15 Best Sights in Saratoga Springs, Albany and Central New York

At this museum with hands-on exhibits geared for kids three to ninash in a model diner.

Italian gardens, ponds, fountains, and statuary punctuate wide lawns at this park in the heart of the city. Fifty cents buys you a ride on a carousel with 28 horses that were carved and painted about a century ago.

The contains galleries large enough for oversize works and innovative installations, a 150-seat presentation room, and multimedia classrooms for lectures and film screenings. The rooftop is the setting for summer concerts.

The General Philip Schuyler House was the general's country home before its destruction by the British in 1777. Schuyler and his soldiers rebuilt it in 29 days. The house includes some original furnishings. It's open from late May through Labor Day, Wednesday through Friday 9:30–4:30; tours are given every half hour.

Crowds gather outside the Italianate Canfield Casino, a former gambling hall within the park, to watch the tuxedo set enter one of the August balls. The 1870s building also houses the where exhibits of Victorian furnishings, paintings, original gambling paraphernalia, and historic documents bring the city's history alive. From Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day, the museum is open Monday through Saturday 10–4 and Sunday 1–4; the rest of the year it's closed Monday and Tuesday.

The state-chartered museum's extensive collection of bottles dates from the 1700s. On-site is a glassworks that sometimes hosts a sale of contemporary art-glass pieces. The museum is 7 mi south of Saratoga Springs.

Five galleries house photographs, videos, costumes, and archives that explore the history and development of dance as an art form. The Hall of Fame honors top dancers, choreographers, and costumers. You may even watch dancers rehearsing in the performing-arts studios.

Exhibits, including memorabilia from famed horse Seabiscuit, relate the story of Thoroughbred racing in the United States. In the Hall of Fame, video clips of races bring to life the horses and jockeys enshrined here. For an additional fee you may take a tour of the training track.

This 1930 Georgian Revival building has 42 treatment rooms and a 13,000-square-foot fitness center. An herbal mineral bath is $45. Other treatments include reflexology, shiatsu, aromatherapy, body polishes, mud wraps, and assorted facials.

America's love affair with the car is celebrated in this museum in a former bottling plant in Saratoga Spa State Park. Included are three galleries and an orientation theater. Changing exhibits display classic and racing cars.

The museum, on the grounds of Saratoga Raceway, displays antique horseshoes, high-wheeled sulkies (the two-wheeled vehicles used for harness racing), and horse-related artwork.

The Battle of Saratoga, fought 12 mi southeast of Saratoga Springs at this site in 1777, is recognized as the turning point in the American Revolution. The visitor center at the Route 32 entrance provides historic information and an orientation to the park, which encompasses the battlefield and two sites in the nearby villages of Schuylerville and Victory. Ten stops along a 9½-mi tour road through the battlefield explain the battle and its significance. Reenactments and other living-history programs are scheduled throughout the summer. The road is popular with bicyclists in warm-weather months and, when closed to traffic in winter, with cross-country skiers. The John Neilson House, the only structure standing on the battlefield that was here in the time of the Battle of Saratoga, might have served as headquarters for Benedict Arnold.

Developed for the study and therapeutic use of the mineral springs here, this 2,200-acre park is now listed on the National Historic Register of Historic Places. It is home to the Gideon Putnam Resort and Spa, the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, the Lincoln and Roosevelt baths, the Spa Little Theatre, and eight active springs. Recreational facilities include walking trails, 36 holes of golf, two pools, clay and asphalt tennis courts, picnic facilities, an ice-skating rink, and 12 mi of cross-country skiing trails.

This four-year coeducational college, founded in 1903, sponsors year-round cultural events and entertainment, and is the summer home of the New York State Writer's Institute.

Artists, writers, and musicians from all over the United States come to this highly regarded artists' colony to work. The estate was built in 1899 by philanthropist Spencer Trask as a gift to his wife, Katrina. Although you can't visit the house, you can tour the grounds, which include a formal rose garden with fountains and an informal rock garden.