The best car-free summer day trips in New York City's exotic suburbs

New York has a way of emptying out by the middle of August, and here at The Groove, we’re all for staying put and taking advantage of the city when its wealthiest residents have fled.

But sometimes you still want to  abscond from your stale, air-conditioned apartment before Labor Day, and for that, allow us to make a rare case for visiting an exotic locale known as “the suburbs.” 

 You don’t even need a car to visit them, just a thirst for adventure and knowledge of the MTA and NJ Transit’s summer rail schedules.

Below, we’ve rounded up the best and easiest day trips outside of the five boroughs, whether your thing is the beach, the jousting ring, historical mansions and parks or that old American standby: an absolutely massive mall.

Nassau County: The Gilded Age and golden beaches

For all the attention that beaches of the Rockaways and Fire Island receive each summer, Long Beach can get overlooked. 

It shouldn’t. The South Shore barrier island has arguably the most serene beaches in the New York metro area with chill lifeguards and consistent waves for surfing ($75 for a 90-minute group lesson or $125 for a 75-minute private lesson at Skudin Surf). 

A one-way ride from Penn Station to the Long Beach terminal ($14.50 peak, $10.75 off-peak) lasts just under an hour and the boardwalk is a 10-minute walk down National Boulevard from the station. It will cost you $15 for a beach day pass, which you can pay by using a QR code at a booth before you enter, or you purchase ahead of time here. 

Avoid the crowds in front of the boardwalk and set up further west, toward Long Beach’s West End where the streets are named after states and families with nearby beach houses stake colorful flags into the sand. Concessions are non-existent so pack snacks or wander up to West Beech Street, the West End’s main strip. Lost and Found features seasonal small plates while The Cabana has great tacos and live music.

Up on the North Shore, live out your parasocial relationship with The Gilded Age by visiting Nassau’s Gold Coast mansions, a handful of which are open to the public.

Once you take the 45-minute LIRR ride from Grand Central to Port Washington ($13.00 peak, $9.75 off-peak), you can hail a taxi for a seven-minute ride or walk an hour to the Sands Point Preserve Conservancy, a 216-acre park that includes the Tudor-style Hempstead House and French Norman-style Falaise manses, located on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s fictional East Egg. 

Financier Howard Gould built the Hempstead House before selling it to Daniel Guggenheim, a mining magnate and philanthropist who maintained the home as a family summer residence. (Yes it has been used as a set for The Gilded Age). Another Guggenheim, Harry, and his wife, newspaper publisher Alicia Patterson, lived at Falaise, where they hosted Charles Lindbergh.

Tickets for interior tours are available for purchase day-of only ($10 for Hempstead and $15 for Falaise while walk-in access to the grounds is $4) but check the website for their calendar of events. You may need to wait until Sundays in September to visit both homes on the same day.

Suffolk County: Training wheels

Whether or not you consider the  Hamptons “the new Palm Beach,” the best way to take in the natural beauty of the South Fork is still on two wheels.

You don’t need a permit to take your bicycle on the LIRR anymore but there are restrictions on how many bikes are allowed on the train during certain hours, so check the LIRR’s “Summer Only” rules before you decide when to go. 

The fastest East End-bound train from Penn Station ($31.75 peak, $23.50 off-peak) arrives in Westhampton two hours later and takes three hours to reach Montauk, the last stop on the line. You can bring your bike on the Hampton Jitney too ($41 online or $48 onboard) but there’s an additional $15 charge.

The area’s flat elevation and gentle ocean breezes are ideal for a leisurely jaunt through tranquil village streets or planning your bucket-list century. The ride through Montauk Point State Park on Route 27, the main road through the Hamptons, offers breathtaking views of the Atlantic Ocean. Others may prefer the shaded roads around Sag Harbor, East Hampton, and Sagaponack where you can window shop at the latest influx of luxury boutiques or ride to the beach without paying a hefty parking permit. There’s also a handful of bike shops for fixing an emergency flat or adjusting your seat. 

If you want to ride for distance, there are exactly 50 miles between the Westhampton LIRR station and the Montauk Point Lighthouse, which takes about four hours. Just be aware of the train schedules so you aren’t sleeping on a beach like a character in an Emma Cline novel.

Of course if you just want to visit without bringing a ride, an LIRR train to Southampton takes between two-and-a-half to three hours. Little Plains Beach is a 35-minute walk from the station while Cooper’s Beach is an hour away (both are free to the public). If you walk down Main Street you’ll pass by charming restaurants and cafes including the home of Tate’s Bake Shop.

Westchester County: A playland of gardens  

Want touch grass but have visited the Brooklyn Botanic Garden so often you’re on a first-name basis with its cacti collection?

