Grew up in Skaneateles. Finding a good house to rent on the lake is hard and not cheap unless you go many miles down the lake where the frontage is steep. Watch for that. The list above is excellent. Krebs is awesome but my favorite is Rosalee's.

Ton of wineries here. Warning - it can be quite cool at night in August. We camped and were very surprised. Make a trip to corning museum.

Anonymous wrote:If you do Skaneateles, check out the following:

Restaurants:

*Doug's for cheap fish fry
*Skaneateles bakery for fresh donuts and other pasteries
*Kreb's and Mirbeau for fine dining
*Sherwood, Bluewater Grill, or Joe's Pasta Garage for more casual

Winery:

*Anyela's on West Lake Road is great

Other:

*Mid-Lakes Navigation runs a sightseeing and dinner boat cruise on the lake. Definitely worth doing one during your stay.
*The marina offers pontoon and other boat rentals

I'm the PP who lives near Canandaigua Lake. This is a great list of places to go. I'm not exactly a world traveler, but I do get around. Mirbeau is the most romantic place I've ever been to. In the summer you can eat dinner on their small, intimate, deck overlooking their large coy pond. It feels,like you are sitting in a Monet painting (his Water Lilly painting with the bridge). Absolutely incredibly beautiful. Google it.
Also, Sherwood Inn in the village and right across from the lake is my most favorite place in NYS for lunch.
You can't go wrong with a trip to Skaneateles. Not cheap but worth it.

If you do Skaneateles, check out the following:

Restaurants:

*Doug's for cheap fish fry
*Skaneateles bakery for fresh donuts and other pasteries
*Kreb's and Mirbeau for fine dining
*Sherwood, Bluewater Grill, or Joe's Pasta Garage for more casual

Winery:

*Anyela's on West Lake Road is great

Other:

*Mid-Lakes Navigation runs a sightseeing and dinner boat cruise on the lake. Definitely worth doing one during your stay.
*The marina offers pontoon and other boat rentals

Anonymous wrote:We love Skanteatales, both the town and the lake. We stay once a year on our way North to visit family.

Skanteatales lake is also a glacier-formed lakes with steep sides and a very small watershed. Because of this there is basically no runoff, especially agricultural runoff, making it one of the cleanest fresh water lakes in the country. A nice bonus if your kids will be swimming.

Anonymous wrote:I live near Canandaigua and belong to a golf club on the lake. It's beautiful.
I go to a spa (Mirbeau) on Skaneatlas Lake a couple times a year and that is also a very beautiful lake.
Imo, those are the 2 nicest lakes. Keuka is a close 3rd. The others are also very nice, but those 3 are really special. If I had to pick one I think it would Skaneateles. There are multiple nice restaurants there, a very nice tour boat that you can get out on, shopping and an old world charm that is hard to beat.
Good luck on finding a house to rent, they tend to go quickly.
Just thought of something, check out Bristol Harbour Resort on Canandaigua Lake. It's a nice resort with a very good golf course and hotel. You can probably get rooms there for as many or as few nights as you like. If it's just adults look into Mirbeau.

I'm the PP that grew up in the area and I've also heard amazing things about Mirbeau.

I live near Canandaigua and belong to a golf club on the lake. It's beautiful.
I go to a spa (Mirbeau) on Skaneatlas Lake a couple times a year and that is also a very beautiful lake.
Imo, those are the 2 nicest lakes. Keuka is a close 3rd. The others are also very nice, but those 3 are really special. If I had to pick one I think it would Skaneateles. There are multiple nice restaurants there, a very nice tour boat that you can get out on, shopping and an old world charm that is hard to beat.
Good luck on finding a house to rent, they tend to go quickly.
Just thought of something, check out Bristol Harbour Resort on Canandaigua Lake. It's a nice resort with a very good golf course and hotel. You can probably get rooms there for as many or as few nights as you like. If it's just adults look into Mirbeau.

We love Skanteatales, both the town and the lake. We stay once a year on our way North to visit family.

It is great!

Most houses rent by the week, though.

We stayed on Seneca lake. Took a day trip to ithica for the town and Moosewood. A children's museum is further north. A bluberry farm in Penn yan that was crazy cheap and good. There's a cheese trail and ice cream trail in addition to the wine.

Great trip!

beautiful area. have a great time!

Honestly, outside of the cities that are all mostly at the northern and southern tips of the lakes (so Canandaigua at the northern end of Canandaigua Lake, Geneva at the northern end of Seneca Lake, Ithaca at the southern end of Cayuga, etc) it's all pretty quiet and relaxing. Even in those places, none of those are huge busy cities. Canandaigua Lake is probably the easiest to get to (take 15N to the southern tier expy to 390 then about 15 minutes off 390) but none of them would be hard to get to really. Skaneateles has a reputation as the rich peoples lake but I have no idea how true that is/is not.

There is going to be boating/jet skiing activity on all of the lakes but it's not normally enough to disturb unless you're looking for more of a silent, On Walden Pond kind of experience which you aren't going to get on any of the Finger Lakes. It's relaxing but not remote, if you know what I mean.

Yea!! Thanks! Now my search for a place can properly begin. Any thoughts on the most relaxing areas to look into or any places that get crowded to avoid(we want relaxation and peace and quiet)?

I grew up in the Finger Lakes area and it is beautiful that time of year. Mosquitos could be a problem but if you're right on the lake, you're likely to have a good breeze most of the time which will keep them down. Go for it!

Never been and we are thinking of renting a house on a lake of 5 days or so in late August. Please give advice. Also, is it mosquito land there that time of year? Please tell me if this is the wrong time of year to visit and I will look elsewhere if so.