations. Trains consist of train cars from both branches between Chicago and Albany (Rensselaer).   The trains split into separate branches between Albany (Rensselaer) and both Boston and New York City.   Stops between Chicago and Albany (Rensselaer) include South Bend, Elkhart, Waterloo, Bryan, Toledo, Sandusky, Elyria, Cleveland, Erie, Buffalo (Depew), Rochester, Syracuse, Utica, and Schenectady.  Stops between Albany (Rensselaer) and New York City include Rhinecliff, Poughkeepsie, and Croton-on-Hudson.

By car
US Route 9 is the main north-south road in the area. The major east-west route is called Market St. in downtown Rhinebeck. It is East Market St./State Route 308 east of Route 9 (Mill St./Montgomery St.) and West Market St./State Route 85 west of Route 9. West Market St. becomes Rhinecliff Rd. and enables access to the Amtrak station in Rhinecliff.

Get around
Downtown Rhinebeck is easily walkable for people with an average level of fitness, but if you need to get to or from the Rhinecliff train station, you will need a car or taxi or at least a bicycle, unless you want to walk 2 miles on roads without sidewalks.

Eat
The eateries in Rhinebeck are mainly along a 2-block strip on East Market Street east of Route 9, plus several on Route 9 and a few others in strip malls and so on, slightly removed from these two streets. You will see just about all of these in the course of a walk in the built-up area of downtown.

Go next

 * Kingston, on the other side of the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge, has a much larger and in some cases considerably different selection of historic buildings than Rhinebeck.
 * In addition to visiting other places in the Hudson Valley, consider going to the Catskills for some good hiking.