Head to Yonkers, where you can traipse the grounds of Untermyer Gardens, a 43-acre public conservancy with Indo-Persian gardens, Classical Roman pools, and vistas overlooking the Hudson River. A Hudson Line MetroNorth train from Grand Central to Greystone station takes about 40 minutes ($12 peak, $9 off-peak) but you will have a 20-minute climb up Odell Avenue to its entrance on Route 9.

Created in 1917 by Samuel and Minnie Untermyer, a corporate lawyer and philanthropist, the park is now owned by the city of Yonkers and admission is free. So are the tours that have different themes and are currently running every Sunday at 11am through October. Check out the park’s most recent site, the Ruin Garden, which features a restored former gatehouse near the park’s Old Croton Aqueduct entrance.

Then again you may just want to get stupid wet. 

The best place to do that without encountering stinging jellyfish or floating flotsam is Playland Park. The park first opened in 1928 and continues to retain its Depression-era charm with rides geared for children and young adults, and plenty of places to cool off.

A New Haven Line local train from Grand Central will get you to Rye Railroad Station in about 45 minutes ($14.25 peak, $10.50 off-peak). From there you hop on Westchester’s Bee-Line Route 75 or Route 13 bus ($3 one-way) to the 280-acre park’s entrance. 

The attraction includes a beach, a pool, an amusement park and a children’s museum, but be aware that each site has different hours and admission rates. The beach and pool are open every day through Labor Day from 11am to 6:30pm. For adults, access to the beach costs $8, entering the pool is $10 and going to both is $15. Umbrellas, tables, and chairs can be rented for an additional fee. 

Playland Park’s admissions are free but it costs $15 to go on the rides. It’s open Thursday through Sunday through Labor Day from 12pm to 9pm, and until 10pm on Friday and Saturday nights. If you stay late enough on Friday you’ll see the weekly fireworks display. 

New Jersey: The mall, obviously

Sometimes you have an inexplicable urge to surf without the threat of thresher sharks, eat a viral smashburger or sink into a pit of plastic bubbles and pretend you’re an Amazon package ready for delivery.

You can do all that and more at American Dream, the 3-million-square-foot mall in East Rutherford, NJ that’s home to the world’s largest indoor wave ($125 for a one-hour surf session), North America’s largest indoor water park (all-access passes are $69-$89)and the only year-round indoor ski and snow resort in the country ($30 for slope access, $50 for ski equipment and outerwear plus admission). 

To get to the mall, take a NJ Transit 355 bus from Port Authority ($5.95 one-way) for about half an hour where you will be dropped off at the entrance to Court D of the mall. Or you can get on a NJ Transit 161 bus to Paterson which will drop you off at Washington Avenue at Road A, where you can walk 20-minutes south to the mall ($5.30 one-way). Another option is taking NJ Transit from Penn Station to Secaucus Junction ($5.20 one-way) and then a shuttle train to Meadowlands Rail Station. The shuttle is only open for special events, so unless the Jets are getting blown out in a preseason game when you want to visit, your best bet is still the bus.

If the water parks weren’t enough, there’s a Legoland Discovery Center, a Nickelodeon theme park, a ferris wheel, an aquarium and a bunch of normal shops and restaurants you would find in any American luxury mall. Its upscale food hall features Bergen County outposts of Vanessa’s Dumpling House, Best Pizza and Van Leeuwen Ice Cream, but if you really want to, you can also explore the offerings at Youtuber MrBeast’s foray into fast food, which is of course named MrBeast Burger. The fervor has calmed down since its opening and you can see he put some effort into making it passable.

There’s also a temporary immersive exhibit called Bubble Planet where you can experience the mystical wonder of bubbles through eight different globular-themed rooms. Socks are mandatory but you can take as many selfies as you like ($24 to $30 for tickets).

If you’d prefer your entertainment be more rooted in, say, the 11th century, a two-hour jousting tournament and feast awaits you at Medieval Times in Lyndhurst, NJ (tickets are $75 but there’s a 15-percent sale on their website through Sept. 30).

The NJ Transit 191, 192, 195 and 199 buses from Port Authority will drop you at Rutherford and Polito avenues, a block from Lyndhurst Castle, in about 20 minutes ($5.30 one way).

Guests can arrive an hour before the show, which features pageantry, feats of strength, and an array of vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free menu options, because this is nothing if not historically accurate.

Even though the Medieval castle is a mere four miles from the American Dream Mall, you can’t get between them easily without a car. It would take you a two-hour walk or two NJ Transit buses an hour to travel what should be a seven minute journey. The Queen should really do something about that.