You Came for One Night. You're Already Googling Real Estate.
A shamefully good day trip through the Catskills' most charming towns — starting from your porch in Highmount.
Nobody warns you about the Catskills. You pack for a weekend, bring one book you won't read, and tell yourself you're just "resetting." Then the mountain air hits. A stranger hands you pie. You find a bookshop the size of a closet that somehow has exactly the book you needed. And before you've finished your second coffee, you're texting your landlord.
This is what happens when you stay at Alpine Four Season Lodgein Highmount and Shandaken. You're not just in the Catskills — you're at the center of them. Four incredible towns sit within an hour's drive in every direction, each one completely different, each one quietly plotting to make you stay longer than planned.
Here's how to do it right.
The obligatory joke
A New Yorker walks into a Catskills antique shop. Leaves with a hand-thrown ceramic mug,
a vintage map of the Delaware Valley, and absolutely zero explanation for either.
The shop owner just smiles. She's seen it before. It happens every weekend.
Somewhere between these trees, your out-of-office reply starts to feel like a permanent life plan.
The Perfect Catskills Day — Stop by Stop
9:00 AM · Base Camp
Alpine Four Season Lodge, Highmount + Shandaken
0 min away
You are not leaving before you've had coffee on the porch. This is non-negotiable. The mountains are doing that thing where they sit there looking ancient and unbothered, and you need a few minutes to absorb that energy before you go anywhere. Breathe it in. The city is not coming to find you here. Put your phone face-down. You came all this way.
9:30 AM · Stop 1
~15 min from Lodge
Phoenicia is what happens when Brooklyn gets tired of being Brooklyn and moves somewhere with actual trees. Main Street is four blocks long and somehow contains everything you need: a café where the oat milk latte arrives without judgment, a fly-fishing shop staffed by a man who has clearly achieved inner peace, vintage stores where you'll find a lamp you have no room for and buy it anyway, and a bookshop so perfectly curated it feels like it was built specifically for you. Tube the Esopus Creek in summer. Eat something. Stay longer than you planned. This is the move.
Esopus Creek tubing, Breakfast & coffeeAntiques & vintageFly fishing Bookshops
11:30 AM · Stop 2
~25 min from Phoenicia
Margaretville doesn't try to impress you. It doesn't need to. This is the town that makes you put your phone in your pocket and just... walk. Old-school Americana storefronts, a farmers market that smells like baked goods and cut flowers, mountain boutiques selling things you can't quite explain to your friends back home. You will enter one shop for "a quick look." You will leave 40 minutes later holding a candle, a jar of local honey, a tea towel with a mountain on it, and a deeply satisfying feeling you can't name. Budget accordingly.
Farmers market, Local boutiques, Scenic drives Mountain overlooks, Slow lunch
A sun-drenched picnic on lush mountain grass in the Catskills, New York — the perfect summer afternoon just minutes from Alpine Four Season Lodge in Highmount, NY.
2:00 PM · Stop 3
~45 min from Margaretville
No, the festival wasn't technically here. Yes, the town has fully leaned into it and honestly, good for them. Woodstock is where wellness cafés sit next to record shops, where someone is always carrying a yoga mat and someone else is always carrying a guitar, and where the espresso is — against all expectations — genuinely excellent. Browse the galleries. Have a long lunch. Buy the crystal. You don't need to know what it's for. The important thing is you felt something when you held it, and that is Woodstock working exactly as intended.
Galleries & artLive musicBoutique shoppingWellness cafésPeople watching
Bonus stop: Belleayre Mountain — 5 minutes from the Lodge
Don't save Belleayre for winter. Gondola rides, mountain biking, hiking trails, and summer festivals run all season. It costs almost nothing and the view from the top is the kind of thing you describe badly to people later ("you just had to be there"). You were there. Lucky you.
Here's what nobody puts in the travel guides: the Catskills don't just give you a nice weekend. They recalibrate something. You leave standing slightly straighter, sleeping slightly better, and genuinely confused about why you ever thought the city was the only place worth being.
Alpine Four Season Lodgeis your home base for all of it — close enough to everything, quiet enough to actually rest, and exactly the kind of place that makes Sunday evening feel less like a countdown and more like a breath.
Book the nights. Pack the bag. The mountains have been here for 400 million years — they're not going anywhere. But your nervous system really needs this.
Come Stay. You've Earned This.
Romantic weekends, family escapes, group retreats, hiking trips, or strategic detoxes from everything. Rooms, suites, and full lodges available. The Catskills are waiting — and honestly, so is that porch coffee.
Book Your Stay at Alpine Four Season Lodge → www.alpinefourseasonlodge.com
See you on the mountain!
Daniel & The Crew
32 Galli Curci Road, Highmount 12441, NY
