Summary

Saratoga Springs offers a unique, year-round getaway, easily accessible from NYC. Its historic Saratoga Race Course, America's oldest, provides an incredibly affordable and fun experience, even allowing outside food and drink. The Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) is a world-class venue, hosting top musical acts, the NYC Ballet, and Philadelphia Orchestra. Visitors can also explore the 2,400-acre Saratoga Spa State Park, home to historic mineral springs and the Roosevelt Baths & Spa. Rich in history, Saratoga was a pivotal site in the American Revolution and is famously the birthplace of the potato chip. The walkable downtown boasts diverse dining, from Sweet Mimi's to fine Italian, and luxury lodging like the Adelphi Hotel.

Saratoga Springs is not exactly a hidden gem, but it flies under the radar for too many travelers, especially given how easy it is to get to, and its proximity to the massively populated New York City tri-state region. Unlike many other Northeastern resort towns, it is a legitimate year-round destination, and in high season summer it competes primarily with well-known beach towns, from the Hamptons to Cape Cod, which are regularly plagued with infamously bad traffic that Saratoga mostly escapes. There is also easy and direct Amtrak train service from New York City. It is right on point with this year’s hot travel trend, America250, and has many different major attractions, with appeals to many different kinds of travelers. There are a lot of good reasons why you might want to visit Saratoga Springs for a fun, exciting, delicious and historic getaway. Did I mention it is the birthplace of the potato chip?

Why You Should Visit Saratoga Springs

America’s Oldest Racetrack

The single most famous attraction is probably the iconic horse racing track, the oldest in the nation, predating other famed classics such as Churchill Downs, Keeneland and Santa Anita. It has always been a temple of the “Sport of Kings,” but in recent years Saratoga’s stature has grown substantially, as its parent, the New York Racing Association (NYRA), has poured millions into improvements, and for the past couple of years Saratoga has hosted a Triple Crown race, the Belmont Stakes and extended summer season. This is generally considered the second or third biggest event in the sport after the Kentucky Derby and possibly Breeders Cup and was held here while the NYRA did a massive restoration of Belmont Park. While the Stakes is returning to its namesake track, Saratoga will continue to enjoy the benefits of recent improvements as it returns to its 40-day session.

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Most recently, the track got another big boost when the NYRA just announced a partnership with Churchill Downs to create a new season-long championship series for 3-Year Olds, basically extending the idea of the Triple Crown, minus the Preakness, to a longer series including the Kentucky Derby (which I have written about here at Forbes), Belmont and Saratoga’s flagship annual event, the Travers Stakes.

All of this fits with one of the biggest trends in travel right now, the multi-billion market for high-profile spectator sports and “spectacle” events. However, in this regards Saratoga has one significant advantage over recent hot tickets such as F1 races and the FIFA World Cup—it is ultra-affordable. In fact, a day at Saratoga is simply one of the best entertainment values left in this country, even though it remains classy and classic. Advance purchase general admission tickets in peak season start at a paltry seven dollars, and general admission here is far nicer than at just about any other track or stadium. It is not limited to standing room only, there is no infield area, anyone can access the Clubhouse and its bars and restaurants, and there are lots of free, accessible and comfortable areas with benches, seating and picnic tables on grassy lawns. Get in early and you can grab a table for the entire day for free, and on top of this, other than glass bottles, you can bring in pretty much anything you want, from beer, wine and whiskey to cigars and coolers full of food (to stay on theme, make sure to pack some Saratoga Kettle Chips and famed Saratoga water).

While NFL and MLB stadiums enjoy charging $15-$20 for a light beer these days, Saratoga is full of gourmet self-catering, and if you do not want to bring your own, it has a fantastic selection of eateries, including many local gems with track outposts, plenty of bars, sit down finer dining restaurants, and satellites of New York City classics such as Shake Shack and the Carnegie Deli. There are fancy full-service restaurants in the Clubhouse like you’d find at Churchill Downs, and something for everyone at pretty much every price point.

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Saratoga is one the greatest tracks in horse racing, it’s friendly and very laid back, and a day here is a ton of fun even if you know nothing about the sport. It’s also super easy, no long lines, metal detectors or hassle, and it’s within energetic walking distance of the town’s main drag, Broadway, where most lodging is. It was close enough that my hotel, the Adelphi, shuttled guests in golf carts.

Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC)

Another huge area attraction is SPAC, the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, which includes what is considered one of the nation’s best acoustic outdoor amphitheaters, an architectural marvel built in 1966. If you are keen to see your favorite bands at iconic venues such as Red Rocks, the Gorge, or the nation’s newest great outdoor arena, Thunder Ridge, which I wrote about here at Forbes, then SPAC is already on your Bucket List.

But what’s different about SPAC is the eclectic mix of acts it gets. Yes, the biggest touring bands in the world play this 25,000 capacity venue even though it is small and intimate by stadium standards (The Dave Matthews Band and Guns ‘n Roses both played SPAC in the past few weeks, the latter just before heading to the 55,000+ MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, the 65,000-seat Allegiant in Las Vegas, and the 90,000+ Rose Bowl in Pasadena).

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But SPAC is also the only place on earth where the New York City Ballet decamps with its full company for a weeklong residency, and the same goes for three weeks of the complete Philadelphia Orchestra—and both have been doing these residencies here for the past 60 years. They host the nationally renowned Saratoga Jazz Festival and put on a fantastic year round Culinary Arts series with famed chefs, experts and cookbook authors such as Steven Raichlen, Eric Asimov and Edward Lee.

The SPAC amphitheater is just a great place to see music or dance, with a mix of assigned tiered covered seating, general admission outdoor standing room and a VIP building with patio and bar overlooking the stage. But that’s just the most visible part of the SPAC offering, open from May to October. All year long SPAC also operates the 500-seat Little Theater next door, an indoor venue that puts on a full mix of Broadway style plays, classics, smaller musical performances and annually hosts the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

Another SPAC venue is the open air Charles R. Wood Discovery Stage, used during the Saratoga Jazz Festival. It also host the “Caffe Lena @SPAC” concert series, partnering with the historic coffeehouse in downtown Saratoga. Caffé Lena is the oldest continuously operated folk music venue in the United States, where Bob Dylan performed his first show outside New York City, and has hosted Arlo Guthrie, Don McLean and many other legends.

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Finally, there is the SPAC School of the Arts, founded in 2021 with its own state of the art facility on the same campus, with multi-disciplinary classes for all ages.

Saratoga Spa State Park

The entire SPAC campus sits within the 2,400-acre Saratoga Spa State Park, which also has a lot more to offer visitors. These include two excellent public 18-hole golf courses, among the best such municipal facilities in New York State. These alone are the reason some people visit town. The Park also has tennis courts, boat launch, fishing, campsites, swimming pools, equestrian trails, and lots of running, biking, walking and in winter, cross-country ski trails.

But the special historic wrinkle is that the Park, as its name suggests, is home to one of the oldest destination hot springs baths in the nation, revered by Native Americans in the region before being embraced for their medicinal qualities by European settlers in the 1800s. By the mid-19th century, Saratoga’s elaborate bathhouses had made it “The Queen of Spas,” so famous that the town of Warm Springs, WY renamed itself Saratoga in an attempt to capitalize on the fame. When he was Governor of New York, Franklin D. Roosevelt visited the bathhouses to alleviate symptoms of his polio and backed the development of more modern facilities in the 1930s, which are still in use today. The historic Roosevelt Baths & Spa is open to the public for spa treatments and hydrotherapy sessions, run by the Gideon Putnam Inn, a hotel within the Park and a top choice for attending SPAC shows as it is a short walk from the stages. Its springs put Saratoga on the map, and the city is still famous for its bottled Saratoga mineral water, in signature blue bottles, flat or fizzy.

America250: The Turning Point Of The American Revolution

Saratoga also has history on its side, as the Battles of Saratoga were a key series of conflicts fought here between September 19 and October 7, 1777. British General John Burgoyne had led a large invasion force in from Canada to drive a wedge between the colonies, but after this series of battles, he was surrounded, trapped and eventually surrendered with his entire army of over 5,000 soldiers. This is widely considered a key turning point in the Revolutionary War, as it convinced France to enter the fray on the American side. Ever since, it has been a Navy tradition (as well as fictional tradition in the Star Trek franchise) to name ships after the battles, with several taking on the title USS Saratoga, including an aircraft carrier.

