Geneva

Geneva is the name of both a town and a city in Ontario County, in the Finger Lakes region of New York. The City of Geneva is surrounded by the Town of Geneva.

Get around

You'll need a car to get around the city, unless you only want to see downtown and the historical district. You can do that by foot.

Buy

• 1 Finger Lakes Gift & Lounge, 60 Seneca St, ☏ +1 315 759-5247. M-Th 8AM-7:30PM, F Sa 8AM-9:30PM, Su 9AM-3PM. Sells a variety of Finger Lakes-originated merchandise. Yeah, there's wine (and beer), but there are also apples and ice cream and gifts—and even coffee. A little bit of everything, all from within 100 miles or so. 
• 2 Stomping Grounds ART :: BOOKS :: GIFTS, 492 Exchange St (Right downtown across from Lynch's Furniture, next to Opus Cafe.), ☏ +1 315 220-0922. 10am-6pm M-Sat. An eclectic locavore shop with antiquarian books and paper, custom framing and printing, and locally inspired / created gifts. 

Eat

The quality of food is rising in Geneva, but can still often be disappointing from a Continental or Big-City point of view. Fast food can mostly be found downtown. Nearly every variety is available, but you'll probably need a car to get there (see "transportation" section). Geneva also has some excellent pizza joints; if you don't get any pizza while you're in Geneva....well, you've wasted a trip, haven't you? Other options range from greasy spoon diners to the poorly prepared, over priced with ambiance that will demand your firstborn child as payment, and there are some places in between that are just fine, and to the locals, some of these places are classic.

• 1 Belhurst, 4069 State Route 14 (Geneva). This is a fabulous dining experience, in a castle, overlooking Seneca Lake. A great selection of wine is available. (updated Feb 2023)
• Cam's. Thin crust pizza. 
• Mark's. Thick crust pizza. 
• Uncle Joe's. Another good pizza place that does a terrific lunch special for about the price of a gallon of gas. They make their cookies in house. 
• Madderlake Cafe. Consistently good meals. The cafe looks humble, but is run by a couple who came east from the wine growing regions of California, where standards and competition are stiffer. The wine there is excellent, as one of the couple is a sommelier (the other is the chef). The food is higher quality than many of the 'fancier' restaurants around. 
• Cedar Inn. Everything fried, and then some. 
• The Deluxe. Italian 
• Momberger's Grocery. Subs 
• Pinky's Restaurant. Old school 
• Water St. Cafe. 

Drink

Downtown Geneva is littered with local hangouts, some more holey-in-the-wall than others. This is part of the upstate charm. Note: all of these places also serve food. There are also straight up "bars", but these may be better left to the townies.

• Parker's. A local classic which has expanded into a small empire across the region. 
• Red Dove Tavern. Something a little more classy and with more character. 
• Stonecutter's Lodge the Belhurst Castle. Good for a nice night out, especially in cooler weather. They often have live music and a fire going in the cobblestone fireplace, or one going outside in the firepit. And the wine is okay as well. 

Sleep

• The Belhurst Castle. Sits just south of Geneva perched upon the lakeside....perfect romantic getaway, excellent bar, and functioning wine spigot in the hallway of the second floor of the castle. 

Go next

Routes through Geneva

Buffalo ← Canandaigua ←

W  E

→ Jct N S → Seneca Falls → Auburn