The staff here were pleasant, kind and helpful. We came for a Saturday night light show in the…read moreplanetarium. About 45 minutes long, a good time you can't beat it. A few jokes from the ticket-taker as well. Tip: try and grab the seats toward the back, to keep your neck more comfortable. We arrived ~15 minutes before start time and were able to peruse around the different displays and interactive exhibits. A place for all ages. This was a nice indoor activity to get out of the house and not be in the frigid cold.

Visited the planetarium to see James Hood's "Beautifica" on date night, the event itself was a…read morewonderful visual meditative experience! The building itself could definitely use some updating (the bathroom is kind of falling apart). The staff were super friendly! True to brand we showed up late and the show had already started, but staff were kind enough to sneak us into our seats without disrupting everyone else's experience. I look forward to going back here to see the rest of the museum!

This place is incredible and extremely child friendly! The volunteers who run the operation are…read morebeyond spectacular and are extremely helpful. I have two under three who were extremely excited for the entirety of this museum. It was a perfect day. We ended up buying a membership and very much look forward to our returns in the future! Be sure to check out their virtual airplane ride it's actually really fun and was one of the highlights for my little guys!

Somewhere hidden inside the Empire State Aerosciences Museum is a great museum trying to get out of…read morethe shell of a tired old one. The collection here isn't the issue per se. The outdoor air park has an enormous number of post-War jet planes and one helicopter, and while they're peeling in the sun and the displays need quite a bit of freshening up, it's an impressive collection of real aircraft, some of which you can peer into the cockpit. They have mostly American, one British, and several Soviet-era aircraft, almost all war planes and mostly fighters. The interior exhibits look like a hodge podge of things amateur enthusiasts have collected over the years, made, and shoved together into a vaguely coherent timeline from the dawn of flight to the early rocket age. It's not good. There are many individually interesting things but they're just too random, and many are quite old, dated, and some broken. Some of it looks like your Grandpa's model plane project after it's been sitting in the attic for 25 years. There is NO sense of curation here, as the displays, interpretation, and artifacts are random; again, it shows the marks of many volunteers and enthusiastic amateurs but without the guidance of professional curation. The collection is divided up into two buildings, one of which is the old GE hangar (a lovely building, somewhat ruined by having had a building within a building constructed on one side) with dusty interior exhibits in the minibuilding and some very random real plane exhibits alongside a bunch of obvious works-in-progress restorations that looks very much like an aviation junk yard. The second building leads out to the airpark, which is fenced in and can only be reached through the second building. What really would make a great museum is if they cut out about 90% of the artifacts, and focused on the local stories -- not even New York aviation as a whole, but starting with the story of the original use of the place, as the GE Aviation Testing Center in 1946, and working their way up to much, much more on the story of the 109th Airlift Wing at the adjacent Stratton Air National Guard base. If the collection focused on that -- even if it meant jettisoning the air park -- there could be a really cool and much more coherent story with both local interest and international importance. There are so many odd and undercurated GE-related historical museums and exhibits around here -- from the Edison in downtown, to MiSci, to the Schenectady County Historical Museum, to this place -- that are scattered about and thus tell an incoherent story about GE's presence in town -- one kind of wishes in the abstract GE would sponsor some kind of master museum just about the history of the place (like the Heinz Center in Pittsburgh, PA) and cleaved off the science museum part. An example of what I consider to be the kind of problem a place like this continues to have: they are currently trying to get money together to get a half-sized model of the SST. What? Whatever for? It's not like it's a real SST, and a half-sized model is just another maintenance headache that I doubt very much will be either a big attraction or key to understanding the story of aviation in New York. Yeah, the SST took off from a New York airport. I'm sure that's the hook. But it's not really the kind of direction this place needs to head. For now, this is a little sad and depressing but for the ardent history buff there's still things to dig out of it, and if you have an aviation-enthused youngster (but not one not already interested, I don't think) they will enjoy it. The front desk staff are pleasant and the small shop, while having not a whole lot of unique local-interest items, is reasonably priced for souvenirs. (I have suggested to them they at least add some models of the C-130s used by the 109th.) No food or drink (an outside cafe with a viewing area to watch the planes take off, with interpretive plaques, would be a big money maker) and extremely rudimentary bathroom facilities (in the second buliding).

