Summer is the season to be adventurous. So, in anticipation of warm, thunderstorm-free weeks ahead, we called on Brooklyn-based travel guru Alison Lowenstein, author of “City Weekends: The Greatest Escapes and Weekend Getaways in and Around NYC,” to find out her hot list for where to skip town—even just a borough away—without a car, naturally.
In the City:
1. Take the Staten Island Ferry and go to Snug Harbor to the Staten Island Children’s Museum followed by a stroll through the stunning botanical gardens.
2. Stand in Louis Armstrong’s old office and listen to the tapes of his voice and the conversations he had in his home, which is now a museum in Corona, NY.
3. Get a meal and see a floor show at Café Tatiana Restaurant on the Brighton Beach Boardwalk.
4. Ice skate in the middle of July in an old airport hanger at Aviator Sports Complex at Floyd Bennett Field.
5. Walk the trail while bird watching at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in Queens.
Outside the city
6. Spend the night at a Bed & Breakfast in Cold Spring, NY and explore this funky town.
7. Head to Philly to listen to Steve Buscemi’s audio tour while walking around the creepy Eastern State Penitentiary. Afterward, go to the Mutter Museum to see John Wilkes Booth’s thorax, and then spend the night at a center city hotel.
8. Hop on the bus from Port Authority to Mitsuwa Marketplace in NJ. Just three dollars to be transported to another culture.
9. Soak in the rays on Long Beach, LI and have a slice of Gino’s Pizza on the way home.
10. Spend the day eating some seafood and shopping in Greenport, NY.
How to get there: All of Lowenstein’s destinations are easily accessible by public transportation. Refer to the map below for specific locations.
View in a larger map
Sarah Knapp is a Brooklyn based entrepreneur whose love for the outdoors and community building led her to the October 2013 creation of OutdoorFest. She has a BA in History, is a Wilderness First Responder and a NY state hiking, camp and boating guide. Her proudest achievement to date is reading the Aeneid in Latin. 
Allison was one of our first top writers and Chief Editor but is no longer working with offMetro. Allison is a native New Yorker, who has lived in Rome, Tuscany, Melbourne, Toronto and Los Angeles. She frequently contributed travel pieces to Family Travel Forum, using her own children as guinea pigs as they travel the globe. She never missed a chance to sample local delicacies, as her love for travel goes hand-in-hand with her love for food and wine. 
Josh Laskin is a freelance travel writer and photographer based in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. When he is not at work or on the road, you can find him in the mountains snowboarding, climbing, hiking, fly fishing, mountain biking, and eating bagel bites.
Annie is a travel writer, environmentalist, and surfer based in Venice, CA. She heads up our West Coast team, keeps our grammatical errors in check, and makes sure our California writers always have a plan for their next adventure. Follow Annie’s travels @annelisemcb.
Carly Pifer is a freelance writer who has been known to follow whims inspired by romantic movie scenes or colorful street style shots to India, Japan, Tunisia and Argentina. After stints living in Seoul, Boston, Paris and Los Angeles, writing and searching for something intangible, she landed somewhat steadily in Brooklyn and has begun to find inspiration in her more immediate surroundings. 
Kate E. O’Hara is a New York based freelance writer and photographer who loves all things food—especially the people who make it and market it. Her writing aims to capture the essence of the food experience; the stories that go well beyond a plate of ingredients. In addition to her love of food, Kate is also known to have a hankering for red wine and craft beer. You can also find Kate on Instagram