Arbo Valley Travel and Tours

New Jersey is blessed with many scenic attractions, and with its relatively small land area, many of the scenic attractions can be experienced during a short weekend trip. With so many scenic destinations to choose from, we have chosen the best scenic weekend getaways in New Jersey.

From the rugged Kittatinny Mountains along the Delaware River in the northwest Skylands, to the rolling farmland and historic sites of Hunterdon County, and across the state to the Jersey Shore with it’s fantastic beaches, amusements piers, boardwalks, and charming Gingerbread Victorian homes, New Jersey offers a wide choice of scenic destinations for travelers of all interests from active adventure to a slower paced relaxed destination.

The Best Scenic Weekend Getaways In New Jersey

Cape May

Cape May is an ideal place to visit for that special scenic seaside weekend getaway. This beach resort town offers beautiful, powdery sand beaches, a charming village with Gingerbread Victorian homes, gas-lit street lamps, horse drawn carriages, tree lined streets, and an historic light house. To complete the weekend getaway experience, there are a variety of Victorian bed and breakfasts, quaint shops, and fine dining restaurants that appeal to all tastes. While the summer season is the most popular time to visit, Cape May has become a year round attraction offering seasonal programs, candlelit house tours, and a variety of other cooler weather activities.

Cape May is also the home of one of the largest commercial fishing ports in the United States, and as a result you will find a good variety of seafood restaurants that serve up locally caught fresh sea food.

Things to do

If relaxing on the beach is not your thing, there are plenty of other activities that can occupy your day time leisure hours. They include; bike riding, with many bike rentals available locally by the hour or day. Cycle down to Sunset Beach or the Cape May Light House built 1859 and listed on the State and National Registers of historic places, or the nearby Bird Observatory operated by the New Jersey Audubon society. There is picnicking, beach walking at sunrise or sunset, where you might see schools of dolphins swimming by, whale and dolphin watching boat trips, kayaking in the salt water marshlands, a salt marsh safari, deep sea fishing, a nautical museum, and an historic W.W. II coastal defense gun emplacement.

Places to Stay

The Albert Stevens Inn – Located within walking distance of the Cape May Point Lighthouse and the Cape May Bird Observatory.

The Bedford Inn – A Victorian home with gingerbread trim, a block from the beach, has a large old-fashioned veranda with rocking chairs, and a Victorian parlor with a fireplace.

Victoria B & B – A Victorian home with home made quilts adorning the beds. Located in the center of the historic district and a block from the beach, it has four Victorian buildings with front porches and sitting parlors.

Hunterdon County – Clinton/Frenchtown/Lambertville/Sergeantsville

Hunterdon County is a special scenic destination with rolling farmlands, historic sites, and charming towns. Featured here are the towns of Clinton, Frenchtown, Lambertville, and Sergeantsville. All are small charming towns with surrounding rural scenic beauty that can easily be seen during a weekend getaway.

Clinton nestled in the hills, is a classic American small town that has attracted photographers, movie makers, and visitors here for its scenic and historic beauty. It’s a charming historic village with shops and cherry tree lined streets, a river with a 200 foot wide waterfall winding through it, and lined with old grist mills.

Things to do

Hunterdon Museum of Art – A contemporary art museum located in an 1836 stone gristmill listed on the National and State Historic Registers. 908-735-8415

Red Mill Museum Village – The most photographed spot in New Jersey, is situated on 10 scenic acres next to Clinton’s waterfall. The museum is just steps across the antique iron bridge with over 40,000 artifacts and chronicles more than 180 years of Hunterdon County history. 908-735-4101

Clinton Canoe & Kayak Rental – 908-735-6767

Ken Lockwood Gorge, Califon – From Califon down to High Bridge, the Raritan River cuts through a beautiful scenic gorge straddled with huge boulders.

Places to Stay

Courtyard Lebanon – A new hotel with spacious rooms, a small heated pool and a complimentary breakfast.

Holiday Inn Select – Within walking distance to the downtown shops.

Frenchtown is an undiscovered secret that is attracting visitors with its many three story multi-colored Victorian homes, art galleries, antique shops, clothing boutiques, and restaurants, all surrounded by rural scenic rolling hills, a river and historic sites.

Things to Do

If you chose to make Frenchtown your overnight base for exploring Hunterdon County, rent a bike at Freeman’s bike shop and ride south along the D & R Canal towpath, stopping in at Stockton, then continue on to Lambertville. Return to Frenchtown by way of Route 29.

Check out Alexandria Balloon Flights – 908-479-4878.

View Frenchtown’s romantic sunsets from a hot air balloon. See fantastic views of the river, the riverbanks, and the rolling hills.

If its summer, rent an inner tube at Delaware Tubing, 908-996-5386, for a leisurely float along the Delaware River. Check out the Sand Castle Winery for tasting and tours

Places to Stay

National Hotel with dark wood beams, beds draped in mosquito netting.

The Widow McCrea House, a Victorian inn with antique guest rooms and a candlelit gourmet breakfast.

