Home to Cornell University, Ithaca is a fun and quirky college town with its own sense of identity. We booked three nights in Ithaca because it is close to Taughannock Falls, Buttermilk Falls, and Robert Treman State Parks, which were on our itinerary.

Travel brochures and T-shirts around town proudly proclaim, “Ithaca is Gorges.” It’s true. Melting glaciers from the Ice Age cut deep gorges, producing over 150 waterfalls in the area. Add 30,000 residents and another 25,000 college students from Cornell and Ithaca College, and you’ve got a multicultural town filled with restaurants and cutting-edge technology.