Newark for out-of-towners

Here's a little primer to Newark, New York, for those who might be attending the American celebration.

First, it's not the Newark with the big airport in it. That's Newark, New Jersey, and it's at least an eight-hour drive between the two. No, it's a little Newark on the Erie Canal. It's situated between Rochester to the west (30 miles), Syracuse to the east (40 miles), Lake Ontario to the north (maybe 20 miles?) and the western Finger Lakes (Canandaigua and Seneca) to the south (maybe 20 miles?). Which is to say that there's a lot around Newark, but not a lot in it.

Getting there
The closest airport and Amtrak station to Newark are those in Rochester. It is about an hour by car from those to Newark, and there is no public transportation to speak of to take you there. If you're arriving some days in advance of the reception, we should be able to help arrange to collect you, but we will need some advance warning! But if you are coming by plane/train you will probably want to rent car in the area, otherwise you may find yourself very, very bored.

If you're driving from far, the closest exits on the New York Thruway are 42-Geneva (from the east) and 43-Manchester (from the west). I won't bother giving further driving directions to Newark, since there are many good websites that do that kind of thing these days, like this one.

Staying there
If you want to stay in Newark, I'm afraid there isn' t much choice, as there is only one hotel, the Quality [sic] Inn. I'm also afraid to say that it's overpriced for what it is. It does have a swimming pool, at least. The good thing about staying there is that you haven't got to go far to get 'home' after the reception.

There are a couple of bed-and-breakfasts in Newark, but to my knowledge they've already been fully booked. But on this site, you can see how far away other towns with B&Bs are, and possibly find something that way. There are definitely more B&Bs than are listed on that site, though. Some can be found on this site. Note that the closest towns to Newark are Palmyra (west), Sodus (north), Lyons (east--the closest), and Phelps (south). Since Phelps is in a different county, it's not listed on the second link here.

If you want to make a holiday in the Finger Lakes of it, then Canandaigua would be the closest lake-side town. There are a number of B&Bs listed here, and hotels listed here. And then there's Rochester, with lots of hotels and such.

What to do
If you want to make a little holiday/vacation out of this trip, then there are lots of things to do. Some highlights are:

Rochester: The Strong National Museum of Play, The George Eastman House (photography), waterfalls, an art museum, a science museum & planetarium, a zoo, Lake Ontario, and so on and so forth.

Palmyra: Mormon sites

Finger Lakes: winery tours, boat tours, State Parks , the Women's Rights National Historical Park in Seneca Falls (which is also said to be the setting of the film It's a Wonderful Life)

Waterloo: outlet mall

Newark is about 2 hours away from Niagara Falls (to the west).

Newarkites: Let us know if you'd be up for putting up a guest or two for a night or two at your house, in order to help to make the trip to Newark more affordable for some of our guests.

Also, feel free to offer tourist tips in the comments section!

Non-Newarkites: Let us know if you're in a tight fix for accommodation, and we'll see if we can help find you something.