Kinderhook is the name of both a village and a township in Columbia County in the state of New York.

The main square in downtown Kinderhook. The red brick building is the National Union Bank of Kinderhook.

Understand

The village of Kinderhook lies within the township of the same name. The village of Kinderhook is essentially a pretty town in a very rural area of New York State. Its center is small and well worth looking at, and some very nice private houses extend for some way to the south on Route 9, blending without a break into the village of Stuyvesant.

Get in

By plane

• Albany International Airport, 737 Albany-Shaker Rd, Albany. Close, but not very international.

• Stewart International Airport, 1180 First St, New Windsor, +1 845 564-2100. An alternative to Albany, but at present offers few direct flights to major destinations.

By car

US Route 9 traverses the village and — although mostly one lane each way — is the major north-south road in the area.

See

• Martin Van Buren National Historic Site, 1013 Old Post Rd (off Route 9H), ☏ +1 518 758-9689. Lindenwald is the retirement home of the 8th president. Van Buren was the first US president born after the nation's independence and to date the only Dutch-speaking president. House is open for guided tours daily from Memorial Day weekend through the end of October; Saturday and Sunday, November through the first week of December. Grounds open year round dawn to dusk. Visitor center open 9AM to 4:30PM on dates the mansion is open. 

• Columbia County Museum, 5 Albany Ave, ☏ +1 518 758-9265. Columbia County Historical Society holds and displays collections from the surrounding area, and it also has an extensive research library. 

Eat

• Pass the Thyme Cafe, 3 Albany Ave (One door down from the central crossroads.), ☏ +1 518 779-1702. Mon-Tue and Thu-Sun 7 am - 3 pm (closed Wednesdays). Solid informal deli/cafe. Good sandwiches, soup, tea and desserts. Service is very friendly, and the place has a real small-town feel; your server will take the time to talk to you and get to know you a little, and it's not unlikely that a friend of the cafe will come in just to say hi and share the news of the day without ordering a thing. Not worth a long detour, but if you are in the area, you are likely to enjoy the experience. Expect to pay about $15 for a good-sized lunch. 

Go next

• South: Hudson, about 20 minutes' drive to the south-southwest (but mostly on Route 9 South), has a beautiful, historical downtown area to walk through, centered on Warren St.
• North: Troy is a bit more than a half hour's drive north. Its center of town is generally regarded as the best-preserved 19th-century town center in the United States. The lovely city of Saratoga Springs is about a half hour's drive further north.
• East/Southeast: Berkshire Hills. The border with Massachusetts is less than an hour's drive to the east. The Litchfield Hills are about the same distance to the southeast.
• West/Southwest: Catskills. Catskill State Park is about 1 1/2 hours' drive.

Routes through Kinderhook

Albany ← Rensselaer ←

N  S

→ Hudson → New York City