The Children's Museum at Saratoga is a children's museum that opened in Saratoga Springs, New York…read morein 1990. It was founded by a local group of community parents and educators. It first opened in a donated space at the Downstreet Marketplace building. It would move into a larger space in 1994 and again in 2001. In 2021, the museum began moving to the historic Lincoln Baths building in Spa State Park. The current museum opened to the public in July 2022 and features more space, updated exhibits, interactives, classroom spaces, and access to the natural resources and amenities of the state park. My family and I recently visited the Children's Museum at Saratoga while we were visiting the area. We visited a local brewery for lunch and my wife and I were interested to see if there was a place nearby that we could take our sons. The museum came highly recommended. We're glad that we heard about it because our two sons were actively engaged for the entire visit. They especially enjoyed the second floor which has more interactive exhibits. Some of the different exhibits include the fire department, a doctor's office, a racing horse stable, a tree house, a city bus, a grocery store, an ice cream parlor, a TV weather station and more! Overall we had a fun experience at the Children's Museum at Saratoga and we recommend it to families who are visiting the area!

Our 3 year old son loved the museum! Everything also seemed clean, staff was friendly...Would…read moredefinitely recommend!

I'm definitely on a roll with hitting local museums in the Saratoga county and surrounding areas…read more The Chapman Museum is yet another hidden gem right in the center of Glens Falls. There's a cute little gift shop attached to a lovely museum with great displays and even includes interactive components.

Beautiful little museum incorporating a historic home. The historic home is decorated in the style…read moreof eras past including past inhabitants. Victrolas, stitching primer on the wall. All the good stuff. A fun exhibit in games and entertainment that the kids can interact with. There was a yearbook themed glens falls retrospective which was a little hard to follow as the format lended to being disjointed, but was thoughtful and a cute concept overall. There was a photography exhibit of historic local photos too, but I can't remember the name of the artist. Great local museum. We were asked for $10 entrance fee, but some places say by donation so I don't actually know what to the deal is.

Bolton Landing, NY - my introduction to Up Yonda Farm came courtesy of the Lake George Winter…read moreCarnival, which included a naturalist-led snowshoe hike in its activity lineup. Although we didn't make the tour (sold out), we drove up anyway to see if we could rent snowshoes to hike the trails on our own. Fortunately, there were plenty of snowshoes to go around - including kids/toddler sizes! - despite the tour group before us which I was afraid would clear out the snowshoe racks. But that was not at all the case! Rick and Linda at the Center could not have been lovelier or more helpful. Rick walked us through the trail map, pointing out where the tour group had gone (who would've broken in the snow for us), and being mindful of the fact that we were hiking with a small child who may or may not have a meltdown somewhere along the way, and how far into the hike it is likely to happen, from experience. I pulled out AllTrails to help with navigation, and Rick told us he actually created the GPS tracks for the property in the app! There are 3 miles of hiking trails across the 73-acre property, well marked with blazes and easy to follow. The woods were so beautiful and serene in the fresh snow. My child enjoyed the StoryWalk on the Sugar Trail and had me read the story to him. In addition to the educational exhibits in the farmhouse welcome center & museum (including some cute turtles!), the Center offers a variety of environmental education programs throughout the year (birds, butterflies, wildlife, night sky, hikes, field guides, crafting, seasonal events, etc.). It is now maple sugaring season so you can learn about the process and visit the sugarhouse when it's open. In the summer, you can see the butterfly garden, picnic by the pond, and explore the grounds with vistas of Lake George. We loved our visit to Up Yonda Farm, and the snowshoe hike turned out to be the highlight of our weekend. What a magical experience for all seasons!

I recently visited Up Yonda Farm Environmental Education Center for their maple-making tour and…read moreabsolutely loved it! This was my first time visiting and it was such a fun experience. The snowy setting made it even more special. We walked along a path through the woods while learning about how maple syrup is made. It was really interesting to hear about the history of maple sugaring and see the progression of tools that have been used over time. One of my favorite parts was the tasting. At the very beginning we got to try raw maple sap, and later we tasted the syrup fresh after it had been made. It honestly changed my mind about maple syrup -- I used to not like it, but tasting it fresh made me appreciate it so much more. There is plenty of parking, and the bathrooms are right next to the parking lot. After parking, you walk up to the main house to check in. The tour starts off to the side of the house near a fire pit, which was a nice gathering spot. At the end of the tour they served French toast sticks with different maple syrups to try, which was delicious and a perfect way to finish the experience. Overall, this was such a fun family-friendly event. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a unique outdoor activity and a great way to learn about maple syrup!

