What to do in Princeton, New Jersey for a weekend trip

Famous for ivy-covered walls and smartly dressed students, Princeton has much of what you’d expect from a town orbiting an Ivy League university. Aside from brightly decorated boba tea shops and dimly lit study cafes where students sit hunched over textbooks and laptops, the town has roots in colonial history and a posh small-town character that extends past the main strip.

Princeton was once the grounds for an instrumental battle in the Revolutionary War effort. In 1777, Gen. George Washington piloted a surprise attack that defeated the British, bringing the colonies closer to victory. The war ended in 1783; some 40 years before that, in 1746, Princeton University was founded, a school older than the country itself. Since then, the university and its surrounding town have played host to some of American history’s biggest names: Woodrow Wilson, John F. Kennedy, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Michelle Obama.

Further back on the timeline, the Lenni Lenape indigenous tribe inhabited the Princeton area before European settlers arrived in 1683, after which time, local indigenous populations were forced to join a reservation in Burlington County. Today, descendants of the Lenni Lenape still live in parts of New Jersey.

From the mid-Hudson Valley, you can make it to Princeton in just under three hours, and though it’s not technically a straight shot it comes pretty close. Whether you’re coming from Hudson or Newburgh, the best route takes I-87 south and merges onto 287 as you cross the New Jersey border. 

Arriving on Princeton’s Nassau Street you may find yourself inundated with choices for where to have breakfast or lunch. If waffles, pancakes and French toast are your kryptonite, duck into PJ’s Pancake House. For a quicker fix, Chez Alice offers croissants, bagels and egg sandwiches for the morning crowd and divine sandwiches and salads for those rolling into town at lunchtime. 

You could spend a lot of time exploring the shops on Nassau Street and the side streets to find even more small businesses. Grab a coffee for your stroll at Small World Coffee where it’s easy to make up stories about the afternoon crowd: grad students meeting with professors to discuss their theses, freshmen studying for their first big exam, Princeton hopefuls. 

Down one of those side streets (Spring), find Princeton Consignment for a mix of high fashion, streetwear and vintage items. Pour through stacks for hours at Princeton Record Exchange which has been selling vinyls, CDs, DVDs and tapes since 1980, and has been named one the country’s best record shops by Time, Rolling Stone and CNN. Wander into Labyrinth Books which serves as the university’s official bookstore and offers a wide selection of fiction, nonfiction and academic texts.

A walk through Princeton’s campus is beautiful with sights of old ivy-covered stone buildings, students hustling to class and professors conversing on sidewalks. Founded in 1746, before it was an Ivy League school, Princeton University was known as The College of New Jersey. It is the fourth-oldest college in the United States and many of its most famous buildings still stand today. Be sure to check out Nassau Hall, which withstood British occupation during the Revolutionary War.

Make your way to the Princeton University Art Museum, which has been collecting art since 1755 and has curated areas featuring around 15,000 prints and drawings, European, Asian and African art collections, photography, and modern and contemporary works.

Just off campus is the Morven Museum and Gardens, an 18th-century home built for Richard Stockton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. After Stockton’s death, Morven continued to serve as the stately residence of five New Jersey governors. Today, the museum includes a permanent exhibition telling the story of the property and those who lived there. Though the home was dominated by patriarchs, exhibitions at Morven also bring attention to the lives of women, children and enslaved people who lived and worked on the property. 

Grab an early dinner at a Princeton classic The Dinky Bar and Kitchen, which offers an array of specialty menu items from various cultural cuisines, including tacos, sushi and traditional American grub. For dessert, head over to Halo Pub, a local ice cream joint that has been slinging scoops for 31 years and looks more like a pub from colonial times than an ice cream shop.

Start your day back on Nassau Street at Jammin’ Crepes, where you can indulge your sweet or savory tooth with Nutella-filled crepes or a bacon, egg and cheese on a crepe. Fuel up and prepare for a U.S. history lesson.

History fanatics should pay a visit to the Princeton Battlefield State Park where American troops surprised a British encampment on Jan. 3, 1777. At the park, visitors can walk the battlefield and see the Clarke House, a home built in 1772 on land tended by a Quaker farming family. Visitors are also welcome to take a walk around the property or cross-country ski in the winter months. 

Nearby are the Institute Woods, a set of hiking trails that encompass 589 acres of woods, wetlands and farmland maintained by the Institute for Advanced Study. Another great spot for a stroll is Mount Rose Preserve, which has more meadows, fewer wetlands, and 4 miles of trails where visitors can walk, bike and bird-watch. 

After working up an appetite, grab a sandwich at D’Angelo Market back in town, a casual Italian specialty store, butcher and deli with a wide selection of sandwiches, wraps, pasta and a wall of imports where you can stock up for your next Italian dinner.

Families will enjoy an afternoon at Terhune Orchards, just a short drive out of the center of town. Open year-round, the orchard offers Family Fun Weekends with farm animals, live music, apple picking, and a winery for the adults. You can also enjoy a seasonal selection of produce, fresh-pressed apple cider and baked goods including cider donuts, chocolate chip cookies, pies and scones.

It’s dinnertime and after a casual lunch, a taste of something fancier is appropriate. Try Agricola, where a seasonal menu keeps the fare fresh and surprising while remaining sustainable and sourced from local farmers and purveyors. Enjoy a selection that spans from jerk shrimp tacos to roasted branzino.

Boutique hotel The Peacock Inn offers a luxury stay in historical settings. This Colonial-style mansion-turned-hotel dates to the 18th century and its present location on Bayard Lane was established in 1875. Throughout its history, the inn has hosted professors, politicians, actors and even Albert Einstein. Today it boasts a fine dining restaurant, 16 comfortable rooms, and tea in the garden between 2-4 p.m. Rooms start at $291 per night in the fall.

For a slightly more affordable option, check in at The Westin Princeton at Forrestal Village. Complete with a pool, gym, restaurant and bar, the property has a variety of sleekly styled rooms and common spaces where you can relax and plan your stay. The hotel is also pet-friendly and rates start at $166 per night.

The Nassau Inn located at 10 Palmer Square just steps off Nassau Street has 157 rooms and 31 suites. Rooms are outfitted with chic and timeless designs and furniture and offer views of the surrounding town. Rooms start at $269 per night. Dine in-house at the Yankee Doodle Tap Room, a gastropub serving a breakfast buffet, along with lunch, dinner and room service.