As an award-winning travel writer I have been up and down the highways and byways of Upstate New York endlessly over the last 20 years. My research, travels, interviews, and speaking engagements have taken me to a hundred different places from the Hudson Valley to the Adirondacks to the Catskills, the Mohawk Valley, Capital District, Central New York, Southern Tier, Finger Lakes and on to Western New York.

Because I travel extensively, I have found that there are certain places that I always look forward to visiting, if only for a meal or a visit, more than other places. I love the buzz of the big cities, such as Kingston, Utica, Buffalo, Binghamton, Rochester, and more. But I have a special affinity for the region's small towns and villages all over the map.

And it is these places where my traveler's heart is most happy. This is a list of my favorite smaller towns in Upstate New York. I pass through them frequently on my journey and always try and carve out a few minutes to re-visit old friends, restaurants, pubs, and historic sites.

Everybody has a favorite town or city in Upstate New York. So do I, but to be honest, I love them all. Even though some places like Lake Placid, Ithaca, Jamestown, and others didn't make the list, I still enjoy it when my travels take me to these places.

But these ten? Yes, to me they re special places for sure!