The site of the surrender is now part of the Saratoga National Historic Park, run by the National Park Service, with a variety of historic tours, as well as private expert guides available.

Saratoga is also believed to be the birthplace of the potato chip. The story goes that Chef George Crum was working in the kitchen at Moons Lake House on Saratoga Lake when a guest sent back his French fries for being too thick and soggy. At the time, there was no such thing as shoestring fries, they were thick hand cut steak fries, so Crum cut them thinner, fried them and sent them back out, only to have them returned again. Insulted, he decided to slice them ridiculously paper thin so they could not be eaten with a fork and oversalt them in an attempt to make them inedible and teach his guest a lesson. But instead, the crunchy, salty “Saratoga Chip,” was born, and when Crum later opened his own restaurant, baskets of his signature chips were placed on the tables.

Visit Saratoga Springs: The Town

Saratoga is also a college town, home to acclaimed liberal arts university Skidmore. Between the track, SPAC, parks, outdoor recreation and Skidmore, its supports a steady year round population and thus has a bit more community feel than many seasonal resort towns. The central part of Broadway that appeals to out of towners is just a few blocks long, but packed with great bars and restaurants, charming local shops, galleries and a few hotels.

It’s a very user friendly town and once you are settled, you can typically walk to all the places you would eat, while key attractions such as the State Park, battlefields and track are just a few minutes away. Historic folk music venue Caffé Lena is in the center of town, and also on Broadway is Congress Park, designed by my relative and famed landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted of Central Park in New York City fame.

Visit Saratoga Springs: Where To Stay

The top luxury lodging is the Adelphi Hotel, smack in the middle of the heart of Broadway, and home to two restaurants, including the high-end Salt & Char steakhouse. It has large comfortable rooms, 24-hour fitness center, and some surprising amenities such as welcome prosecco, included complimentary minibar with adult beverages, and special turn down treats such as homemade cookies and house made chocolates.

Other top choices include the Saratoga Arms, while for concerts at SPAC or golf, the Gideon Putnam is highly desirable because of its walkable location within the State Park.

Visit Saratoga Springs: Where To Eat

Sweet Mimi’s Café is not just the top breakfast spot in Saratoga, it is one of the best breakfast spots I’ve been to, and I’ve been writing about restaurants for 30 years. Culinary Institute of America (CIA) grad Jeanette Liebers owns and runs it, and she famously made audiences drool with her signature lemon ricotta pancakes on the television food show Beat Bobby Flay. Many of the specialties are decadent and calorie laden, but even the “normal” breakfast items such as omelets and breakfast sandwiches are exceptional, featuring fantastic rolls, seasonal and local ingredients, and it is extremely popular with both locals and visitors, meaning there can be long waits for a table, especially on weekends. It is also a bakery with a stunning selection of sweets and pastries to go, so even when the lines to eat in are long, you can avail yourself with something to go. This is a real highlight, the one place in Saratoga that is not to be missed.

For causal eats, two venerable classics include legendary fried chicken and Southern food specialist Hattie’s, which has been doing its thing since 1938 and also has an outpost at the racetrack. It frequently is rated among New York’s best fried chicken. Upstate New York is not New England, but Eddie F’s New England Seafood is a fine representation of a classic New England coastal seafood shack, perfect for fried clams, shrimp or lobster rolls, and also has a racetrack outpost.

There are a number of higher end fine dining restaurants in Saratoga Springs, and on my most recent visit, I tried the “hot new” spot in town, Noah’s Italian, and loved it, though it is loud and buzzy and the atmosphere not for everyone. The food however, is for everyone—as long as they like good food. It’s a modern take on Italian classics, some of which are uncommon, like “Fried Mom’s Spaghetti,” a version of hard to find spaghetti all’assassina, and arancini stuffed with 7-hour braised braciole, combining two different uncommon Italian delights.

Other acclaimed spots include Kindred, Hamlet & Ghost, 15 Church and Salt & Char. Whiskey lovers who visit Saratoga Springs should not miss the low-key Bourbon Room, just off Broadway, which has about 500 whiskies, make-your-own flight options, and surprisingly reasonable cocktail prices.

Source: Forbes