48 Hours on the North Fork, Long Island | The Perfect Weekend Itinerary

You guys…why have I never been to the North Fork of Long Island before??? I lived in Long Island for 4 years during college, but never really ventured out that far east. And when I did it was always to the Hamptons or Montauk (the “south fork” of Long Island). But not going to lie…after spending just over 48 hours on the North Fork, I’m not sure I’ll EVER go back to the Hamptons.

Not familiar with the North Fork? Here’s a little bit of information! The North Fork is a 30-mile long peninsula in the northeast part of Long Island, NY about 75 miles east of Manhattan. It’s bordered on the north by the Long Island Sound and the south by the Great Peconic Bay, Little Peconic Bay and Gardiners Bay. The North Fork is know for it’s 30+ vineyards, multi-generational family farms and farmstands.

Simone‘s husband’s family owns a house on the North Fork as she always talks so much about how much she loves it. So when The Harvest Inn invited us to visit for a few days I couldn’t wait for her to show me around and take me to all her favorite places – much like how I did when we visited The Sagamore Resort a few weeks prior!

You guys love the day by day itineraries when I visit new places. So that’s how I broke down this trip too! 48 Hours on the North Fork was a perfect amount of time. But I think 3 days would be even better so you have more time to relax. We crammed in a lot of stuff in 2 days for the sake of doing it all. But spacing it out would be ideal!

48 Hours on the North Fork, Long Island

Day 1

We were lucky enough to drive out the night prior and stay at Simone’s in-laws’ house. But you can easily just start your first day on the North Fork in the morning with late breakfast at The Country Corner Cafe in Southold for one of the BEST breakfasts! We ordered omelettes and pancakes to share and they were amazing. I can guarantee anything you order here will be delicious.

After breakfast we headed to Lavender by the Bay in East Marion (they also have another location more west in Calverton). This was a last minute addition to our itinerary because we thought the lavender was going to be harvested by the time we were visiting, but we ended up making it there on the last day! Depending on when you visit the North Fork you might not be able to visit the actual fields, but you can check their blog post about the best times to visit, and can still visit the farm shop.

Next, we visited our first WINERY – Bridge Lane Wine.

As I mentioned above the North Fork is know for it’s wineries and while I’d LOVE to visit all of them (eventually) we have to choose just a few for this short trip. Bridge Lane Wine has the cutest little outdoor patio with rainbow picnic tables and DELICIOUS wine! We both had tastings of all their wines, but my favorites are the White Merlot, Bubbles and Rosé. You can also bring food to the tasting with you, but on Sundays they have North Fork Doughnut Co. doughnuts available and they are AMAZING. Definitely stop by their stand alone store if you don’t make it to Bridge Lane on a Sunday.

Then we checked into The Harvest Inn Bed & Breakfast

And you guys…HOW have I never stayed at a bed & breakfast before??? I don’t know how to describe it, but the second that we pulled up to The Harvest Inn I felt at home. The wrap around porch and the Adirondack chairs on the lawn just invite you in. The attention to detail when it comes to decor in each room was like no other. Every single room was different and all the common areas were so inviting and beautifully decorated. The owners, Stacey and Steve, were the most amazing hosts ever and took the time to get to know us, made sure our stay was perfect and even called some of the restaurants we had reservations at to let them know we were coming!

I stayed in the Sunset Room which was huge by hotel standards and featured a king bed, bathroom with both a shower & tub, desk, vineyard & koi pond views and so much more and of course was beautifully decorated.

After we finished getting settled into our rooms and exploring the property, Stacey, who is not only one of the owners, but it also a trained chef prepared a charcuterie plate paired with wine from Pindar Vineyards which is right across the street from the Inn to enjoy before dinner.

We were lucky enough to grab a reservation at The North Fork Table in Southold, a farm to table American Restaurant re-opened by Michelin-starred Chef John Fraser.

It books up super fast so I definitely recommend making a reservation there as soon as you can. The decor of the restaurant was STUNNING and the food was better than I could’ve imagined. Steve, one of the owners of The Harvest Inn, called the manager and let him know one of his guests was coming to dine so he was nice enough to come over and introduce himself to us bring us 2 Duck Tot & Caviar Bites (which might have been the best thing I’ve EVER eaten) and a cocktail tasting.

After that we ordered Sweet Maize Margaritas to drink along with Broiled Little Neck Clams, Broken Beans (LIFE CHANGING), Shinnecock Scallops Plancha and Roasted Long Island Duck Breast. Everything was amazing as was our waiter who walked us through the menu and make suggestions and was just overall one of the best waiters I’ve ever had.