Lambertville is Hunterdon County’s only city and is popular with visitors attracted to its quaint town with tree lined streets, Victorian homes, antique shops, clothing boutiques, art galleries, and restaurants. Its five block downtown area along the Delaware River attracts window shoppers and browsers.

Things to do

If you chose to make Lambertville your overnight base for exploring Hunterdon County, and you have your own bike, head North to Frenchtown on Route 29, and return south along the D & R Canal towpath, stopping in at Stockton.

Lambertville Historical Society – The Marshall House with 1834 furnishings, a Shad history display, and quilts.

Magic Glass Studio – Create your very own one of a kind glass piece at their unique studio.

The Museum At Holcombe-Jimison Farmstead – where you can see old farming equipment, a country kitchen, a rural post office, Dr. Leaver’s doctor/dentist office, a blacksmith shop, a print shop, a carpentry shop, and a period herb garden.

The River Horse Brewery – is the area’s only microbrewery producing handcrafted lagers and ales. Take a walking tour of the kegging and bottling operation and sample products in the tasting room.

Places to Stay

Chimney Hill Farm Estate – This fieldstone country inn was built in 1820, and is surrounded by eight acres of fields and landscaped grounds.

Inn at Lambertville Station – The cities largest bed & breakfast is family friendly. Its three stories with most rooms

The In having a view of the river.

York Street House B & B – A Victorian home with a front porch and wooden rocking chairs and a candlelight breakfast.

Sergeantsville is a small village that resembles Pennsylvania’s Amish Country with its rolling hills, open farmland, and the State’s last pre-20th century covered bridge, and an old fashioned general store.

Things to Do

Drive through the last pre-20th century covered bridge in New Jersey, and stop by to visit an old fashioned general store.

Northern Skylands

Here you can experience New England scenic beauty without leaving New Jersey. The Northern Skylands Region is rich with mountainous terrain, riverfront towns, state parks, farmlands, wildlife,
bed and breakfasts, and plenty of recreational opportunities. This is an area that has some of New Jersey’s best cycling, fishing, tubing, canoeing, and camping.

The Upper Highlands Region of the Skylands, from the east at Ringwood State Park, west to Vernon Valley, and south to the glacial lakes remnants of the former Morris canal, and North to the New York State border, it attracts more annual visitors than Yellowstone National Park. It is a beautiful scenic panorama of forests, sheer cliffs, and a scattering of open areas of lakes and streams. This area is popular for down hill skiing, snowboarding, camping, trout fishing, hiking, and golf.

The Ridge and Valley region of the Skylands covers the extreme Northwest corner of the State and the Kittatinny Mountains. The region is very popular with outdoor enthusiasts. It has the highest point in New Jersey at 1,803 feet and attracts active visitors seeking camping, hiking, skydiving, cross country skiing, snowshoeing, and fly fishing.

Things to do

High Point State Park

The view from High Point Monument, at 1,803 feet above sea level, is a spectacular panorama covering three states of rolling farmlands, mountains, forests, rivers and streams. The park also contains an 18 mile section of the Appalachian Trail. It’s an all season park for attracting visitors for mountain biking, horseback riding, hiking, swimming, fishing, cross country skiing, ice fishing, dog sledding, and snowshoeing.

Stokes State Forest is 15,996 acres of scenic mountain views and a beautiful section of the Appalachian Trail. The rugged terrain makes the forest a popular area for mountain biking, hiking, fishing, cross-country skiing, snowmobiling, horse back riding, swimming, and camping.

Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area borders over 40 miles of the Delaware River and almost 70,000 acres expanse of scenic beauty, breath taking cliffs, and a 1,400 foot deep, 900 foot wide gap that separates New Jersey’s 1,528 foot Mt. Tammany and Pennsylvania’s 1,462 foot Mt. Minsky. It’s a popular place for back packing, hiking, biking, canoeing, camping, cross country skiing, picnicking, horseback riding, and fishing. For the less active, take a one-day auto tour of the park and experience waterfalls, rural scenery, and historic Millbrook Village.

Skylands Manor and New Jersey Botanical Garden at Ringwood. Spend a couple of hours wandering through the 96 acre gardens with over 400 varieties of lilac. Take a stroll though the woodland paths of magnolia walk, and crab apple vista, with a visit to the elegant Tudor-style manor house.

Franklin Mineral Museum at The Franklin mine is a zinc mine known for its unique display of mineral fluorescence, (glowing rocks) and variety of rare species. They have thousands of mineral specimens on display with a huge fluorescent presentation of brilliant and glowing colorful minerals.

Places to Stay

The Inn at Panther Valley – Is a beautiful large full service Inn, ideal for some one looking for a weekend getaway inn with plenty of amenities. Located 20 minutes from the Delaware Water Gap, in the heart of the Northwest NJ Skylands, it has a modern fitness center, shops, restaurants, and nightly entertainment. They also support corporate retreats and weddings.

