6 Best Sights in Schenectady, Albany and Central New York

Cruise through aviation history via dioramas, models, photos, and interactive displays at the Schenectady County Airport, near the spot where Charles Lindbergh landed in 1928. Take a ride in the simulated-flight reality vehicle, or get an up-close look at dozens of restored aircraft, which are parked all around the 27-acre site and include an F-14A Tomcat. In September, a museum-sponsored air show roars over the city.

Examples of Federal, Dutch, Gothic, Victorian, and Greek Revival architecture are found among the homes and churches here, which date from 1690 to 1930. The Stockade is one of the oldest continuously occupied neighborhoods in the nation. (George Washington slept here.) In warm weather you see people running and relaxing in tiny Riverside Park, along the Mohawk River. Residents open their homes to the public for guided tours during Walkabout Weekend, held in September. At the Stockade Villagers Art Show, also in September, painters set up easels and tents to display their works.

The on the Nott Memorial's second floor, shows history-, science-, and art-related exhibits.

A stenciled floor and a huge 1930s dollhouse are among the highlights of this museum, which fills the 1896 Georgian-style Dora Jackson House with its 18th-century furniture, paintings, costumes, toys, and household and military items. The Grems-Doolittle Library has Revolutionary War records, newspapers from the 1800s, and the papers of Charles Steinmetz, an inventor who developed alternate-current motors.

Early televisions and kitchen appliances are part of a vast General Electric archive that traces the city's scientific and cultural history. Interactive children's displays explore science and technology.

The 100-acre campus of this liberal-arts college founded in 1795 was the first in America to be designed by an architect. The grounds include Jackson's Garden, an oasis of perennials and herbs near a bubbling brook.