36 hours in Thousand Islands, NY

My housemates and I have the same motto: weekends are for wandering and we take advantage of them to make the most of our experience and to explore beautiful New York state. That's why last weekend we drove all the way up to Clayton, NY – small town in the Thousand Islands region...

The Thousand Islands are located between northern New York state and southeastern Ontario in Canada and are actually not only one thousand but one thousand eight hundred (!). We found out about this place while we were reading a local outdoor magazine and amazed by the pictures we decided to organise a weekend there. We left Geneva early on Saturday morning and arrived in Clayton around midday. There we met Argentinian FLTAs Ana and Candela. After a quick lunch at one of the two restaurants the town has, we wandered around, did some window shopping and bought some postcards (as usual). We then drove along the shore and stopped here and there to take nice pictures despite the dreadful weather. After a stop in our Airbnb to relax a bit we headed to a brewery to have dinner and the pizza there was truly amazing.

On Sunday we had a lovely surprise... snow! Indeed the temperatures were so low that it started to snow on Sunday and went on for approximatively three hours. That morning we decided to drive to Alexandria Bay where boat tours depart everyday. After a second breakfast in a teeny tiny café (yes SO WHAT) we went on a boat tour to have a full view of the beautiful Thousand Islands. Despite the dark clouds, the mist and the cold, it was worth it and we even made it to Canada! But we didn't actually put a foot on Canada's lands because it's forbidden without our visas and travel authorisation. After this two-hour boat tour, we headed back home as we had a long drive to do and classes to prepare for the day after...

I reckon the best period to visit the region is summer or/until September only because it was a tad too grey and very cold at the moment. But it's always great to see something else even when the weather isn't on our side!

New York state has so much to offer, everyone talks about NYC (and I haven't even been there yet) but there's so much more to it! So many national parks, nature, and different landscapes... I'm so lucky to have been placed here and I have so many plans for the weekends to come!