🌿 RelaxedLong weekend · from Buffalo, NY
Ellicottville — Resort Village, Mountain Spa & the Enchanted Hills
Tucked into the Enchanted Mountains of the southern tier, Ellicottville is western New York's four-season resort village — a walkable little town of boutiques and bistros wrapped around the slopes of Holiday Valley, as relaxed in summer and autumn as it is in ski season. Three unhurried days here are built around the resort and its spa. Day one settles into the village and the resort, with an afternoon at the mountainside spa and pool. Day two mixes gentle mountain adventure at the Sky High treetop park with tastings at the local wineries. Day three winds down at the Nannen Arboretum and along the celebrated fall-foliage drives before the easy run home. The pace throughout is soft: a spa, a village stroll, a glass of wine, and the wooded hills all around.
Day 1 — The resort village, the mountain spa & Holiday ValleyDay 2 — The Sky High Aerial Park & the Ellicottville wineriesDay 3 — The Nannen Arboretum & the fall-foliage drives
Day 1 — Ellicottville, NY
Day 1 — Ellicottville, NY
🚗 1 hr 5 min driving📍 4 stops
🌅
Morning
🚗
Drive
Buffalo, NY → Ellicottville, NY
1 hr 5 min8:00 AM → 9:05 AM
The Village of Ellicottville
Ellicottville — 'EVL' to regulars — is a compact, walkable resort village at the foot of Holiday Valley, its handful of streets lined with boutiques, galleries, coffee shops, and a famously good crop of bars and bistros. Framed by wooded mountains, it has the easy, alpine-flavored feel of a European ski town scaled down to a couple of blocks. The morning is for settling in on foot: coffee on a café porch, a slow wander of the shops, and a first look at the slopes rising green above the town. Unhurried and welcoming, it sets the relaxed tone for the whole stay.
9:05 AM📍 See location
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Lunch
🍽️ Lunch10:05 AM
The Silver Fox Steakhouse, Ellicottville
The village punches well above its size for food, and a relaxed lunch at one of its well-loved bistros is part of the pleasure of Ellicottville. Comfortable dining rooms and patios serve steaks, fresh plates, and hearty resort fare alongside regional wines and craft beer, all at an easy, unhurried pace. It makes a natural midday anchor between a morning in the village and an afternoon at the spa. Settle in, take your time, and enjoy the après-ski atmosphere that lingers year-round.
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Afternoon
The Spa at Holiday Valley Resort
★ 4.4Holiday Valley's mountainside lodge is home to a full-service spa and a heated pool and hot tub complex set against the wooded slopes — the relaxation centerpiece of the trip. An afternoon here is for slowing down completely: a massage or facial, time in the sauna and steam room, and a long soak in the outdoor hot tub looking up at the ski runs. The resort's Tamarack Club and Inn spa facilities are open to guests through every season. Book a treatment in advance, then let the afternoon dissolve into warm water and mountain air. It is the softest, most restorative stretch of the three days.
12:00 PM📍 See location
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Evening
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The Holiday Valley Tamarack Club / Ellicottville Resort Lodging
The Holiday Valley resort offers slopeside lodging at the Tamarack Club, a full-service mountain hotel with suites, an indoor-outdoor pool, and the spa on site, along with the Inn at Holiday Valley just below the village. Rooms here put the spa, the pool, and the resort restaurants at your door and the walkable village a short stroll or shuttle away — ideal for a relaxation-first stay. Book a slopeside room so the evenings can be spent in the hot tub or by the fire without driving. Reserve ahead in peak seasons, when the resort fills.
