Lake George, NY

[eeyore29]

We're thinking of taking a trip to Lake George in summer 2017 (July or August). Our daughter will be almost 8 at the time. We're from northeastern PA and we're looking for a less expensive vacation so that we can put more money aside for a bigger 2018 vacation (Hawaii, Europe, or Alaskan cruise). My daughter and I would be happy to spend our vacation at the beach or pool, but hubby would rather do stuff, so I'm hoping that Lake George would be a good mix of relaxation and activities.

Any suggestions where to stay? As in, hotels and/or general area? Anywhere to avoid? I'd prefer to have some type of kitchen facilities to make a few meals throughout the week, to save a little money. Cabins/rentals would be ok, as long as they're "modern" and have A/C and plumbing; I'm no camper.

Any attractions you feel are must-do or must-avoid? I saw there's a trolley that we could use to avoid some driving around town. Use it or avoid? How easy is it to get around the area - are we talking regular 2-lane roads, or multi-lane highways?

Every year we talk about going somewhere other than WDW, but we end up back at WDW because we're so familiar with it. Any other tips or info you've got about the Lake George area, I'd love to hear it. Thanks!

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

We're thinking of taking a trip to Lake George in summer 2017 (July or August). Our daughter will be almost 8 at the time. We're from northeastern PA and we're looking for a less expensive vacation so that we can put more money aside for a bigger 2018 vacation (Hawaii, Europe, or Alaskan cruise). My daughter and I would be happy to spend our vacation at the beach or pool, but hubby would rather do stuff, so I'm hoping that Lake George would be a good mix of relaxation and activities.

Any suggestions where to stay? As in, hotels and/or general area? Anywhere to avoid? I'd prefer to have some type of kitchen facilities to make a few meals throughout the week, to save a little money. Cabins/rentals would be ok, as long as they're "modern" and have A/C and plumbing; I'm no camper.

Any attractions you feel are must-do or must-avoid? I saw there's a trolley that we could use to avoid some driving around town. Use it or avoid? How easy is it to get around the area - are we talking regular 2-lane roads, or multi-lane highways?

Every year we talk about going somewhere other than WDW, but we end up back at WDW because we're so familiar with it. Any other tips or info you've got about the Lake George area, I'd love to hear it. Thanks!

We go to Lake George multiple times a year since we live in the Albany area.

I don't have any recommendations for places to stay because we have a camper and use that. I know that lodging can be expensive right in the village so maybe renting a cabin at one of the campgrounds could be an option(We love Adirondack Camping Village).

The village area(where most of the attractions are) is fairly small. You can walk the whole thing without an issue. The Great Escape is an amusement park down the road. While it's not up to WDW standards, it makes for a fun day. The water park there is pretty good.

The roads through the touristy area are typically two lane with well marked crosswalks. Lots of people are walking around so it's fine to cross.

 

[mjdis17]

I live in Connecticut and also have been to Lake George quite a few times.


My family always stays here at this Comfort Suites hotel because they have an amazing pool. It has a waterslide, a splash area, and large hot tub, and plenty of room to swim around. MANY times during the day we have had the pool completely to ourselves for hours- and this is in peak summer travel time! It is inside so I don't know if that works for you and if you prefer to be outside, but I definitely recommend. The rooms only have a fridge and microwave but there is at least a fantastic continental breakfast so with some microwave meals and free breakfast every morning that should help with costs! This hotel is directly on the main street so its a perfect location, but walking from the hotel itself to most of these isn’t the best idea because it is a very busy road. In the touristy areas, with the shops and stuff around the lake, once you get to them it is totally a walking friendly area.


For attractions:

· Mini golfing and walked around the shops- family loved it!

· A ride on the lake on the Minnie Ha Ha which is a giant steamboat- family HATED it. We like boats, it was not a seasickness thing, just very expensive and kinda sucked to be blunt. We always joke when we go back because there is actually a mural of the Minnie Ha Ha painted in the pool area of that hotel so it haunts us every time hehe.

· Six Flags Great Escape- so fun!!!! Like PP said not a WDW experience but definitely fun and they have a great indoor waterpark on one side of the street and then the actual amusement park side on the other.

· Outlet shopping- who doesn't love a good outlet?!

· Water Slide World- its a little run down (a lot run down, ok fine I said it) but for like 3/4 of a day worth of activities I think it would be very fun for an 8 year old, although Six Flags Great Escape is a much much better option if you're choosing one or the other. It’s just that Water Slide World is a little smaller so it would be easier for her to roam with a little more freedom than Six Flags.

 

[mtemm]

Not lake George but a close activity if u go end of July/August. Saratoga race track is open then and is a short drive. We used to live there and i used to take the kids over first thing in the morning for breakfast at the track. You can eat at the restaurant there or bring a picnic or muffins or whatever in (we always brought). If you leave by a certain time you get your parking fee back, or you can stay and watch some races. It's a beautiful track, not seedy at all.

