Where to go antiquing in upstate New York 

One of the best upstate New York road trips will require checking the tires, filling the tank — and clearing out the trunk.

That’s because you’ll need space to bring home treasures from vintage stores, antique shops and flea markets, longtime draws to towns north of the city. With so many shopping destinations for all things old, the Hudson Valley, the Catskills and the Adirondacks are known as some of the best in the country for finding pieces with provenance.

Many objects come from the area’s bygone homes and estates, some in families for generations, says Dan Seldin, who grew up on Long Island and now co-owns an antique shop in Saugerties. "People from all over the country come to upstate New York to go antiquing, because there’s an exorbitant amount of places to shop," he says. Visitors like to combine browsing with other activities, taking day trips or spending weekends exploring local attractions and dining out, he adds.

Insiders also know that upstate is a collector’s mecca for a more practical reason. "It’s like a trade secret that you get a lot of value for your money," says Seldin.

Some shops are seasonal, operate on restricted hours, or are open by appointment only, so  call ahead before planning a journey.

Ready to explore? Gas up the car and follow our antique trail by region to discover some of the state’s best antique and vintage shops. 

Hudson Valley’s antique dealers attracted Bruce Mishell to the picturesque region, which soon became a reliable source for finding period pieces he could use for staging homes and decorating interiors as a New York City real estate agent and interior designer. He and his business partner, Maor Shefer, eventually opened Magic Hill in Hudson.

The colorful and carefully curated Magic Hill should be a midcentury modern highlight on an upstate crawl, with its high-end furniture imported from Denmark, Sweden and Finland that Mishell and Shefer are known for refinishing and refurbishing. The shop also sells branded home decor, lighting and art, with many designs deriving from Mishell’s paintings. "People come in and they think it's like a museum," says Mishell, 69, a Jericho native. There are several other shops to see on Warren Street, and make time for a peek at The Antique Warehouse’s nearby 45,000-square-foot showroom in a building containing an additional 100,000 square feet of antique and vintage merchandise at Center Space and at Door 15.

Mishell and Shefer expanded with a second location, Magic Hill Mercantile, at a three-story building in historic Kingston, a small city where estate jewelry, old books and home decor are like New York apples ripe for the picking. Magic Hill’s 8,000-square-foot space includes a coffee bar. While in town, check out Zaborski Emporium, Red Owl Collective, Milne Antiques and Design, and Kingston Consignments.

Hudson Valley is also an outdoor outpost for shopping. From April to December, stop at the Beacon Flea Market behind the Main Street Post Office. Vendors often carry items from cleanouts of homes and estates, and people can apply to hawk their stuff on yard sale days in June and September. Open for 55 years, the Stormville Airport Antique Show and Flea Market, which reopens in April, holds a beloved place in collectors’ hearts as being featured on HGTV’s "Flea Market Thrift."

Over in Hyde Park, the Hyde Park Antiques Center is in an 18th-century former carriage house. Its 9,500-square-foot showroom offers goods from 50 dealers, including record sellers.

WHILE YOU’RE THERE Eat at The Culinary Institute of America, hike the Mohonk Preserve, take a Saratoga Springs mineral bath, cruise the Hudson River and tour Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.

Dan Seldin’s 4,500-square-foot Saugerties Antique Center has everything from antiques for the garden to vintage clothing to fine jewelry. Seldin, 61, specializes in 18th-, 19th- and early 20th-century furniture from America and other places around the world. There are about 15 vendors in the space, including Comic Culture  and its vintage video games and toys, Pokémon cards and 3,000 old VHS tapes. Around the corner, Pop Vintage Antiques puts out everyday items, from glassware to bedding to small pieces of furniture, with an average price of $5 to $20 apiece.

Take a trip to Delhi, about 90 minutes away by car in a state university town where shoppers can find old treasures at Fisk Metal Farm and Antiques while enjoying its whimsical life-size sculptures. The town is also home to This And That, whose owner prices many of his antique and vintage wares, which are mixed in with new items, in the $20- to $50 range.

Located in a former pharmacy, Phoenicia Arts and Antiques contains nine vendors, including Griff’s Vintage Closet, which focuses on vintage concert T-shirts and sportswear.

The two-floor Tannersville Antiques and Artisan Center is packed with vintage and antique art, furniture and lots in between, including old cameras, instruments and more. Rustic Mountain is chock full of glassware, small tables, lamps and more in its 1,500-square-foot space. Take a detour to Hunter to visit Rust, Diamonds and More, where co-owner Bobby Abrahamsen says his antiques are "priced to sell." Across the street, Abrahamsen’s daughter, Marilla, runs a free shop, Phoenix Web, to support the community, including its artists. Her parents often donate antiques and vintage goods.

In Margaretville, Barbara Alyn Artwear Luxury and Mercantile stocks aged primitive country items, such as stools and tables with peeling paint. But Alyn, who grew up in Levittown and used to live in Huntington, also carries midcentury goods and vintage clothing.

When in the village, go to Margaretville Auxiliary Hospital Thrift Shop, which Alyn lauds for carrying "great vintage stuff," only open on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Nearby pit stops should include Nana’s Attic in Arkville, with its oddities and other old (and new) merchandise from its 1940s-era, clinker brick former garage, and Charming But Cheap and Possibly Antique in Fleischmanns, with its vintage items and antiques inside its eight-room farmhouse.

WHILE YOU’RE THERE Ski at Hunter Mountain Resort, catch a show at the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, visit the Woodstock Museum, get wet at Zoom Flume Water Park and see a Kaaterskill Falls waterfall.

The Antiques Market Place in Lake George is known for its Americana Adirondack-style antiques and vintage goods, says Lynne Constantine, one of the 20 dealers. Items such as fishing rods, reels and nets, wooden skis, snowshoes and backpacks are staples. Customers can’t get enough of the store’s nostalgic items, especially if they’re pennants, postcards and other souvenirs from Storytown U.S.A., a long-gone Lake George theme park. "They love the local memories they had a kid," she says.

Other stops in the Lake George area include Black Bass Antiques, which peddles camp, lodge and cabin gear, and Lakeview Antiques, where vintage vinyl rock ’n’ roll albums and Life magazines are top sellers. Both are in Bolton Landing.

In Queensbury, Glenwood Manor Antiques and More offers more than 30 rooms of merchandise in its three-story-high Georgian mansion and 200 Glen Antiques deals in Midcentury goods, especially costume jewelry.

In Warrensburg, the Warrensburg Garage Sale bills itself as the "World's Largest Garage Sale," taking place every fall with more than 1,000 sellers. Millers’ On Main reopens April 4 with its antique art, furniture and more.

Lonergan's Antiques in Ticonderoga concentrates on militaria, a nod to the town’s place in history during the Revolutionary and French and Indian wars. Located in an old chemist shop, Hidden Treasures contains a large selection of Adirondack items, such as wood and canvas canoes and repurposed items.

Hermit Hill Vintage in Saranac Lake deals with antique fine jewelry, including engagement rings, as well as art, furniture and collectibles. Check out the taxidermy at Bear Stump Antiques, which also carries furniture and other goods.

In Lake Placid, the same proprietor owns Non-Vintage Antiques and Twigs, selling antiques and reproductions.

WHILE YOU’RE THERE Visit the Lake Placid Olympic Museum, see a battle reenactment at Fort Ticonderoga, go to the "Star Trek: Original Series Set Tour," paddle Saranac Lake and sunbathe along Lake George.