Travel Tuesday: Cross Sound Ferry to the North Fork

A wine country weekend adventure awaits you, just an hour-and-a-half drive from Boston, followed by a quick and relaxing ferry ride on Cross Sound Ferry.  Our weekend trip to the North Fork of Long Island was our second time visiting this bucolic area of New York, and being able to spend more time on the North Fork made us fall even more in love with this special place.

We started our journey with a drive in the rain to New London. Even with a little traffic, we were at the ferry terminal and being warmly welcomed within about 90 minutes.

Once at the terminal, cars line up to board the ferry, and the process is simple and seamless. It’s also very quick; cars drive on one side and off the other at the final destination.

Vacation begins as soon as you board the Cross Sound Ferry. The views are beautiful, and the ferry is spacious and relaxing. The water was nice and calm on both of our crossings.

Because I was on a trip for the blog, we had the exciting opportunity to check out the wheelhouse. Again, the ferry staff was warm and welcoming; really they could not have been nicer or gone more out of their way to make us feel comfortable. It was great.

The views as you cross Long Island Sound are really lovely and include several lighthouses. None of them are inhabited anymore; instead their function is automated. Still, they are pretty to look at, and it is interesting to imagine them in days of yore. The maritime history and culture of both the New London area and the North Fork are interesting.

The ferry’s Cross Sound Deli offers a lot more than you would expect for a ferry, including some great sandwiches, burgers, paninis, and clam chowder, along with beer, wine, and cocktails. Beer and clam chowder just taste better at sea, and the Cross Sound Deli lunch experience just adds to the relaxation of the trip.

The ferry dock’s location in Orient Point means you arrive right at the threshold of Long Island’s North Fork wine region. The first winery is about a 10 minute drive from the dock, and they dot the landscape from there on. There are many Long Island wine posts to come; I hope you will enjoy learning about the wineries and wine as much as we enjoyed experiencing them.

The ferry from New London to North Fork is a really great option for a getaway that’s close to home and doesn’t involve flying. Whether you decide to stay in North Fork for it’s beautiful wineries, farms, gourmet food, and seacoast or hop on another ferry to the Hamptons, Long Island is a destination often overlooked but one that will become a quick favorite of anyone who visits.

Thank you to Cross Sound Ferry for hosting our weekend trip to North Fork. Our ferry crossing, winery visits, accommodations, and meals were provided on a complimentary basis. All opinions are my own.