While you eat you can watch the jockeys warm the horses up. They are usually super friendly. You can even usually do a tour of the paddocks then.

 

[Farps]

Go see Fort Ticonderoga, there is quite a bit of history in the area. Whitehall NY is where Benedict Arnold was a ship builder and where the U.S. Navy was started by him.

 

[Hikergirl]

We don't ever stay in the village area, we stay a little north in a cabin within an rv resort. We like the atmosphere and activities there but have done other things in Lake George area.

Fort William Henry
Minnie Ha-Ha ride
Horseback riding in area
Lots of hiking
Warren County Bikeway
Great Escape
Not sure if you are willing to drive outside the area, but there are some cool things to do if you are.
We loved the Natural Bridge and caves (30 minutes) Garnet Mines (almost an hour away) and tubing on Lake Luzerne (30 minutes away).

 

[eeyore29]

Once we get there, we'd be ok with travelling a little bit for day trips, probably no more than an hour or so. In addition to the chain hotels like Comfort & Wingate (and so on), these are some of the local hotels I was looking at so far: Heritage, Studio Motel, Tea Island Resort, Surfside on the Lake, Lake George Inn, and the Mohican Motel. If we don't get a place with a kitchen, then I'd definitely like a place with free breakfast.

Thanks for all of the suggestions & info so far. Keep 'em coming!

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

I was just making breakfast and it reminded me...

If you guys are into eating out for breakfast go to the Lone Bull. Get the "mound of cakes"(or something like that). It's pancakes layered with bacon, sausage, and ham. SOOOOOOO good. HUGE portion but well priced.

Log Jam restaurant has good food too. Their salad bar is awesome.

 

[Party.Of.4-NY>>>FL]

We were there 2 years ago when our daughter was 6.

- I agree with PPs. Great Escape is a good time especially considering your daughter's age. Food is WAY OVERPRICED but we only had lunch there. Roller coasters there (if she's into them) are geared towards children but adults will enjoy them too. I'm pretty sure she was tall enough for all of them at 6yo so you should be good. There is another "theme park" there,sorry can't remember the name, and you will pass it on the way to Great Escape but I read poor reviews of that place so decided not to go.

-we went with a large group (7 adults/6kids) so we rented a private home and split it between 3 families so I can't speak to lodging for you if it's just the 3 of you.

-rented pontoon boats and took turns pulling everyone around on a tube. Make sure kiddo's life jacket is on tight if she's not a swimmer. Adults in our group wore them too when tubing because you may not realize how winded you can get while riding. Better safe then sorry. I think this was probably the most expensive thing we did. IIRC the boats are something like $300-$400/day.

- one other thing we did that was super cheap was visit a garnet mine. Kids (and adults) get to mine for garnet and keep whatever they find (everyone finds some). Very beautiful little mine with waterfalls. I don't remember the exact name of the mine but it was about a 45 minute ride north of town. Last portion of the drive there were dirt roads (about 2-3 miles worth) and GPS was unreliable at best. In a strange way this kind of added to the experience. (Silly I know but it was cool when it was happening). Very cheap way to spend a few hours. No food there only the mine so we packed a lunch and had a great half-day for under $100(groceries included).

- White water rafting! You have to do this if you think there's even a remote possibility you might like it. There are many different places that offer this along with many different experience levels. Look for something that is age-appropriate for your daughter and all of you will have a great time.

You mentioned your budget this time with regard to your big trip in 2018. I would say that not counting lodging or food (we did a big grocery trip at the beginning of our vacay and the ladies polished off bottle after bottle of wine while cooking together in the kitchen). We budgeted $1,000 in entertainment expenses for 7 days and had $ leftover at end of trip. A couple days we went to the beach there at the south end of the lake. Being that we live less than 5 miles from the ocean it was just "meh" but the kids had a good time. Other times we just walked through town. Found a decent arcade in town that the kids liked. Also posed for one of those old fashioned black and white family photos where you choose a costume from the 1800's in a little photography studio in town.

-And my last bit of advice would be this: once a year there is a motorcycle rally there. I don't know the dates but you should check to make sure your trip doesn't overlap that. >>Disclaimer<< I have nothing against bikers. My brother is an avid HD fan/owner and has been there during this week. Just pointing out that it's something worth considering when timing your trip.

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

Have a great time!

 

[Party.Of.4-NY>>>FL]

I was just making breakfast and it reminded me...

If you guys are into eating out for breakfast go to the Lone Bull. Get the "mound of cakes"(or something like that). It's pancakes layered with bacon, sausage, and ham. SOOOOOOO good. HUGE portion but well priced.

Log Jam restaurant has good food too. Their salad bar is awesome.

Yes. +1 for Log Jam. Good steakhouse.

 

[Hikergirl]

I think Americade is usually in June, but I would double check. It will be insanely crowded during that week

 

[mikie1011]

go swimming or just camp i heard that lake is very pretty have fun there

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

I think Americade is usually in June, but I would double check. It will be insanely crowded during that week

I think it's the second week of June. The first weekend is Elvis week
DH and I are having a kid free camping weekend the first weekend in June. I told him I NEED to see the Elvises!

