Washington Park, located in the Center Square area, is a delightful, and for the most part safe, park (care should be taken at night, but no more than any similar city). In the park's center is the Park Playhouse, which offers free, good musicals and plays throughout the summer. May offers "Tulip Fest" a nod to Albany's Dutch heritage that consumes Washington Park with (mostly) tulips as well as a craft fair.
Lark Street is tagged as Albany's equivalent of NYC's East Village. Lark Street is the hub of Albany youth culture, and it can be a nice visit. Lark Street is between Washington Park and the Empire State Plaza, and the region between the plaza and park is attractive and reminiscent of Albany's better days. In September, Lark Street is the site of one of Albany's most treasured events called "Larkfest", when Lark Street is closed off between Washington and Madison creating a very well attended and popular street fair .
Albany Pine Bush Preserve, Western edge of the city. It's a 3000 acre unique inland pine barren maintained by controlled fires (which clear out invasive plant species and cause the native pine cones to release their seeds). Trails through the preserve are open to non-motorized uses year-round (except during burns, of course).
Thacher State Park is a nearly 2,000 acre park located about a 25 minute drive west of Albany. It's located on the Helderberg Escarpment (an escarpment is a cliff or steep slope, and the Helderbergs are a group of mountains/hills west of Albany) and has some lovely trails, an olympic-sized pool, playgrounds, lots of areas for picnics (including reserveable outdoor pavilions) and it boasts some great views out towards Albany and the Hudson-Mohawk valleys.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Albany (New York)
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Albany (New York) - updated Apr 2024
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Albany (New York) Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
