A colorful palette of turning leaves? Check.
A bounty of cool travel deals? Check.
A celebration of one-of-a-kind history? Check.

The list could go on and on, but the point is made best by New York State’s fall slogan, “400 Years, 400 Ways to Celebrate.” What it means, simply, is there is no better time to visit the state than right now. New York’s legendary fall foliage is getting cozy with the scores of deals and activities designed to commemorate the 400th anniversary of exploration of the state. The combination is sure to make for a memorable New York State getaway.

Look at the Leaves
Fall has fallen on New York already and anyone seeking leaf-peeping heaven will love it in New York. Like the rest of the Northeast, New York is blessed with a variety of broad-leaf trees giving the region an unrivaled color range. But New York separates itself from the pack with the sheer number of its beautiful trees; it has as much ground covered by the fall-foliage makers as the rest of the Northeast states combined.

The change in color from the bright greens of summer to the fiery hues of fall follows a predictable pattern across the state. It begins high in the Adirondack and Catskill mountains in early September and spreads out and down across the hills and valleys of the state, ending on Long Island and in New York City in late October to early November. It takes about two weeks for the colors to complete their cycles in any given area, with the peak lasting three to four days in any one spot.

To stay abreast of how the fall foliage season is progressing, check www.iloveny.com/fall. The Web site is updated weekly during the fall with information provided by the state’s officially designated Leaf Peepers. These fall foliage spotters are instructed on how to rate foliage color in their areas, citing conditions such as brilliance, percentage of leaves changed, predominating colors and stages (just beginning, near peak, peak and past peak).

Take the Tours
The pursuit of perfect fall colors cannot be limited to one area of New York. Thinking ahead, the state designed driving tour routes in each of the New York’s 11 tourism regions. Five regions sure to make fall-foliage seekers happy are:

• Hudson Valley—One of three featured routes in this region, the appropriately name Following the Hudson tour leads you along the eastern bank of the historic river. The two-day adventure begins in Kinderhook and ends in Garrison. Along the way, the tour highlights the estate of President Martin Van Buren, historic farms and inns, as well as the grand homes of presidential and industrial giants such as FDR and Frederick Vanderbilt.

• Finger Lakes—Four itineraries for great sightseeing are highlighted in this famed region. The longest, Finger Lake to Great Lake, starts in Canandaigua on the grounds of Sonnenberg Gardens State Park and ends along Lake Ontario in Sodus. The three-day journey heads west to Mumford and the Genesee Country Village and Museum before looping back east for a stop in Rochester and the home of George Eastman. Two of the other tours spotlight the Finger Lakes region’s successful winemaking enterprises. Both the Seneca Lake Wine Trail and Waterfalls, Wine and Western Art tours are two-day adventures.

• Capital-Saratoga—Three routes showcase this portion of Upstate New York. A must is Capital Colors, a one-day tour. The itinerary starts with spectacular views from John Boyd Thacher State Park and ends with an Albany Ducks Tour of the capital city. The latter rolls through the legendary streets of the capital and ends with a splash into the Hudson River for a unique view of the Albany skyline.

• New York City & Long Island—One of the four itineraries focuses on New York City and the many ways to view its surprising breadth of fall foliage, including from the air or from a ferry. Another tour takes travelers along Long Island’s South Shore, while Gold Coast Views runs from the Sands Point Preserve in Port Washington to a pontoon boat ride through a wetland in Stony Brook. The Two Forks tour takes three days as you travel from Riverhead and the Atlantis Marine World aquarium to a hot-air balloon ride at Westhampton Beach.

Find a Deal
How New York looks during the fall would be enough for most people to get out and get going, but the state is intent on wooing guests all season long. That’s where “400 Ways to Celebrate” comes in. In addition to the many festivals and fun activities to be found all across the state, many attractions are offering great deals, too. Check out www.iloveny.com/attractions for a rundown of the offerings to be enjoyed.

In the Hudson Valley region, for example, those offerings include a free second tasting when buying one at Brotherhood Winery in Washingtonville. Brotherhood is the oldest winery in the United States and got its start when a French Huguenot began fermenting his grapes in 1839. Also included are coupons for half-price admission to the Greenburgh Nature Center in Scarsdale and for a buy-one-get-one purchase in the Center’s Manor House Museum. Greenburgh is a 33-acre preserve for indigenous animals and plants, and includes woodlands and wetlands. (The coupons can be found at www.westchestertourism.com/Coupons%20for%20Web.pdf.) 

Among the deals in the Finger Lakes is the buy-one-get-one adult admission to Rochester’s Artisanworks. (Visitors need only mention the “400 Ways to Celebrate” promotion.) The eclectic facility allows visitors to see artists in their studios, giving them a glimpse of their creative process as well as of their completed works. The Finger Lakes region also invites everyone outside with free activities along its many trails, at fall festivals and family-fun attractions. Kids 19 and younger can tour the Rockwell Museum of Western Art for free, or guests can take their entire family apple-picking to celebrate the harvest season.

The Hyuck Preserve in Rensselaerville is one of the free attractions in the Capital-Saratoga region. The preserve protects the natural beauty of the Rensselaerville Falls and conducts research on natural systems as part of a global effort to understand and preserve the Earth's biodiversity. In Albany there are free tours of the State Capitol, which was built over 25 years and declared complete in 1899.

In the Long Island region, children get half-price admission to Riverhead’s Atlantis Marine World when they are accompanied by an adult. The aquarium, modeled after the legendary lost city of Atlantis, is designed to educate visitors about the importance of preserving our watery world while keeping the learning fun. Among the aquarium’s attractions, take the opportunity to be kissed by a sea lion for a keepsake photo. From multiple locales on Long Island, sailings can be booked with East Coast Yacht Cruises. (The sailings come with a free meal for two at EB Elliot’s Restaurant. For a coupon, visit www.discoverlongisland.com/images/coupons/45_east_coast_yacht_cruises.pdf.) Also, through Halloween, Riverhead’s Garden of Eve Organic Farmer’s Market is offering one free spooky pumpkin per family.

This is just a sampler; many more deals all over New York make taking a trip all the more appealing.

On the Quad
The reason for all the hoopla and deals this fall is New York’s ongoing Quadricentennial Celebration. Four hundred years ago, Henry Hudson’s Half Moon made its way up the river that now bears his name. Around the same time, Samuel de Champlain began a southward trek from Canada and came upon the lake that now bears his name. You could say that New York had its coming out party from then on.

And it only seemed appropriate to keep on celebrating this great state throughout the year. Festivals and activities have been going on all summer, including a big one in mid-September called Heritage Weekend. Ongoing events include “New Amsterdam: The Island at the Center of the World,” an exhibition at South Street Seaport Museum in New York City that displays 60 of the oldest original documents, maps and prints from Dutch settlement of Manhattan. The artifacts are on loan from the Dutch National Archives. Another event is the Oct. 11 grand opening of the Samuel de Champlain History Center, which is dedicated to the explorer, the lake and the town.

The excitement also is about honoring sacrifice and looking to the future, and an event on Nov. 7 will bring that fact home. That is when the USS New York will be commissioned in New York City. The amphibious warship had more than seven tons of 9/11 rubble welded into its bow, making it an example of American resolve and progress as its namesake moves into its next quadricentennial.

For more information about visiting New York or one of its 11 tourism regions during a spectacular fall, log on to www.iloveny.com/fall. For trip-planning assistance, visit AAA.com/travel.