Capital District

For other places with the same name, see Capital Region (disambiguation).

New York's Capital District is centered on the state capital of Albany.

Cities

Lower Bath House and White Sulphur Temple in the Sharon Springs Historic District

• 1 Albany — The state capital, with many attendant sights and attractions.
• 2 Amsterdam
• 3 Ballston Spa
• 4 Cambridge
• 5 Clifton Park
• 6 Cohoes
• 7 Hudson Falls
• 8 Rensselaer
• 9 Saratoga Springs — A grand old dowager of a resort town-turned-college/hipster town on the edge of the Adirondacks, this city comes alive when the thundering hooves of three-year-old thoroughbreds hit the track every August for a month of racing culminating in the Travers Stakes
• 10 Schenectady — The stamp of General Electric, which still operates its landmark research facility near downtown, remains on the Capital District's second city, also home to Union College.
• 11 Sharon Springs — A rejuvenated former spa town made semi-famous by its connection to the 'Fabulous Beekman Boys'.
• 12 Schoharie
• 13 Troy — The combination of a well-preserved and restored downtown and tech startups feeding off of nearby Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has led to the nickname "Silicon Valley of the 19th century."
• 14 Watervliet

Other destinations

• 1 Howe Caverns

Understand

The region covers the following counties

• Albany County - The state's capital city and its suburbs in the east; still rural in its west
• Montgomery County
• Rensselaer County - Little suburban sprawl and much rural land and small towns in this direction as you head from Troy and Rensselaer to the Berkshires and Vermont
• Saratoga County - Development in the Albany area has made this the fastest-growing county in the state; still, the northern regions remain largely untouched, especially within the Adirondack Park
• Schenectady County - A city with a few suburbs and some country towns
• Schoharie County — A rural county that features natural attractions, especially Howe Caverns
• Washington County - Feels like a little piece of neighboring Vermont that is still part of New York

Get in

By plane

• 1 Albany International Airport (ALB ^IATA), 737 Albany Shaker Road, Albany, ☏ +1 518 242-2200. An international airport due to a handful of flights from Canada. Several expansion projects since 1995 have transformed this formerly spartan little airport into a very attractive port of departure/arrival. Airlines that operate are American, Delta, Southwest, United, Air Canada, and Cape Air.  

By train

• Amtrak. Stations in Rensselaer and Schenectady. Trains serving the stations include the Maple Leaf (New York-Toronto), the Adirondack (New York-Montreal), Empire Service (New York-Niagara Falls), the Ethan Allen Express (Rutland-New York), and the Lake Shore Limited (Chicago-Buffalo-New York/Boston). 

By bus

• Greyhound. Stops in most of the major cities as well as some small towns. 
• Megabus. Connects Rensselaer and Saratoga Springs with New York City. 

See

General Electric Research Laboratory in Schenectady

• Thacher State Park is a nearly 2,000-acre park about a 25 minute drive southwest of Albany. It's on the Helderberg Escarpment (an escarpment is a cliff or steep slope, and the Helderbergs are a group of mountains and hills west of Albany) and has some lovely trails, an Olympic-sized pool, playgrounds, lots of areas for picnics (including reservable outdoor pavilions) and great views of Albany and the Hudson-Mohawk valleys.
• 1 Howe Caverns, 255 Discovery Drive Howes Cave, ☏ +1 518 296-8900. 10 AM- 5 PM (Tours). The bigger and more famous of the two show caves in the hamlet of Howes Cave, The eponymous cave at Howe Caverns features two tour offerings: a 90 minute traditional tour, which includes a boat ride over an underground lake, 1.25 mi (2.01 km) walking underground and numerous speleothems to observe, and a 2.5 hour "adventure tour" in the more underdeveloped part of the cave. The cave also includes a geological museum and a motel. Adults: $29.50; Children: $19.50 (Traditional Tour). (updated Jun 2024)
• 2 Secret Caverns, 671 Caverns Road Howes Cave, ☏ +1 518 296-8558. M-F: 11 AM - 3 PM; Sa-Su 10 AM - 4 PM. The smaller, quirkier and lower-key counterpart to Howe Caverns, Secret Caverns is just 1.4 mi (2.3 km) away from its erstwhile rival. The tour is about 45 minutes and is full of good (and bad) puns, cave facts and ends in a 100 ft (30 m) waterfall. Be sure to check out the psychedelic art on the billboards advertising the cave on your way and inside the visitor's lodge. Adults: $20; Children: $10. (updated Jun 2024)

Do

Events

• Capital District Scottish Games: 1, Altamont Fairgrounds (20-30 minutes west of Albany). Labor Day Weekend. Scottish culture is showcased in early September from pipes and drum bands to feasting and drinking over Scottish delights or just viewing an exhibition of horses, going back to your routes through genealogy information or maybe getting fashionable through tradition Scottish clothing. Though far from Scotland, this festival might give you an introduction to what your next destination may like be. (date needs fixing)