 

[Twigs]

When our kids were little we stayed at the Country Cottages and Motel. We stopped in last year to say hello to the owners who we got to know very well, and it is a lot more built up than it used to be. But the cottages are air conditioned and they have full kitchens. They also have condo and motel units too. It has a pool, playground and a pavillion area where you can BBQ. It is not in the village, but north of it in Diamond Point, its nice and quite there. It is a short drive down to the village. Recently when we have gone we have stayed at the Fort William Henry hotel, which is very nice. As mentioned above there is a lot to do up there, and Saratoga racetrack is the place we go to the most.

 

[Hikergirl]

I think it's the second week of June. The first weekend is Elvis week
DH and I are having a kid free camping weekend the first weekend in June. I told him I NEED to see the Elvises!

That sounds like fun, I bet you'll have a great time!
We'll be up there this summer for sure. I found our Minnie Ha-Ha ride picture from 1996, and then one with the kids in 2006 so we have to get another one in 2016. I don't think they'll want to take the boat ride again though, they weren't all that excited about all those years ago LOL.

 

[goofyernmost]

Just as a warning... very little in Lake George is cheap and traffic can be horrific during the summer.

 

[aprilgail]

Just as a warning... very little in Lake George is cheap and traffic can be horrific during the summer.

I found it pretty expensive to so things there- we are not ones to just sit around and look at a lake (even in August that lake was WAY to cold for me to want to spend any time in!) so we spent a lot of money doing other things.

 

[Aliceacc]

We LOVE Lake George; it's our default vacation when we don't do WDW.

We always stay at the Surfside on the Lake. It's right in town; we park our car and pretty much leave it for most of the week. We can walk into town for the restaurants, walk to mini golf, walk to the fireworks at Shephard's Park on Thursday nights (or just watch them from the dock), walk to Fort William Henry, walk to the boat cruises on the Mini Ha Ha , the Sacrament and the Mohican. We do move the car to go to the outlets. The front desk has a huge array of discount coupons to local restaurants; make sure you check each night before you head into town.

The lake at that point is very shallow. They have a huge roped off section-- you can walk very far out before you hit water as deep as your waist. We always bring a bunch of inflatables and an electric pump. You can also rent paddle boats or canoes at the dock.

Surfside completed a major construction, relocating its parking under the main building. I have no idea how that effected things. If that doesn't look appealing, try Marine Village; it's a few hundred feet closer to town.

We tend to love the little shops in town. My kids can all claim that they've survived their visits to House of Frankenstein. The girls love getting their hair wrapped in town. We do take one day each trip and drive to Bolton Landing, about 15 minutes away-- more shops and restaurants, and some incredible rocks to climb at the park. We always eat at Fredericks, out on the deck. (I always get the brie and raspberry sauce appetizer as lunch-- I love it!!)

It's very much the anti-Disney vacation-- long lazy days on the lake or in the pool, deciding each night where to eat and each day what to do. I recommend it highly.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

I found it pretty expensive to so things there- we are not ones to just sit around and look at a lake (even in August that lake was WAY to cold for me to want to spend any time in!) so we spent a lot of money doing other things.

I don't think it's any more expensive than other places with a short season. It's not as cheap as say Orlando, but they get business all year long.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

We LOVE Lake George; it's our default vacation when we don't do WDW.

We always stay at the Surfside on the Lake. It's right in town; we park our car and pretty much leave it for most of the week. We can walk into town for the restaurants, walk to mini golf, walk to the fireworks at Shephard's Park on Thursday nights (or just watch them from the dock), walk to Fort William Henry, walk to the boat cruises on the Mini Ha Ha , the Sacrament and the Mohican. We do move the car to go to the outlets. The front desk has a huge array of discount coupons to local restaurants; make sure you check each night before you head into town.

The lake at that point is very shallow. They have a huge roped off section-- you can walk very far out before you hit water as deep as your waist. We always bring a bunch of inflatables and an electric pump. You can also rent paddle boats or canoes at the dock.

Surfside completed a major construction, relocating its parking under the main building. I have no idea how that effected things. If that doesn't look appealing, try Marine Village; it's a few hundred feet closer to town.

We tend to love the little shops in town. My kids can all claim that they've survived their visits to House of Frankenstein. We do take one day each trip and drive to Bolton Landing, about 15 minutes away-- more shops and restaurants, and some incredible rocks to climb at the park. We always eat at Fredericks, out on the deck. (I always get the brie and raspberry sauce appetizer as lunch-- I love it!!)

It's very much the anti-Disney vacation-- long lazy days on the lake or in the pool, deciding each night where to eat and each day what to do. I recommend it highly.

Hehe...
We took our kids to Frankenstein's when they were like 6. We had no idea it would be that serious! They are traumatized.