Montauk & the Hamptons Day Trip from New York
The end of Long Island: a lighthouse, a working harbour and Atlantic beach
A one-day drive from New York to Montauk & the Hamptons — 236 mi round trip, about 6h 54m behind the wheel, with stops, timings and where to eat already worked out.
The end of Long Island: a lighthouse, a working harbour and Atlantic beach. It's a day out of New York: 236 mi of driving in total, about 6h 54m behind the wheel, and the rest of the day on your feet.
The plan below is paced so the driving doesn't eat the day — leave after breakfast, be back for the evening. Every stop can be swapped for one of three alternatives if it isn't your kind of thing.
Montauk Point Lighthouse Museum
The oldest lighthouse in New York State, perched on dramatic bluffs at the island's easternmost tip.
💡 Climb the tower early before tour buses arrive; parking lot fills by midday in summer.
Montauk Point State Park, 2000 Montauk Hwy, Montauk
Cobble Fish
A legendary roadside lobster shack that's been a Montauk institution since the 1960s.
💡 Order at the counter and eat outside at picnic tables.
89 South St Pier 16, New York
Montauk Point State Park
Trails through wind-swept dunes and coastal maritime forest surrounding the lighthouse.
2000 Old Montauk Hwy, Montauk
Ditch Plains Beach
Iconic surf beach with great views back toward the Montauk headlands.
💡 Best light for photos is late afternoon; limited parking, arrive before 3pm.
18 Ditch Plains Rd, Montauk
- Round trip to Montauk and back is roughly 380 km total — doable in one long day but start early (by 7am)
- Fill up on gas before leaving the city; stations thin out past Riverhead
- No low-emission zone concerns, but expect heavy tolls on the way back through Queens
- Montauk gets crowded on summer weekends — a weekday visit means much lighter traffic both ways
- Camp Hero State Park+3 mi
Former military base turned park with hiking trails, WWII bunkers, and an eerie abandoned radar tower.
- Sag Harbor+9 mi
Charming old whaling village with a walkable historic main street, worth a coffee stop on the way out.
- Montauk Point Bike Path / Shadmoor State Park+2 mi
Quieter clifftop nature preserve with ocean views, far less crowded than the lighthouse itself.
Make this trip your own
Plan your own road trip →This route was drafted with AI. Please double-check roads, opening hours and local conditions before you go.
Made with Roadanza
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Work it out for this route →Questions, answered
- Is it worth renting a car for a day trip from NYC?
- For the Hudson Valley towns on the Metro-North line, no — the train is easier and you skip parking. For the Catskills, the Delaware Water Gap, Litchfield County or the beaches, yes: those need a car, and a rental from an outer-borough branch usually costs less than one in Manhattan.
- What's the closest good day trip from New York?
- Cold Spring and Beacon, about an hour north — a walkable main street, a mountain trail and a major contemporary art museum within a few miles of each other. Both are on the train line, which is what makes them the easy answer.
- When should I leave the city to avoid traffic?
- Before eight in the morning or after ten, and never on a Friday afternoon in summer — the eastbound crawl toward Long Island and the northbound one toward the Catskills both start early. Coming back, aim to be past the bridges before four on a Sunday.
- How do bridge and tunnel tolls work?
- They're cashless: cameras read your plate or an E-ZPass transponder. Rental companies pass the toll on with an administration fee per day of use, which adds up — ask at the desk, and consider bringing your own transponder if you have one.
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