Highlights

We are happy to accommodate Groups who want to add a night or two, or further customize their trip.

Starr Groups Flexible Pricing:

• Customizable Comps
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Whatever you want, Starr Groups will be happy to structure tour prices to match your needs.  Just let us know!

Itinerary

Day by Day Itinerary

Day 1 – Sleepy Hollow – Washington Irving’s Sunnyside – Lyndhurst Mansion – “Legend of Sleepy Hollow”

Arrive in Sleepy Hollow this afternoon. First stop is a tour of Washington Irving’s Sunnyside, the birthplace of the “Headless Horseman.”  The restored home filled with the author’s possessions including his writing desk and books.

Your guide will tell you about Washington Irving’s storied past and how he came to be America’s first internationally famous author, best remembered now for “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and other short stories. His characters, from Brom Bones and Ichabod Crane to the mysterious Headless Horseman and the comic Rip Van Winkle, are icons in American culture.

Next, visit Lyndhurst Mansion, a majestic estate on the banks of the magnificent Hudson River. The mansion was designed in 1838 by architect Alexander Jackson Davis for William Paulding Jr. in a romantic Gothic Revival style. Davis designed interior finishes, furniture, and landscape, as well as the building.  In 1864 Davis doubled the size of the house for its second owner, George Merritt, who renamed it “Lyndenhurst” after the Linden trees growing on the property, which was later shortened to Lyndhurst.

Fans of the 1960s television series Dark Shadows may recall that Lyndhurst served as the Collinwood estate in the feature-length films House of Dark Shadows (1970) and Night of Dark Shadows (1971).

Check into your Tarrytown area hotel for an overnight stay.  Dinner is included this evening at a local restaurant.

After dinner, you head to the Old Dutch Church for a retelling of the “Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” Master storyteller Jonathan Kruk offers a dramatic performance of Washington Irving’s classic tale, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Featuring the Headless Horseman, Ichabod Crane, Brom Bones, and Katrina Van Tassel. (D)

Day 2 – Sleepy Hollow Cemetery – Philipsburg Manor – Depart for Home

After breakfast this morning, meet your local guide for a tour of Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, the spot identified in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow as the resting place of the headless horseman.  Washington Irving is laid to rest in the southern end of the cemetery in a plot overlooking the old church and its burying ground. Other famous individuals buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery include Andrew Carnegie, Walter Chrysler, Samuel Gompers, Elizabeth Arden, Leona Helmsley, Brooke Astor, and William Rockefeller.

Next, visit the Philipsburg Manor.  During the 17th and 18th centuries, the landholdings of the Philipse family encompassed 52,000 acres and included a complex that featured a mill, farm, and large stone manor house located on the banks of the Pocantico River. The complex served as the hub of the family’s business empire.  Today, it is a restored 18th century trading and milling living-history museum with a reconstructed water powered gristmill that grinds grain while heirloom varieties of plants are grown in a recreated slave garden. The site also includes an 18th century Dutch barn. Demonstrations in householding techniques of the period take place in a reconstructed tenant farmer’s house.

Following your tour, depart for home. (B)

Tour Map