First-time visitors will probably want to concentrate on the Hudson River towns and villages. To explore them by car, follow Route 9, or Broadway, which is an extension of Manhattan’s Broadway. To reach Route 9 from Manhattan, take the West Side Highway (Route 9A) north and watch for signs.

To head for destinations west, cross the George Washington Bridge on the upper level, taking the Palisade Parkway exit to your immediate right at the end of the bridge.

Passing through a section of New Jersey so tiny, a blink could lead to missing it, note what is rumored as the country’s busiest gas stations on the right, due to its location technically in New Jersey, a state that mandates all stations to be full service and have drastically lowered fuel rates. Another station, a mere one half mile ahead on the left, inside the New York state line, generally averages $0.80 more per gallon for drivers to pump their own gas.

Points of Interest in the Lower Hudson Valley

• Yonkers
• Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow
• Northeastern Westchester
• Southeastern Westchester
• Cold Spring
• Beacon
• Piermont
• Nyack
• Tappan
• The Ramapo Mountains
• Stony Point
• West Point
• Storm King Art Center
• Cornwall-on-Hudson
• Newburgh