Wedding Location:
The backyard of
Bob and Sarah Becker
36 South Union St.
Cambridge NY 12816
Cambridge, New York is a small village (pop. <2000) surrounded by farmland, nestled in the foothills of the Green Mountains of Vermont and near the Adirondacks and the Berkshires. In late August, the weather can be northeast-summer-steamy or chilly with a hint of fall. This is rural America, a region of farms and small businesses; it also has a vibrant arts community.
You can get most essentials—groceries, Walgreens pharmacy, etc.—without leaving the village. There is a unique arts center housed in a 19th century opera house; a small bookshop, a nice café-coffee shop (run by good friends), a traditional small town breakfast diner (opens before dawn for farmers), a very local bar with good burgers, a few pizza places, and a Chinese take out restaurant.
Cambridge is about a 3.5-4 hour drive from NYC. Albany is the closest Airport about an hour away. There is also train and bus service from NYC to Albany, but getting from Albany to Cambridge will require a car. If people are having a hard time strategizing rides, we’re happy to put people in touch for car-pooling from NYC and Albany as August nears.
There are a select number of AirBnb’s in the immediate Cambridge, NY area. The availability has already decreased in the last few weeks, so we highly recommend booking! Nearby Vermont expands the inn and AirBnb possibilities. Saratoga Springs is 35-40 minutes NW of here (but see caveat below). Manchester Vermont, a four-season resort and outlet mecca, is 35 minutes NE of here. And Williamstown MA, in the northern Berkshires, home of the celebrated summer theater festival, is 40 minutes away.
Starting with the closest to the wedding and working out, here are some thoughts and suggestions on where to stay.
Cambridge and surrounding NY towns:
The only establishment in town is the Motel Cambridge, a small, basic but renovated motel: www.motelcambridge.com/
There are a growing number of AirBNBs and VRBOs throughout the area. Townships immediately surrounding Cambridge are: Greenwich (pronounced GREEN-witch), Hoosick Falls, Salem, Shushan.
Vermont:
Cambridge is on the NY/Vermont border. Arlington and North Bennington are 20 minutes away, Bennington is about 25 minutes away.
Arlington, a beautiful drive up the Battenkill Valley toward the Green Mountain/Taconics, has two large inns, West Mountain Inn: westmountaininn.com/ and Arlington Inn: arlingtoninn.com/ There are also a couple of smaller inns and B&Bs. We highly recommend The West Mountain Inn, as Lies’ sister Brie and her husband, Brian, got married there.
North Bennington and Bennington, just beyond it, offer only a couple places we’d suggest. There is a new Hampton Inn, close to Bennington College: www.hilton.com/en/hotels/benvthx-hampton-bennington/ Further into town, along Bennington’s modest “strip”, there is a Best Western. In historic Old Bennington, there is the elegant Four Chimneys Inn www.fourchimneys.com/
Manchester VT is about 35 minutes north of Cambridge. There are so many places to stay in all price ranges in and near Manchester we’ll simply link to Tripadvisor:
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g57312-Manchester_Vermont-Hotels.html
Just a couple of notes: Manchester Village, is on the closer-to-us side of town and is full of gracious old New England vacation houses. The large Hampton Inn and Suites is brand new, as is the Kimpton Taconic. The Equinox Resort, Wilburton Inn, Inn at Ormsby Hill, for example, are more traditional.
Manchester Center is largely commercial with upscale outlets. Some of the lodgings listed are east of Manchester going up the mountain toward Bromley and Stratton ski centers; they are another 10-15 minutes away.
Saratoga Springs:
Saratoga Springs’ six-week thoroughbred season hosts the aristocracy of the racing world. It is colorful and fun and crowded. The track itself, like Saratoga, has been upgraded and modernized but still maintains a lot of Victorian character.
The Travers Stakes, the oldest major stakes race in the county, attended by 30,000+, will be run on the 29th, but the entire race week (Wednesday—Sunday) is the busiest of the season. Track-season pricing jacks up the cost of anything tourist related.
Saratoga Springs is normally 35 minutes away but that can be extremely variable during racing season. To complicate the Cambridge—Saratoga drive further, it is the week of the Washington County Fair, which is west of Greenwich on the way to/from Saratoga; bottlenecks, especially on the weekend, occur.
Williamstown, MA
Williamstown is a bit further away, about 45 minutes. Williams College has just built a new Williams Inn with 60+ rooms. www.williamsinn.com/
The bottom-line recommendation: Secure a place to stay early and east of Greenwich if possible to avoid the Travers effect.
*The Travers may also impact flights to/from Albany around that weekend, the NY--Albany Amtrak, and the availability of rental cars.