New York: Finger Lakes Wine Country
4 Day Inn Tour
Tour Information
While the Finger Lakes region of Upstate New York is perhaps best known these days for its world-renowned wineries, it’s also the birthplace of the women’s suffrage movement. The first women’s rights convention took place here in 1848, and seventy-two years later, in 1920, American women finally gained the constitutional right to vote through the passage of the 19th Amendment. As America celebrates this Women’s Suffrage Centennial, our popular Finger Lakes Wine Country tour takes on extra significance as we explore the towns and homes where suffrage pioneers and friends Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton lived and worked.
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The tour is filled, but call us. We may be able to squeeze you in.
Leisurely
Moderate
A mix of rolling hills and flat terrain. Moderate cycling level. Leisurely level with an ebike.
3 nights lodging, 3 breakfasts, 3 picnic lunches, 3 dinners, a wine tasting, snacks, park and museum entrance fees, detailed cue sheets, maps and GPS files, van support, airport shuttles, & trained guides.
$195 for Specialized hybrid or road bicycle designed specifically for women. $295 for an electric-assist bicycle.
Fly into and out of the Rochester, NY airport (ROC) or take Amtrak to the train station. WomanTours will provide an optional shuttle at 11:00am from the airport and train station to the tour. If you've driven, park at the WomanTours office and we'll shuttle you at 11:30am to the tour. At the end of the tour, we'll shuttle you back to the airport, train station or your car by 3:30pm.
"This was one of the best vacations I’ve ever taken. The greatest part was the people (both the guides and the other women). I felt so comfortable and taken care of, while also feeling challenged on my own terms."
"I think (bicycling) has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. It gives women a feeling of freedom and self-reliance. I stand and rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a wheel...the picture of free, untrammeled womanhood."
"The bicycle will inspire women with more courage, self-respect and self-reliance, and make the next generation more vigorous of mind and body; for feeble mothers do not produce great statesmen, scientists and scholars."
Tour Itinerary
DAY 1: We begin our tour in Geneva at the northern tip of Seneca Lake. Elizabeth Blackwell was the first female doctor in the U.S. and received her medical degree in Geneva in 1849. Today the medical school is gone, but Geneva remains a quaint college town, home to Hobart and William Smith Colleges.
Come dressed and ready to ride for our orientation and rental bike fitting at 1:00pm. Then we'll take our first bike ride along the lake’s edge to Sampson State Park.
Deepest of all the Finger Lakes, Seneca Lake is named after the Seneca Nation that was part of the Iroquois Confederacy. During World War II, the lake was used for submarine testing, and the locals joke that whales inhabit it. Once in Sampson State Park, you can choose to cycle or shuttle back. We’ll enjoy our first dinner together this evening. 13 or 26 miles. (26-mile ride elevation: +579'/-578')
DAY 2: After breakfast, our bike ride will take us along the ridge between two of the Finger Lakes. The quiet roads will cut through vineyards, apple orchards and fertile farmland filled with cabbages and corn. You may pass a few horse-drawn carriages and a one-room schoolhouse, as this area is home to many Amish and Mennonite families.
After a picnic lunch, we’ll end our ride at Watkins Glen State Park. There you can take a spectacular hike through the deep narrow gorge. You’ll want to take pictures. The 200’ cliffs surround the rushing stream that falls two miles through the park. The easy walking path takes you over and under numerous waterfalls and quiet pools. It’s a welcome cool and shady respite from the day’s ride. 46 miles (elevation: +2211'/-2200')
DAY 3: We head to Cayuga Lake on our bicycles today. The longest of the Finger Lakes, its shores are lined with farms, wineries, and microbreweries. The area is famous for award-winning dry Rieslings. We'll have a picnic lunch at one of these wineries and you'll be treated to a free wine tasting if you’d like.
We’ll finish our ride in the town of Seneca Falls. It’s home to the Women’s Rights National Historical Park where Elizabeth Cady Stanton began the national crusade for women’s suffrage. Explore the Park's Visitor Center a block from our hotel. The Park also offers self-guided walking tours through the Wesleyan Chapel where the first women's rights convention took place and to Elizabeth Cady Stanton's home.
Seneca Falls is also home to the National Women’s Hall of Fame, celebrating the achievements of American women. We encourage you to explore this newly expanded museum too. 38 or 52 miles (52-mile ride elevation: +1904'/-1905')
DAY 4: After breakfast in Geneva, we’ll shuttle to Rochester, stopping at the courthouse where Susan B. Anthony was tried for voting illegally in the presidential election. Tried and convicted, she refused to pay the $100 fine. Then we’ll start our cycling on a bike path along the Erie Canalway which once helped spread the ideas of the suffragists.
We’ll continue the ride, stopping throughout the city at places of significance to Susan B. Anthony. She’s buried not far from the abolitionist Frederick Douglass in the oldest, continuously running cemetery in the country. Our final destination is the Susan B. Anthony Museum and House, where we'll enjoy a guided tour.
After a picnic lunch at Susan B. Anthony Park, you can choose to cycle back to your car at the WomanTours office, or we'll shuttle you to the Rochester airport or train station by 3:30pm. 10 or 19 miles. (elevation: +501'/-501')