Guides ·Day trips

Getting there

Drive 15 minutes across the Hudson via the Menands Bridge or I-787. CDTA bus 22 or 85 from downtown Albany runs every 15 minutes for $1.50 and drops you at Monument Square. Park at the Uncle Sam Atrium garage ($3 for 3 hours) if you drive.

Cyclists can follow the Mohawk-Hudson Bike-Hike Trail along the river and cross into Troy via the Green Island Bridge or the Congress Street Bridge, adding about 20 minutes each way to a ride from downtown Albany. If you are coming from the airport or points north, Route 7 into Troy avoids the bridge traffic that backs up on I-787 during the evening commute. Weekday parking meters on River Street run $1 an hour until 6pm; weekends and evenings are free, which matters if you are timing a visit around the farmers market or a dinner reservation.

What to do

Saturday mornings from 9am to 1pm the Troy Waterfront Farmers Market takes over River Street year-round — outdoors May through October, indoors at the Atrium the rest of the year. Any day, walk River Street and Monument Square for the cast-iron architecture. The Rensselaer County Historical Society ($5) and Emma Willard School's campus (free) are quick stops.

Beyond the market, Prospect Park at the top of Congress Street gives a clear view over the Hudson and the Collar City's rooftops; it's a 10-minute drive or a steep 20-minute walk from Monument Square. Oakwood Cemetery on Oakwood Avenue holds the grave of Uncle Sam himself, Samuel Wilson, plus a Gilded Age chapel, and is free to wander. The Troy Savings Bank Music Hall on Second Street runs public tours a few times a month ($10) and is worth timing a visit around if you like acoustics or Victorian interiors. Skip a full self-guided RiverSpark walking-map circuit unless you have a spare afternoon — the market and Monument Square cover the same architecture faster.

Where to eat

Coffee at Superior Merchandise Co. or Little Pecks. Lunch at Sweet Sue's for pancakes any hour ($12) or Ali Baba's for kebabs ($14). Dinner at Donna's Italian on Broadway ($24 mains) or Peck's Arcade for a tasting menu ($75). Beer at Rare Form Brewing on 4th Street.

For pizza, DeFazio's on Third Street draws lines on weekend nights for its thin-crust pies ($18-24) — arrive by 6pm or expect a 30-minute wait. Brown's Brewing Company on River Street pours its own IPAs and stouts alongside pub food ($15-20 mains) in a restored 19th-century building with river views from the back deck. Illium Cafe on Broadway is a reliable breakfast stop before the market opens, with omelets and pancakes under $14. Skip the chain coffee options near the bus stop; walk the extra two blocks to Superior Merchandise Co. instead.

Where to stay if you linger

Troy has three sit-down hotel options, all clustered near downtown. The Courtyard by Marriott Albany Troy Waterfront overlooks the Hudson a block from Monument Square and is the pick if you want to walk to the market and River Street restaurants without a car; expect $170-$200 a night in peak season. The Hilton Garden Inn Troy on Hoosick Street is a five-minute drive from downtown and runs $160-$190, useful if you're also visiting RPI or Route 7 businesses. The Best Western Plus Franklin Square Inn Troy Albany is the value choice at $130-$150 and sits close enough to walk into downtown in about 10 minutes. Most visitors, though, base themselves in Albany and treat Troy as a half-day trip rather than booking a room across the river.

RPI and the hills above downtown

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's campus climbs the hill east of downtown and is connected to River Street by the Approach, a steep pedestrian stairway and roadway built in 1907 that's worth climbing once for the view back over the Hudson. EMPAC, the campus's glass-walled performing arts center, hosts free public exhibitions and ticketed concerts most weeks during the academic year ($10-$25) and is open to visitors without a campus ID. Russell Sage College's downtown campus is folded into the same streets as the farmers market, so students and market crowds overlap on Saturday mornings. If you only have an hour beyond the market, skip the full RPI campus walk — the elevation gain is real — and settle for the view from the bottom of the Approach instead.

Browsing River Street

Between market Saturdays, River Street's storefronts are worth a slower look: antique and vintage shops sit alongside a handful of independent bookstores and galleries that keep afternoon hours Wednesday through Sunday. Market Block Books stocks a strong regional-history section if the Rensselaer County Historical Society visit leaves you wanting more. The Arts Center of the Capital Region runs rotating exhibitions a block off River Street and is free to walk through. None of this needs more than an hour, and it pairs naturally with the after-market coffee stop rather than requiring a separate trip.

Frequently asked questions

What people ask before they set off on this one.

Rooms worth pairing with this guide.

Downtown Albany DoubleTree by Hilton Schenectady Downtown

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