New hotels in Ithaca

We track one recent hotel in Ithaca: Canopy by Hilton Ithaca Downtown, a seven-story, 131-room building at 324 East State Street that opened in October 2019. It was the 11th Canopy by Hilton to open, and Baywood Hotels owns and operates it. The hotel adds a large new block of rooms in the center of a town that fills for two graduation weekends every May.

Ithaca is the county seat of Tompkins County and had 32,108 residents at the 2020 census. It lies at the southern end of Cayuga Lake, which at about 38 miles is the longest of the Finger Lakes, in a valley with steep hillsides on both sides. Cornell University, founded in 1865 and enrolling close to 20,000 students, holds the hill to the east. Ithaca College, which began in 1892 as the Ithaca Conservatory of Music, sits on South Hill with around 6,300 to 6,500 students. In term time the students are a large share of the population.

The geography explains most of what visitors do. Creeks fall to the lake through gorges, and several of them end in waterfalls inside the city or a few minutes away. The Finger Lakes wine country starts at the water's edge. A campus visit, a waterfall hike and a day of tasting can all be done from a single downtown address.

What to do

A weekend in Ithaca

The Ithaca Commons is the pedestrian mall at the center of downtown, and the Canopy is a short walk from it. Mayor Ed Conley proposed it in 1971, the local architect Anton Egner designed it, and it opened in 1975. It is shaped like an inverted T: two blocks of State Street between Cayuga and Aurora Streets, plus a one-block spur, Bank Alley, running north along Tioga Street. Shops, galleries, restaurants and bars line it, the Bernie Milton Pavilion hosts free summer concerts, and the Sagan Planet Walk, a scale model of the solar system, starts here. Moosewood Restaurant, founded as a collective in 1973, has published a number of vegetarian cookbooks. The same year, the Ithaca Farmers Market started at Steamboat Landing. It meets at the Pavilion, 545 Third Street, on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and, from May, on Sundays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., from April to December. Winter-season hours are shorter and change from November, so confirm them.

Cornell's Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, designed by I. M. Pei and opened in 1973, stands at the northwest corner of the Arts Quad. Pei kept it from blocking the view, and its north and west sides look over Cayuga Lake. The collection runs to roughly 35,000 to 40,000 works, and the museum is listed as free to enter. Cornell Botanic Gardens has a welcome center that opens Thursday to Sunday, and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, founded in 1915, keeps a visitor center at Sapsucker Woods, a sanctuary of about 300 acres with more than five miles of trails. The center reopened in June 2024 with new exhibits, and listings give Tuesday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with the trails open daily from dawn to dusk. Check current hours before you set out.

The State Theatre, which opened on 6 December 1928 in a former garage, seats about 1,600 for concerts and film. The Hangar Theatre in Cass Park staged its first production, Man of La Mancha, on 11 July 1975, in what had been an airport hangar. Cinemapolis is the independent cinema.

Festivals

The calendar on the Commons is dense. The Ithaca Festival takes place on the first weekend of June, the Apple Harvest Festival in late September or early October (25 to 27 September in 2026), and the Winter Light Festival on the first weekend of December. Thursday-evening concerts run in summer. Cornell's Homecoming weekend fell on 16 to 18 October in 2026, in a season with five home football games at Schoellkopf Field.

The gorges

Cornell's campus sits between two of them, Fall Creek to the north and Cascadilla Creek to the south, and Hemlock Gorge runs along Fall Creek on the campus itself. Ithaca Falls, also on Fall Creek, is inside the city limits. Cascadilla Gorge climbs from downtown to the Cornell campus on a stone path. The city trail group said a section between Stewart Avenue and College Avenue was closed for construction with reopening planned for spring 2026, and the lower gorge from Linn Street to College Avenue closes in winter while the upper gorge stays open year-round. Confirm the current state with Cornell Botanic Gardens or the city.

South of town, Buttermilk Falls State Park covers 811 acres, and its gorge trail climbs 0.75 mile past ten waterfalls. Robert H. Treman State Park has the 115-foot Lucifer Falls, and its gorge trail, red pine trail and cliff staircase close for the winter while the rim trail stays open. Taughannock Falls State Park, northwest of Ithaca near Trumansburg, drops 215 feet, 33 feet more than Niagara. The park, 750 acres in all, also has a stretch of lakeshore with swimming, fishing and a boat launch, plus camping and picnic grounds. The Gorge Trail there is 0.75 mile long, ends at the base of the falls and is open year-round. The North and South Rim Trails, 1.5 and 1.2 miles long, make a loop but close to the public in winter.