Day 2:

Since The Harvest Inn is a Bed & Breakfast every morning Stacey prepares a 2-3 course breakfast that is LIFECHANGING!! She changes it up every morning depending on the season, but I promise you you won’t be disappointed. When you check in she has you fill out a form asking what time you’d like your breakfast ready each day along with preferences on coffee, juice and if you have any dietary restrictions.

The first day we had fresh croissants with CAKE BATTER BUTTER, Red Fruit Bowls and a Duck Egg and Avocado Toast & Prosciutto, Lavender Honey & Ricotta Toast. Might have been in the top 5 breakfasts I’ve EVER had.

After breakfast we headed over to North Fork Sunflower Maze in Mattituck. It gets really hot in the sunflower fields so I highly recommend going in the morning to avoid it being too hot and you’ll get better photos earlier in the day too!

After the Sunflower field we headed over to Wickham’s Fruit Farm to pick up some fruit and snacks.

When we got there we saw that there was blueberry and raspberry picking so we ended up being able to do that! Depending on the time of year you can pick Peaches, Berries, Cherries, Apples or Pumpkins!

Once we finished berry picking, we headed over to the little town center of Love Lane. We ate lunch at Love Lane Kitchen – highly recommend the Lobster Roll & Chicken Caesar Salad. After lunch we stopped in Love Lane Sweet Shop for some chocolates.

We headed back to The Harvest Inn to relax and shot some content around the property then headed over Halyard Restaurant for dinner. Located at the Sound View Hotel, the Halyard is one of the more popular North Fork restaurants because of it’s view of the Long Island sound. We weren’t able to snag a table on the patio, but we did manage to book our reservation around sunset and the view from inside didn’t disappoint. Order Oysters, Summer Truffle Tartine, Wild Atlantic Halibut & the Summer Truffle and Fresh Cavatelli Pasta. AND don’t pass on the Chocolate Chip Cookies for Dessert, they’re enormous and not to be missed.

The sun was just finishing setting so we walked on the beach at the Sound View to watch it set.

Day 3:

We woke up bright and early to head over to 67 Steps Beach, THE most picturesque and well known beach on the North Fork. We went there solely because we NEEDED to see it, but it’s not the beach you want to spend the day at. The shore is made of small pebbles and rocks and you can’t swim in the water there so I recommend heading to one of the many other beaches on the North Fork if you’re looking for a relaxing day at the beach. 67 Steps Beach is great to walk on (with sneakers) and for a photo opp!

After spending a few hours at the beach we headed back for our last breakfast at The Harvest Inn. This morning Stacey prepared Raspberry, Fig and Chocolate Chip Muffins with Cake Batter Butter, Yogurt Parfaits topped with Caramelized Pecans and Bananas AND Stuffed Croissants with Fresh Whipped Cream and Strawberries. Let me tell you…leaving the breakfasts at the Harvest Inn was one of the hardest things to do.

After we checked out we headed to Kontokosta Winery.

And if you visit any winery while spending 48 hours on the North Fork (or ANY about of hours), have it be this one for the views alone! Kontokosta is a waterfront winery that overlooks the Long Island Sound and I’m not really sure it gets better than that! The tasting room is beautiful and filled with plenty of tables as are the 2 patios on each side of it. There are also picnic tables scattered off over the lawn and of course right over looking the coast! They do require reservations though so make sure you book in advance with them.

Then we headed over to the village of Greenport to do a little shopping and for one last meal before we got on the road back to Westchester! I highly recommend popping into The Times Vintage, American Beech and The Weathered Barn. Then have lunch at First and South and order the Shishito Peppers, Really Good Burger & Kale Caesar Salad.

I knew I was going to like the North Fork, but honestly I wasn’t expecting to love it this much! here are just a few of the reasons why I did.

• WINERIES GALORE! No explanation needed!
• There’s barely any traffic while you’re there and you can easily and quickly get from Laurel to Greenport. AND it doesn’t take 5 hours to get there from Westchester (like it takes sometimes to get to the Hamptons)
• You can get into most (if not all) restaurants without having to make a reservation a month in advance.
• The beaches are beyond beautiful and not crowded!

Places we didn’t get a chance to visit but were highly recommended:

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Location: North Fork, Long Island

Thank you The Harvest Inn & Bridge Lane Wine for hosting us. All opinions are my own, thanks so much for supporting companies that make this blog possible.