Alpine Haus Bed and Breakfast Inn – Located next to Mountain Creek Resort in Vernon, this 19th Century Victorian Inn has eight well-appointed, cozy rooms all with private baths. There are two Carriage House suites with fireplace and Jacuzzi

Crystal Springs Resort – The new Minerals Hotel features 175 rooms from luxury to the Presidential suite, all with attractive mountain, pool or golf course views. Many of the rooms have cozy fireplaces. It also offers the regions best fine dining restaurant.

Driving is a way of life in LA. Thanks to fewer cabs in this city, people are actually more relaxed when driving. The only obvious problem would be the amount of traffic on the roads throughout the city. Compare the amount of traffic to other cities in the US, and you will find that LA has it good. Los Angeles car rentals are a great option for you if you are thinking of taking a vacation in this city. If you want an overview of rental cars, then here are the basics:

Basics

Los Angeles is pretty much like any other city in America, except that taxis are rare. The road rules that California has are considered “standard”. But you are not here to read about that, are you? You are here to learn how to get rental cars. Well, the first thing is your record. If you have bad marks in your driving record, then you can expect rejections from car rental companies – lots of them. If you are clean, then it will be easier. Also, LA rental companies will never rent out a car to a person who’s below 21 years of age. Some even require you to be at least 25 years old to drive their Los Angeles car rentals. Also, make sure that you always bring your credit card with you, too.

Rental Rates

Most Los Angeles car rental companies charge a daily rate. Other rate options are also available for your own choosing such as unlimited mileage, charge-per-mile or per-mile over certain limits, etc. Some companies offer lower rates for weekend renting, while some offer week-long rentals. The standard that most rental companies love to offer, though, is the three-day rental period. However, with this rate option, if you exceed for more than 3 days, they charge you with additional fees. If you happen to be a member of an automobile organization (such as the AAA), then you’ll usually get a discount.

Fees or Charges

Before you sign that rental agreement, it’s important that you are notified by the company of their policies and penalty charges. Los Angeles car rentals may offer the best prices, but they certainly don’t come cheap with additional fees. Some of the most common fees that you’ll most likely encounter are the ones for renting at the airport. Most airports (or local governments) add additional taxes and surcharges to the rates of the rental cars. Some additional fees are also tacked on if you let another person drive the car. There are also child safety-seat fees. You’re supposed to rent a safety-seat for your kid if you forgot to bring one. Extra charges are also added to the bill if you don’t return the car to the specific branch of the company you rented it from (these are called drop-off fees). You’re also required to refuel the gas tank every time you return the car.

As a final tip for Los Angeles car rentals; if you have your own car insurance, use it. You could also use your employer’s insurance or your automobile club membership cards to cover these (though some companies may tell you that they don’t accept them; it’s rare though). Lastly, always drive safely so you can assure yourself of a relaxing vacation.

A party bus comes in handy for many who want to go out at night and party. A party bus is mainly used for personalized trips, drop offs, weddings, proms, bachelorette and bachelor parties, city tours, birthday parties and picks ups from various nightclubs and bars. A variety of party bus rentals have party limos such as exotic limousines, antique limousines, exotic limos, standard limousines, party buses and L Series cars that one can rent out.

The advantage of renting a party bus is that one can move from one place to another easily without worrying about driving and safety issues. This is because most of these come with chauffeur services. Most party limos have limousine features that are reliable hallmarks of success such as AM/FM stereos, a CD player, upgraded seats, luggage partitions, laser lights, on-board restroom and power window locks Whether one needs a party bus for a corporate trip, bachelor or bachelorette party, they can always rent out a party bus which comes in different shapes and styles and let the professional drivers do their job. Renting a party limo saves one the headache of arranging for transportation later on in the night.

A party bus can be rented for a day, week or month. A party bus that is hired for more than a day is charged a daily rate or mileage rate. Chauffeur tips and overnight sleeping arrangements are not included in the price. Reservations for a party bus need to be made as quickly as possible especially during the summer. Sometimes a deposit is necessary to make a reservation and is usually applied to one’s overall charge.

When hiring a party bus from party bus rentals, one should ask a number of questions and make sure they fully comprehend all deposits and costs. Research should be carried out about party bus rentals and their policies incase a breakdown or accident occurs. Evidence for liability insurance must be obtained and one should ensure that the party bus has an operating license. Tour bus and party limo operators must have their licenses registered and displayed on their vehicles. It is important to know the number of passengers the party bus can hold. Having completed one’s research on party bus rentals and the services they offer one can easily pick a party bus that meets his or her needs.

It is necessary for anyone who experiences problems when trying to obtain the best party bus to do earlier planning and seek out help from executives of party bus rentals. These executives will ensure that the party bus rentals offer efficient and quality services. Their profound experience and knowledge in handling party transport will ensure that a party bus travel goes smoothly.

It is very important to correctly estimate how long one will use the party bus for billing purposes. Most Party bus rentals will require this information to bill upfront. Others may require that the bill be paid at the end of the night. In both cases, time must be properly managed to avoid additional penalties for late returns. It is essential to note that most party bus rentals have party buses and limos for every occasion and therefore they come in handy.