Hubby and I loved this museum. The layout could be better as it was like a maze but overall we…read morethink they did an excellent job with it. It is free to visit but they take donations. We spent about three hours in the area. They're certainly worth a visit.

I didn't want to write this review, as my December trip to the Capital District was a pleasant…read moredistraction from reality, so this final writeup symbolizes the "end of an era" (three days long but I stretched out the content). The museum does stellar work on the impossible task of capturing New York State. ("How dare they mention the NYC subway but completely ignore the one that used to be Syracuse?! ZERO STARS"). Sesame Street's here, along with clocks, fire engines and a discussion of Albany's rum trade. Not only you can you enter an old-timey train car in the subway exhibit, there's a newsstand with old Post and Daily News copies mentioning the (an?) A-Rod scandal. The best part of the museum, or at least the most photogenic, is the assortment of minerals. The greens and oranges were quite surprising, as was the information that many of the specimens are from downstate. The cartography-inclined will enjoy old depictions of areas like "Lange Eyland."

Great time and place to unwind. Beautiful art pieces they have in the collection . The natural…read morelighting made everything ten times better. Letting us walk self guide through the house is a great touch .

The Hyde Collection is a hidden gem and well worth the trip North to Glens Falls…read more On a cold winters day, I ventured here as it's known to be styled after the Isabella Gardner Museum in Boston. The Hyde couple's home houses 5,000 or so pieces of art that you can enjoy within their beautiful living space. I felt privileged to be able to tour the Hyde family's Italian Renaissance style villa built in 1912. Here you'll find works from renowned artists such as Botticelli, Degas, Renoir and Rembrandt just to name a few. The original furniture and tapestries acquired are from the sixteenth century Renaissance. There are also late eighteenth century Neoclassical French seating furniture and marquetry desks for your viewing pleasure. It was a wonderful way to pass the afternoon. The Hyde is also known to share temporary collections with the community. The basement level has an added teaching auditorium as well as classroom space where programs are held for those interested in the fine arts. Lastly use your phone to scan the QR code available in most rooms for a self guided informational tour. I also recommend that you take the visitor guide and map to help you along. The front desk admission can also give you insight on how to navigate your time here. A must see in my opinion and you cannot overlook the library room with their vast collection of original books that are sure to have you in awe.

We were very happy with the Star Trek Original Series Set Tour! What a chance of a lifetime to see…read moreall the sets used in the original series. This is a must see for any Star Trek enthusiast. The information shared made is very special when we returned home and started to rewatch each of the episodes. I can't thank you enough for making this available. We will need to return to see the Galileo!

After seeing all the 5 star reviews I wondered how this could be. My curiosity got the best of me…read moreand my friend and I took a ride to Ticonderoga to see what this is all about. We parked in the lot, got out and could already hear sounds from some displays outside the building. Although I'm not a Trekkie, I watched the show many times as I grew up. My first good experience was before I even started the guided tour, I was told the tour guide was going to carry a folding chair so if needed I could sit. I'm handicapped with a bad back and can't stand for long. The tour began with some explanations about the set, how it's constructed and all the work that went into putting this together. Then we were shown the infamous hallway, various rooms like sickbay, offices and bedrooms. A lot of the items on shelves were from the original set. When we got to the engine room I knew we were close to the "Control Room" and I started getting really excited. Throughout the tour, the guide explained all kinds of details concerning each room, then we could take as many photos as we wanted. Finally we reached the Control Room and it didn't let us down! There in the center was the Captains Chair! And I actually got to sit in it for pictures. William Shatner sat in that chair just 4 days prior and I could feel his presence in the chair.... I now understand why it's almost a full 5 star rating from YELP. The tour takes about an hour, there is a small gift shop and the staff are beyond excited to talk about the show and its secrets. If you're anywhere near Ticonderoga, or in the North East, take the time to enjoy a trip on the Enterprise and go where no man has gone before. Scotty will beam you up!