<p>I know he town of new paltz has a cute little downtown area within walking distance, but I feel like it's just hippie shops and some restaurants. Is there really that much to do and do kids go to town often? </p>
<p>There are a couple of shops that sell tye-dyed (tie-die?) tee shirts if that’s what you mean by hippie shops. Let’s see, there’s a fortune teller (maybe two) a place or two where I’m sure you could get a tattoo and/or piercing and being as it is a college town, probably at least one head-shop so I suppose it could be hippie-ish. Still, it’s pretty much the same you’ll find in any town that contains a college or university. There is a movie theater, certainly not a huge Cineplex, it’s a small town theater but they do show first run movies and they put real butter on the popcorn (that’s a selling point, trust me). An awesome indoor climbing wall is within walking distance as well as martial arts and yoga studios, there’s an excellent ballet school that is decidedly not “po-dunk” and many places to get a good haircut. There are mainstream bars and restaurants, some of them have live music if that’s your thing and some of the restaurants are quite good in fact. It isn’t a wild town generally speaking, but it can be fun. I think NP students take their studies more seriously than a lot of people might imagine and the school has so many clubs, excursions and activities that you probably wouldn’t be bored too often. You can run into that “there’s nothing to do” mindset anywhere even in NYC, Boston, Seattle, L.A. or anywhere after you’ve been there awhile, have no money and your imagination has run dry (I know this from personal experience). Oh yeah, there’s also an old Huguenot settlement nearby that is fascinating if you’re into that sort of thing and I think it includes an archeological dig of some sort.
Hope this helps and isn’t too much information. D is starting next fall so we have been visiting a few times just to see what the town is like because we basically had the same questions as you. We live about an hour’s drive away so it’s not a big deal to visit and they have an amazing cupcake shop which makes the drive totally worth it!</p>
<p>Hey! I live across the river from New Paltz and you should keep in mind the crazy amount of things within a 20 minute ride, especially if you like history. The town of poughkeepsie has a nice little music venue called The Chance. Easy access to Metro North from New Paltz too so the city is just 1.5 hrs away.</p>
<p>New paltz is a great little town! It’s located at the foot of the shawanagunk mountains, so it has several great places for rock climbing, rock scrambling, and hiking, if that’s your kind of thing! The infamous Lemon Squeeze hike is both terrifying and exhilarating at the same time. I also believe there is a trapeze place nearby. Plus, the Mohonk Mountain House is always a cool place to visit. There are equestrian opportunities nearby as well, and plenty of berry and apply picking sites come summer and fall. This may not be in the immediate town but I’m pretty sure it’s all within 20 minutes or so. Both of my parents attended New Paltz, and although I won’t be applying due to my intended major, I spend at least 7 hours a week there during the school year because of my IEA team. It truly is probably my favorite town in the Hudson valley! </p>