Sterling (New York)

By road, Fairhaven is on NY state highway 104A, a branch of the 104 highway from Rochester to Oswego. From Syracuse, take NY 481 to Fulton, then NY 3 to its western terminus.
Air and rail connections are available at Syracuse.

• Sterling Renaissance Festival

  phone: +1 315 947-6905
  address: 15385 Farden Rd
  For seven weekends every summer, the village of Warwickshire emerges from 16th-century England to appear in rural Cayuga County. Within you'll find all manner of traditional games, foods, rides, arts and crafts. Meet interesting people from common washerwomen to the Queen herself, and enjoy special theme weekends like the Pirate Invasion and the Highland Fling. Warwickshire's many denizens remain solidly in character at all times, and they love engaging with visitors. This is the premier upstate Renaissance festival, and is often counted among the best in the entire country.

• Sterling Stage

  phone: +1 818-212-9489
  address: 274 Kent Rd
  The Sterling Stage, started in 1996, features what they call a "Kampitheater"—for your admission price, you get four days of music and a campsite where you can set up a tent and commune with your fellow music lovers. The lineup tends toward folk, roots music, and jam bands... pretty much exactly what you'd expect to appeal to the let's-camp-at-a-music-festival crowd.

Sterling is a sleepy little town... except when the Renaissance Festival is going on. Even then, most visitors attend as a day trip from Oswego, Syracuse, or even Rochester. But if you do want to stay overnight, there are a surprising number of options for such a small community. Most of them are in Fair Haven, catering to Little Sodus Bay fishermen and boaters.

• Anchor Resort & Marina

  phone: +1 315 947-5331
  address: 14424 West Bay Rd, Fair Haven
  A variety of accommodations available, from RV sites to cottages to a B&B all to yourself... though for that last one they only accept weekly reservations. Kitchen facilities available, and Wi-Fi throughout the resort.

• Crow's Nest Lodge

  phone: +1 315 947-6405
  address: 566 Main St, Fair Haven
  This three-bedroom lodge is designed for large families or groups of fishermen looking to stay for multiple nights. A fully equipped kitchen makes such stays quite practical.

• Fair Haven Motel

  phone: +1 315 947-6806
  address: 8295 Rt 104A, Fair Haven
  Most of the cottages and motels and B&Bs around Fair Haven are decades old, dating back to a time when the Bay was a popular summer resort getaway. The Fair Haven Motel, however, opened in 2007, so the amenities and decor are up-to-date. A bit spartan, but up-to-date. 10 units each with A/C, refrigerator, microwave.

• Maple Grove Bed & Breakfast

  phone: +1 315 947-5408
  address: 1275 Rt 104A, Sterling
  Four rooms available, each sharing a bath with another. Wi-Fi, refrigerators, cozy shared living room. Two night minimum.

• Pleasant Beach Hotel

  phone: +1 315 947-5399 (in-season), +1 706 968-9222 (off-season)
  address: 14477 Fancher Ave, Fair Haven
  Open since 1910, this is a venerable hotel with B&B-style accommodations. The food, by all accounts, is outstanding, and the hotel's restaurant is quite popular even among those not staying here. The rooms get more mixed reviews; some guests have found problems with upkeep and cleanliness, and the decor is seriously dated. The location is hard to beat, though, and some of the rooms have incredible views looking west over the bay. Closed winters.

• Whispering Pines Inn

  phone: +1 315 947-6666
  address: 14511 Church St, Fair Haven
  Standard Bed and Breakfast with pretty good reviews.

Campgrounds

• Fair Haven Beach State Park

  phone: +1 315 947-5205
  address: 14985 State Park Rd, Fair Haven
  The state park has 184 campsites as well as a 30 unit "cabin colony" with central bathroom facilities, and a handful of self-contained cottages with private facilities.

• Holiday Harbor Resort

  phone: +1 315 947-5244
  address: 9415 Blind Sodus Bay Rd
  Whether you want sunny or wooded, bayfront or lakefront, this campground on the western promontory between Lake Ontario and Blind Sodus Bay offers quite a variety of camping sites.

• Shady Shores Campground

  phone: +1 315 947-5488
  address: 14986 West Bay Rd, Fair Haven
  Surrounded on three sides by water (Lake Ontario to the north, Blind Sodus Bay to the west, and Little Sodus Bay to the east), this campground has plenty of fishing and boating options nearby, as well as 1500 feet (450 m) of beach. Daily, weekly, and monthly rates.