Cider, beer and a goat dairy — the Finger Lakes in February, when the makers pour

Trumansburg, Interlaken, Ithaca

1. 9 am1

   Coffee in Trumansburg before heading northTrumansburg

   Gimme! started in this village before it was anywhere else. Twenty minutes, then Route 96 north — nothing on today's list opens before 10:00 in winter.

   14 min by train or taxi · 8.8 km
2. 10 am2

   Lively Run Goat DairyInterlaken

   One of the oldest working goat dairies in the country and a real farm, not a farm-themed shop. Hold, hard: in winter the tours are by appointment only and they will say no if it is kidding season or the road is bad. Call two days ahead. Buy the Cayuga Blue on the way out — it is what the restaurants in Ithaca are putting on their boards.

   3 min walk · 0 m
3. 11:30 am3

   Finger Lakes Cider House at Good Life FarmInterlaken

   The single best introduction to New York cider, because it pours other people's as well as its own. The catch that ruins people's Tuesdays: in January and February it is Friday to Monday only — seven days a week the rest of the year, but not now. Get a flight and lunch together; the kitchen is farm-to-table off the land outside the window and the pairing is the point. The Funkhouse is the one to try first. Verified 2026-09-06 (fingerlakesciderhouse.com/pages/hours): seven days a week March through December, Friday to Monday only in January and February, with flights and pours 11:00–16:45. Taken together with the two stops below, the deep-winter version of this day only works on a Friday or a Saturday.

   15 min by train or taxi · 9.3 km
4. 1:15 pm4

   Route 96 south to IthacaIthaca

   Thirty-five minutes. In February take 96 rather than the lake road — 89 gets lake-effect snow and drifts, and the plows do 96 first.

   37 min by train or taxi · 37 km
5. 2:05 pm5

   South Hill CiderIthaca

   Steve Selin makes cider from wild and abandoned apple trees he found around the county, and if you ask he will tell you which roadside the fruit came from. Verified 2026-09-06 (southhillcider.com/hours-and-information): open Thursday through Monday and closed Tuesday and Wednesday — roughly midday to 19:00, with later closes on Friday and Saturday, not the 21:00 four-day week this note used to claim. Check the exact close before you make this a late stop.

   20 min by train or taxi · 20 km
6. 3:30 pm6

   Black Diamond CiderTrumansburg

   Ian Merwin spent a career on tree fruit at Cornell before planting this orchard, so the cider is an argument about varieties. Verified 2026-09-06 (blackdiamondcider.com/taste-and-visit): the cider shack is at 4675 Seneca Road in Trumansburg, about twenty minutes north of Ithaca — not the Newfield address this stop used to carry — and it opens seasonally May through November, Wednesday to Sunday 13:00–17:00, with appointments needed for groups of six or more. That means it is shut for the deep-winter framing of this day: in January or February drop it and give the hour back to the Cider House or to the taproom below. Come May to November and it is worth the detour; growler fills if you liked it.

   18 min by train or taxi · 18 km
7. 5 pm7

   Ithaca Beer Company taproomIthaca

   End on beer rather than a fourth cider — Flower Power has been the region's IPA since 1997 and the kitchen is considerably better than a brewery kitchen needs to be. Winter hours are shorter than the website's summer ones suggest, so check before driving out; the beer garden that makes this place in July is a field of snow in February and the taproom is where everyone is. Verified 2026-09-06 (ithacabeer.com): the taproom is closed Monday and Tuesday and opens Wednesday and Thursday 16:00–21:00, Friday and Saturday 12:00–21:00 and Sunday 12:00–18:00 — so this stop only runs its full hour and a quarter Wednesday to Saturday, and on a Sunday you are out at 18:00.