When New Yorkers flee the town for a weekend away, they typically weigh two traditional choices: the Hudson Valley or the Hamptons. But straddling the southern portion of the Delaware River, the place New Jersey kisses Pennsylvania, is a area whose rolling hills, grassy farms, quaint most important streets, and sweeping river views make it a good contender for the final word country-chic East Coast getaway. The area is usually referred to because the Delaware River Valley, and inside it, the city of New Hope, Pennsylvania—described to me by tight-lipped locals as “Hudson without a train stop”—has long been a popular spot for those seeking relaxation and inspiration. New Hope first came across my desk within the last year, and the frequency illusion quickly took over—once I heard about it, I couldn’t stop hearing about it. Perhaps, in part, thanks to stars like Bradley Cooper and the Hadid family, who have all taken up residence in the town.
But the more I looked into it, the more I learned that there’s a lot to love about New Hope and its surrounding small towns. George Washington had a famous run in the area (remember when he crossed the Delaware River one fateful Christmas Eve?), and in the 1920s, a group of artists, authors, and playwrights—Oscar Hammerstein and Dorothy Parker, a few among them—flocked to the region in search of a creative retreat, granting the area its historic “genius belt” moniker.
Similar to Hudson and its Hudson Valley counterparts, a go to to New Hope additionally places you in proximity to a string of candy little cities alongside the PA-NJ border—Doylestown, Lambertville, and Frenchtown, to title a number of—and you’ll be able to simply idle away your days between them, paddling alongside the river, attempting to find antiques, or catching a present at a neighborhood theater. As for the meals and drink scene, many native eating places are helmed by former big-city chefs who have thrown in the towel for a simpler life, which gives diners the feeling of being let in on a little secret. And thanks to a new crop of boutique hotels in the area, there’s no shortage of places to stay, where innkeepers go above and beyond to make your experience feel like something special.
I finally succumbed to my desire to see the region for myself this past spring, and you’d be remiss not to do the same. When you’re ready to plan a trip of your own, here’s where to eat, stay, and play in and around New Hope.
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About an hour-and-a-half drive from midtown Manhattan, New Hope makes for an ideal weekend jaunt, provided you’ve got a license. Driving is really the best way to hop from town to town. While Uber is certainly an option, I found that rides were not always readily available (there are pickup restrictions across state lines), and I had better luck scheduling my cars in advance.
Where to keep
Perhaps the most well-liked lodge on the town, the 38-room River House at Odette’s, with its picturesque views of the Delaware, affords a splashy keep on the positioning of a Nineteen Sixties bohemian cabaret run by musician and actress Odette Myrtill. Remnants of midcentury glamour persist within the foyer Piano Lounge—the place you would possibly run right into a bride or two, due to its recognition as a marriage venue—or on The Roof, a members-only bar the place Yolanda Hadid’s signature is displayed proudly on the wall.
For lodgings that really feel a bit extra private, test in on the eight-room Stockton Inn, a 1700s historic inn in close by Stockton, New Jersey, that was revitalized in 2024. The on-site restaurant, helmed by chef Bob Truitt (previously of Michael White and Stephen Starr), and the lodge’s informal sister café, Stockton Market, are each meals locations in their very own proper. While the partitions carry echoes of a inventive previous—F. Scott Fitzgerald and Margaret Mitchell frolicked on the lodge—the digs are decidedly trendy, from the up to date pictures that line the eating room to the stylish paper lantern lights that hover above the beds.