With its five-storey circular tower, wraparound veranda and wonderfully over-the-top Queen Anne architecture, Wilderstein looks ready for a period drama. The Rhinebeck estate was home to Margaret “Daisy” Suckley, a close confidante of Franklin D. Roosevelt, and its rooms still brim with family heirlooms and Victorian curiosities. Outside, three miles of woodland trails, rustic gazebos and Hudson River views make for a rather lovely detour.

The house of Frederick and Louise Vanderbilt in the late 1890s, this National Historic Site is a Gilded Age triumph of marble, exotic wood panelling, French tapestries and rich velvet, looking out across manicured lawns towards the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains. Save time for a stroll through the formal gardens, where European-inspired landscaping gives the grounds their own grand entrance.

A little French bistro charm goes a long way at Le Petit Bistro, a Rhinebeck institution since 1986. Pull up a stool at the lilac-marble bar for raw oysters and a craft cocktail, then settle in for steak au poivre with mashed potatoes and a glass of something French from the wine list. Bon appétit!

Named after a line from Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises, {pretty to think so} occupies Rhinebeck’s historic Starr Institute library, where books once lined the shelves and now set the scene for dinner. The farm-to-table menu follows the Hudson Valley seasons, with dishes ranging from caviar-topped frites and oysters to crispy duck confit and market vegetables