Hudson Valley Travel Guide: How to Spend a Day in Beacon, New York

Beacon is a city located on the Hudson River in Dutchess County, New York in the Hudson Valley. It’s one of my favorite towns to visit. They have pretty good parking availability, and there is truly so many unique businesses and things to do in the area, especially on Main Street.

Consider this your travel guide when visiting. There are so many more shops, restaurants, and things to do in Beacon. This list is a handful of some of my personal favorite things to do, shops, restaurants, coffee, and unique offerings. I will continue to add to this when I visit (and approve) more places.

Things to Do

Museum:

Dia Beacon - This is the museum for the Dia Art Foundation's collection of art from the 1960s to the present.

They have special exhibitions, new commissions, public and education programs. It’s certainly for the minimalist art lover and doesn’t take very long to explore.

Food:

Main Street:

Kitchen & Coffee:

382 Main St, Beacon, NY 12508

100% gluten free vegetarian cafe and bakery, great coffee, and baked goods.

I always get the quiche, their crust is unreal. Everything I’ve ever had has been delicious.

Since I have a toddler, I also really appreciate that they have early store hours (7am - 7pm everyday)


Meyer’s Olde Dutch

184 Main St, Beacon, NY 12508

Burgers, chicken sandwiches, fries and craft cocktails. They have patio seating in the back. Some of the best burgers I’ve ever had, and love that the fries are hand cut and double fried.


Matcha Thomas

179 Main St, Beacon, NY 12508

A family owned fast-casual, wellness teahouse serving matcha lattes, boba bubble teas, tea and sweets.


HÅKAN Chocolatier

462 Main St, Beacon, NY, 12508

Finest artisanal chocolate made by Swedish Chef Håkan Mårtensson


Glazed Over Donuts

315 Main St, Beacon, NY, 12508

Fresh donuts with custom glazes and toppings. First you grab a clipboard, select your topics and glaze, then place your order, and watch your fresh custom donuts being made.

Here’s a whole video about Glazed Over Donuts shop & how to order.


Peaceful Provisions

383 Main St, Beacon, NY 12508

Artisan doughnut shop in Beacon, NY specializing in small-batch, scratch-made vegan yeast raised donuts.

Biggest pro-tip come early because once they sell out, they sell out. And they are so fresh, they will get hard the next day, so get as many as you’re going to eat in one day.


Big Mouth Coffee Roasters

387 Main St, Beacon, NY 12508

BMC is a specialty coffee roaster based in the Hudson Valley. They have a roster of coffees focusing on both top-quality producer-centric single origin and microlot coffees.

Great cafe and spot to grab a coffee.


Off Main Street:

The Beacon Daily -

Great for breakfast, their hand crafted english muffin sandwiches are my favorite. You can also get coffee, salads, snack, and beer. Let’s not forget their sandwiches. My personal favorites are the Banh Mi, Nashville Hot, and Fuster Cluck.


Shopping

Stella’s Fine Market

155 Main St, Beacon, NY, 12508

Stella’s is a limited ingredient grocer store. They are a NA (non-alcoholic) bottle shop, kitchenware, cookbooks & fine grocer gift boxes.

Truly my favorite spot to find new CPG food brands and specialty food products. They have a huge selection non-alcoholic beverages, fridge and freezer section, and a kids corner so your kids can play a bit while you shop.


Hunca Munca

145 Main St, Beacon, NY 12508

Toy store with hand made and sustainably made toys, art supplies, books and children’s clothing. For a children’s store this shop gives off cottagecore countryside aesthetics.


Utensils Kitchenware

143 Main St, Beacon, NY, 12508

A culinary store with unique high quality kitchen gear and gadgets. They carry a great mix of staples and harder to find items.

They have two locations - Beacon, NY & Poughkeepsie, NY


Witch Hazel

176 Main St, Beacon, NY 12508

An eco-conscious, clean beauty, cruelty-free apothecary and florist. From nail polish, lipstick, beauty tools, and skin care it’s a perfect spot for your self care or gift needs.

Owner Jill is so sweet, best customer service here. She teaches floral design, floral classes, and workshops like wreath making and pressed flower workshop. We hosted a pressed flower art workshop here, you can read that event recap here.


Unique Finds & Experiences

King + Curated

Custom and fine jewelry store. They can create one of a kind pieces of fine jewelry or reset and recreate pieced from heirloom jewelry.

I’ve been dying to try their permanent jewelry and will report back when I finally do!


Hudson Glass Company

162 Main St, Beacon, NY 12508

A glass studio casting functional and sculptural objects. They have handcrafted beautiful functional glass & jewelry. Showroom, glassblowing demo studio, and art gallery.

Glass classes include introduction to glass and how to make glass ornaments.


Beacon Farmers Market

Sundays 10am - 2pm

Year round - Rain or Shine

This farmers market offers everything from fruit, vegetable, and flower, baked goods, specialty foods, coffee, crafts, body/wellness, and meat, fish, and cheese.


Happy Exploring!

Leave your favorite Beacon spots in the comments so I can check them out!