Catskills are cool!

# The Catskills Are Cool This Summer (And We Don't Just Mean the Weather)

Listen up, city dwellers: while you're melting into subway grates and paying $18 for mediocre cocktails, there's a two-hour escape route that doesn't involve selling your soul to the Hamptons crowd. The Catskills are having their main character moment this summer, and honestly? It's about damn time.

## Your AC Died? The Mountains Didn't

Sure, your studio apartment feels like a pizza oven, but up here in the Catskills, Mother Nature provides the ultimate climate control. We're talking 70-degree days when the city is pushing triple digits, swimming holes that actually feel refreshing (not like lukewarm soup), and evenings cool enough to wear that vintage flannel you bought ironically but now love unironically.

The best part? No one's judging your sweat stains because everyone looks effortlessly disheveled in that outdoorsy-chic way that costs $200 at REI but happens naturally when you're not dodging taxi fumes.

## Food Scene That Doesn't Require a Second Mortgage

Remember when you could eat out without checking your bank balance first? The Catskills remember too. We've got farm-to-table spots that actually know the farmer's name (not just their Instagram handle), breweries where the beer costs less than your morning latte, and diners that serve breakfast all day because they understand your life choices.

Phoenix Coffee in Woodstock still makes the kind of coffee that inspired your quarter-life crisis to become a writer. The Phoenicia Diner serves pie that will make you question every dessert decision you've made in the past five years. And yes, there are places with actual parking. Revolutionary concept, we know.

## Adventures That Inspire

Your weekend doesn't have to cost more than your rent. Hiking Kaaterskill Falls is free (revolutionary!), and the Instagram photos will make your friends think you've gotten your life together. Tubing down the Esopus Creek costs less than surge-pricing an Uber to Brooklyn, and the hangover from skinny-dipping under the stars beats the one from $20 martinis.

Want to feel fancy? The resorts up here offer day passes that cost less than bottle service at that rooftop bar you pretend to like. You can float in an actual infinity pool while pretending you're not calculating how many freelance articles you need to write to afford your next vacation.

## Culture Without the Attitude

The Catskills invented the whole "Brooklyn before it was cool" vibe, except everyone's genuinely friendly instead of performatively aloof. Art galleries where you can actually afford the pieces, music venues where you can hear the band without permanent hearing damage, and farmers markets where the vendors remember your name (and your usual order of three different cheeses you can't pronounce).

The Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival happens right in your backyard, offering culture that doesn't require explaining to your parents why you spent $150 to sit in the nosebleeds. Plus, outdoor theater means you can sneak in wine without feeling like a criminal.

## Where Remote Work Actually Works

Your "work from anywhere" job finally makes sense when anywhere has reliable WiFi and costs half what your current neighborhood does. Co-working spaces with mountain views, coffee shops that don't side-eye you for camping out with your laptop, and rental houses with actual home offices instead of converted closets.

The commute to your living room has never been more scenic, and your Zoom background is finally authentic instead of a stock photo of a bookshelf you don't own.

## The Real Talk

Look, the Catskills aren't trying to be the next Tulum or Montauk. They're not interested in your influencer friends or your need for validation through overpriced experiences. They're just here, being consistently beautiful, affordable, and unpretentious while the rest of the world loses its mind.

This summer, while everyone else is fighting for a sliver of overpriced beach or pretending they enjoy being packed into rooftop bars like sardines, you could be here. Floating in a swimming hole with a beer that costs $4, watching the sunset paint the mountains pink, and remembering what it feels like to breathe air that doesn't taste like exhaust fumes.

The Catskills are cool this summer. The question is: are you cool enough for the Catskills?

*Ready to escape? Check out our [rental listings] and [local guides] to plan your summer salvation.*