Day 2 — Ellicottville, NY
Day 2 — Ellicottville, NY
🚗 5 min driving📍 4 stops
🌅
Morning
🚗
Drive
Ellicottville village, NY → Sky High Aerial Adventure Park, Holiday Valley, NY
5 min8:00 AM → 8:05 AM
Sky High Aerial Adventure Park
★ 4.7Holiday Valley's Sky High Aerial Adventure Park is a treetop course of rope bridges, cargo nets, zip lines, and elevated platforms strung through the forest on the resort's summer slopes. Trails are graded by difficulty, so it can be as gentle or as adventurous as you like — a relaxed amble along the easier low-canopy routes, or a longer play on the higher lines for those who want it. Harnessed and self-paced, it is a lighthearted, unhurried morning in the trees with the mountain air and dappled light. Wear closed shoes and check seasonal hours before you go.
8:05 AM📍 See location
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Lunch
🍽️ Lunch9:05 AM
A Holiday Valley Lodge Restaurant
The resort's lodge restaurants and slopeside patios serve a relaxed midday menu — burgers, fresh salads, wood-fired plates, and cold drinks — with the ski runs rising green in the background. It is the natural lunch stop between the morning in the trees and an afternoon at the wineries, unhurried and easy, with plenty of deck seating to soak up the mountain view. Take a leisurely meal on the patio before heading out to the vineyards.
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Afternoon
The Ellicottville Wineries
★ 4.6The hills around Ellicottville shelter a small cluster of wineries and tasting rooms whose relaxed, rustic settings suit the resort's laid-back mood. Ellicottville's own tasting rooms and nearby estate cellars pour fruit wines, dry reds and whites, and the sweet regional specialties, often with a fireplace, a porch, or a vineyard view to linger over. An easy afternoon of tasting between one or two of them — no rush, no long drives — is a fitting counterpoint to the morning's activity. Sample slowly, pick up a bottle, and drift back toward the village for the evening.
12:00 PM📍 See location
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Evening
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The Holiday Valley Tamarack Club / Ellicottville Resort Lodging
A second night back at the Holiday Valley resort keeps the base unchanged and the evening effortless. With the wineries and the treetop park behind you, it is a night for a soak in the resort hot tub, a relaxed dinner at a village bistro a short stroll away, and an early rest. Staying put means no packing and no driving — just the spa, the fire, and the quiet of the mountains before the final day.
Day 3 — Ellicottville, NY
Day 3 — Ellicottville, NY
🚗 1 hr 10 min driving📍 3 stops
🌅
Morning
🚗
Drive
Holiday Valley Resort, NY → Nannen Arboretum, Ellicottville, NY
5 min8:00 AM → 8:05 AM
Nannen Arboretum
★ 4.6The Nannen Arboretum is a quiet, beautifully kept eight-acre garden on the edge of Ellicottville, home to a collection of more than 250 species of trees and shrubs, a Japanese garden with a koi pond, a stone circle, and winding gravel paths. Free and rarely busy, it is a gentle, meditative morning walk among specimen trees and seasonal blooms — especially lovely when the region's foliage turns. Benches and shaded corners invite you to sit and linger. It is a soft, unhurried start to the last day before the scenic drive home.
8:05 AM📍 See location
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Lunch
🍽️ Lunch9:05 AM
An Ellicottville Village Bistro
A final relaxed lunch in the village rounds off the stay — one of Ellicottville's easygoing bistros or pubs, with regional plates, craft beer, and a sidewalk table in fine weather. The compact main street makes it easy to combine the meal with a last browse of the shops before setting out. Unhurried and comfortable, it is a fitting close to three slow days in the mountains.
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Afternoon
The Enchanted Mountains Fall-Foliage Drives
The wooded hills around Ellicottville — the Enchanted Mountains of Cattaraugus County — are among the finest leaf-peeping country in the state, and the back roads winding north through the forested ridges make a spectacular scenic drive, especially in autumn when the hardwoods turn crimson and gold. A relaxed loop along the rural routes through Little Valley and the state forests, with pull-offs for overlooks, is a beautiful, low-effort way to close the trip. Let the drive itself be the last attraction, ambling homeward through the color and the hills before rejoining the highway back to Buffalo.
12:00 PM📍 See location
🌙
Evening
🚗
Drive
Ellicottville, NY → Buffalo, NY
1 hr 5 min5:00 PM → 6:05 PM
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