Description: Hudson River cruises from New York City and Albany: overnight riverboat voyages, fall foliage sailings, the ports of the Hudson Valley and when to go.
From the Manhattan skyline to the state capital at Albany, America’s first great steamboat river is cruising again.
Hudson River cruises follow one of the most storied waterways in the country. It was on the Hudson, in 1807, that Robert Fulton’s steamboat proved that passenger service under power could work, running from New York to Albany. Two centuries later the same 150-mile stretch offers something rare in the Northeast: a real river cruise, with a cabin, a different town each day and mountains rising straight from the water through the Highlands.
There are two very different ways to cruise the Hudson. Overnight riverboat voyages of about a week, run by American Cruise Lines, travel the length of the valley between New York City and Albany. Short sightseeing and foliage cruises, run by several New York operators, leave Manhattan for an afternoon on the lower river. This site covers both, with the ports, the seasons and the history that make the valley worth the trip.