Ahead of Qantas’ inaugural AKL-JFK direct service taking off next month, New York State has a series of exciting tourism developments, hotel openings and key anniversaries to entice visitors from down under.

Here is what’s new, what’s happening and what’s coming up, as options for Australians and New Zealanders accessing the Empire State:

Lake Placid welcomes new Olympic Museum

Nestled in the Adirondack Mountains, Lake Placid has hosted the Winter Olympic Games in 1932 and 1980. The new Lake Placid Olympic Museum is a treasure trove of history featuring interactive exhibits, innovative displays and North America’s second largest Winter Olympic artifact collection. New visitor facilities in the area also include the boutique Bluebird Lake Placid hotel that launched earlier this year and the upcoming opening of Cloudsplitter, the town’s only rooftop bar.

New York State’s most scenic train journey to return this spring

After a three-year hiatus due to the pandemic, the Adirondack, dubbed one of the “Top 10 most scenic train rides in the world,” is officially coming back this spring (exact date TBC). The popular Amtrak route connects Manhattan’s Penn Station with Upstate New York travelling through the scenic Hudson Valley towards Albany, the state capital, and along the eastern border of the Adirondack Mountains, before reaching Montreal in Canada.

Wolf Conservation Center introduces new camping pods

“Sleeping with Wolves” is a popular adventure experience that takes place in the summer and offers guests a chance to safely camp out overnight with more than 30 wolves that call the Wolf Conservation Center in the Hudson Valley home. In response to its increased popularity, 12 new weather-proof camping pods will debut this year in 2023 that will allow the experience to extend from spring to autumn.

Northeast’s first “agrihood” is coming to Hudson Valley

Construction is well underway on the new Bellefield at Historic Hyde Park, the first “agrihood” community in the Northeast. Less than 90 minutes from New York City, the development will feature a collection of culinary shops, farm-to-table restaurants, breweries, restaurants, distilleries, two hotels and a special events barn, which will complement the area’s world-famous Culinary Institute of America.

Delve into the history of Broadway

The new Museum of Broadway in Manhattan gives visitors the opportunity to travel through the timeline of Broadway from its birth to present day, highlighting some of the most beloved plays and musicals of all time. Featuring a series of interactive experiences, installations and video projections, you will find out more about the history of New York City‘s theatres, revisit ground-breaking moments in Broadway’s history and go behind the curtain into the making of hit show.

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