Wine, cider and the lake

Cayuga Lake's wineries line both shores. The Cayuga Lake Wine Trail calls itself the first organized wine trail in America, with a founding date given variously as between 1981 and 1983, and the Cayuga Lake AVA was established in 1988. By one count it takes in more than a dozen wineries, four distilleries, a cidery and a meadery. Seneca Lake, the next lake west and slightly larger by surface, has its own trail, with a membership counted at 28 wineries. A day of tasting on one lake or both is manageable by car from Ithaca, and visitors who taste seriously should arrange a driver.

Where to stay

Downtown, near the Commons

Canopy by Hilton Ithaca Downtown stands on East State Street, on the site of the Strand Theatre, which operated from 1916 to 1979. The Strand Cafe on the ground floor keeps the name, serves New American food from breakfast to dinner, and the hotel shows artwork lent by the local historical society. The design draws, in the group's words, on the lakes, gorges and forests of the region and on the colleges. Listings credit the hotel with free bikes and a complimentary shuttle to Cornell, Ithaca College and the airport. A 24-hour gym is on site, and meeting space is about 900 square feet according to the opening announcement, which suits small groups.

Other downtown options, as the city's tourism site lists them, are the Argos Inn, the Hilton Garden Inn, Hotel Ithaca and the Ithaca Marriott Downtown on the Commons. Cornell's own hotel, the Statler, takes dignitaries and has no vacancies for commencement weekend.

Collegetown and the campuses

Collegetown, the student district at the foot of Cornell's hill, has restaurants, bars and apartments but very few hotel rooms. It is loud in term time and quiet in the breaks.

The waterfront and the wine trail

Further out, chain properties and motels line the roads leaving town. They tend to be cheaper, they are nearer the lake and the wineries, and they require a car. Inns and bed-and-breakfasts along the lake offer a quieter, more rural stay, and they book early in autumn.

Which hotel for your trip

Parents, applicants and campus visitors

The Canopy is within walking distance of the Commons and a short drive from either campus, and the shuttle reduces the need for a car. For graduation, the dates are what count. In 2026 the two weekends were 15 to 17 May for Ithaca College, whose main ceremony was Sunday 17 May, and 22 to 24 May for Cornell, whose main day was Saturday 23 May. Cornell opens residence hall bookings for the May 2027 weekend in mid-January 2027, and it advises guests that visitors commonly stay up to 90 miles away, in places such as Binghamton, Syracuse, Corning and Elmira.

Wine travelers

With the hotel in town and the wineries a drive away, tastings mean a designated driver. A downtown address fits visitors who want a restaurant evening and a proper bed after a tasting day more than a farm stay.

Small meetings

With roughly 900 square feet of meeting space, the hotel handles a board meeting or a family dinner and not a conference.

Practical notes

Ithaca has a warm-summer humid continental climate and averages about 67 inches of snow a year. Winters are long. Autumn is busy: the Apple Harvest Festival, Cornell football weekends, Homecoming and the foliage all fall between late September and late October. The waterfalls run fullest in spring, and gorge trails can be icy or closed from late autumn.

There is no passenger rail. OurBus runs 9 to 10 buses a day to New York, about 225 miles and 4 to 5 hours, from East Seneca Street downtown to Hudson Yards and the George Washington Bridge bus station, and the Cornell C2C shuttle makes the same trip in about four and a half hours. Tompkins International Airport, in the Town of Lansing about three miles northeast of Ithaca, has two nonstop routes: Delta Connection to New York JFK and United Express to Washington Dulles. Every other city needs a connection, and the airport handled about 136,000 passengers in 2024. Syracuse and Binghamton are alternatives, each about an hour away by road.

Downtown is compact and walkable, though the hillsides leading to both campuses are steep.

Frequently asked questions

What is the newest hotel in Ithaca?

Canopy by Hilton Ithaca Downtown, which opened in October 2019. It is the only hotel we currently track in the town.

Where is the Canopy in Ithaca?

At 324 East State Street in downtown Ithaca, a few blocks from the Ithaca Commons.

Is Ithaca near the Finger Lakes wine region?

Yes. Cayuga Lake's wineries are on both shores, a short drive from town, and Seneca Lake's trail lies a bit farther west.

Can I reach Ithaca by train?

No. There is no passenger rail service. Visitors arrive by car, by intercity bus or by air at Tompkins International Airport, which has nonstop flights to New York JFK and Washington Dulles.

How tall is Taughannock Falls?

215 feet, about 33 feet taller than Niagara Falls. The state park around it is northwest of Ithaca near Trumansburg.