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If you like your waterfalls taller than Niagara, your cider spiked with local apples and your culture served with a side of fiddle music, meet your new favorite getaway: Ithaca, New York.
CNN Travel just crowned this upstate gem the No. 1 town to visit in 2025—and with good reason. Set at the southern tip of Cayuga Lake in the Finger Lakes region, Ithaca packs big beauty and brainy charm into a small, nature-loving package. Think Ivy League vibes (hello, Cornell), a downtown full of indie shops and plant-based eats and not one but 150-plus waterfalls within 10 miles.
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The town's tagline—"Ithaca is gorges"—is more than a pun. From the dramatic drops of Buttermilk Falls and Lucifer Falls to the 215-foot spectacle of Taughannock Falls (33 feet taller than Niagara), this place is a waterfall chaser’s paradise. Hike the Cascadilla Gorge Trail from downtown to campus and you’ll pass six of them before lunch.
Ithaca’s also a hub for homegrown food, cider, wine and creativity. The legendary Moosewood Restaurant still turns heads with its vegetarian menu (and a 50-year legacy), while newcomers like Angelhearts and Asempe Kitchen put inventive spins on vegan and West African fare. Liquid State Brewing, South Hill Cider and a whole trail of Finger Lakes wineries make sure no glass goes unfilled.
Culture comes easy in a college town where students from around the globe mix with artists, birders and longtime locals. Catch a show at the State Theatre, wander the I.M. Pei-designed Johnson Museum or explore the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s new Discovery Center—binoculars provided.
Come September, The Commons, a four-block pedestrian zone lined with shops and cafes, transforms for the Apple Harvest Festival, a crunchy celebration of all things fall. Or swing by the Ithaca Farmers Market on the lakefront, where you’ll find handmade woolens and hand pies.
Whether you’re meditating at the Dalai Lama Library, noshing on duck breast at Le Café Cent Dix or simply soaking in a hammock by a swimming hole, Ithaca proves that great things really do come in small-town packages.