To be honest, I never gave much thought to Troy, New York. It was a small city outside of Albany that I often passed through on a highway on the way to a bigger destination. I never got out of the car and to be honest, kind of dismissed it as a place on my journey instead of a destination. Well, I’ve never been happier to be wrong π .
When my partner and I were discussing where we should go for August 2023, I originally started looking at New York’s capital of Albany. We had stayed there during a last-minute, 2 week COVID quarantine in 2021 before going to Thailand, but that was in the dead of winter and obviously since we were quarantining, I didn’t actually experience the city of Albany.
So I was curious about the area and wanted to actually be able to see it, ideally in warmer weather π . I started looking at Airbnbs in the area (as I always do π ) and saw something interesting. Troy, NY is so close to Albany that Airbnbs there kept popping up because they matched my rigorous criteria (that I’ve detailed in the below post) and it was only a 10 minute drive from Albany.
In addition to Troy being so close to Albany, the Airbnbs available were bigger, nicer AND cheaper than what was available in Albany. Color me intrigued π .
So I ended up booking an Airbnb in Troy, NY with the thought that we would often be going into Albany to explore there. As I’ll discuss below, it’s very easy to get into the city by ride share or bus.
However, something surprising happened. We loved Troy, NY so much and it had so much to offer that I didn’t even get to all the restaurants and breweries that I wanted to visit and we never set foot in Albany during this trip. Twist! Troy was its own destination. So let’s see what I discovered in this unassuming city of 50,000 people.
Walkability
This was one of my first surprises after settling into Troy, NY. It’s extremely walkable. I had previously only seen the city while speeding by on the highway so I didn’t have an accurate impression of its everyday streets. However, there are sidewalks absolutely everywhere along with pedestrian crossings and street lights.
If I had done a little more research, I probably wouldn’t be surprised by this since Troy is home to several colleges in its small area, including the quite famous Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). And students often walk everywhere so it’s all coming full circle π .
Transit
Now for more surprises π . I knew that ride shares like Lyft and Uber are abundant in this area because I had taken them in Albany before, but what I didn’t know is that Troy has an extensive bus system. And not only are the buses fancy and frequent, but they’re also the cheapest bus tickets I’ve ever seen at $1.50 per ride.
If I had actually made it to Albany, there are several buses that leave every 15 minutes (or more often) and take 30 minutes to get from Troy to downtown Albany – all for $1.50. Perfection π . If you find yourself using these buses, just a heads up that they do accept dollar bills though they understandably don’t provide change.
However, a better way to ride if you don’t want to buy a transit card, CDTA allows for mobile tickets, which I’ve never seen before. Basically you download their CDTA iRide app, buy a ticket on it and receive a barcode on your phone to scan at the ticket reader. Easy!
And doing so has some additional perks. If you select “Pay As You Go”, your first 3 rides are $1.30 and the 4th and subsequent rides within one day are all free. So in essence, you’ll never pay more than $3.90 in a single day no matter how many buses you ride. They also have monthly passes if that’s more your speed for $65.00.
Now that’s all for local buses. There are also buses that go to semi-close cities like Saratoga Springs, NY and Bennington, VT. I had thought that it was almost required to have a car in Upstate New York, but this bus system is proving me wrong in the best way.
Inclusivity
I was surprised with how diverse Troy felt. Demographically it’s “69.7% White, 16.4% African American, 0.3% Native American, 3.4% Asian, and 4.1% from two or more races” according to Wikipedia. However, I was never the only person of color on the street as I often am in cities with similar demographics.
It was a very comfortable city to be in and I felt fine walking and running around the city alone. I also sawΒ more queer flags flown outside of houses than American flags, which I wasn’t expecting in this part of the world, but was pleasantly surprised by π .
Nature
Unexpectedly, Troy is very green. Maybe I need to learn to expect the unexpected when it comes to this city π . Right next to downtown is an 80 acre park that overlooks everything:
There are also smaller parks throughout the city – several on the college campuses, but some are unrelated. There was also an abundance of community gardens and obviously the lovely waterfront along the Hudson River. For a city, Troy has this nature thing nailed π .
Climate
We visited in August 2023 during a heat wave (thanks global warming), so we did end up using the AC in our Airbnb during the day until a few days before we left. Overall though it was a relatively cool place to enjoy the last month of summer.
Food
As I mentioned, the food in Troy was unbelievable. Just look at this:
I was eating very well and didn’t get a chance to go to all the wonderful places that were recommended to me so I guess I’ve gotta return – what a hardship π .
Cost
I like to base estimates on solid facts and that’s why I began my retirement calculations by assuming I would continue spending the same amount that I did during my awesome HCOL life in Seattle, which cost $18,000 a year. I then added 11% on top of that amount just in case, to come to a round $20,000 for my annual retirement budget.
I originally expected Troy to be expensive like a lot of cities in the northeastern US are, but it was more affordable than I thought and not just in our housing costs:
Now understandably this small city doesn’t have enough crowdsourced data to compare all of its aspects to Seattle, but the data they do have implies it’s significantly cheaper for food spending.
LodgingΒ
Cost: $1,438.03/month
As I said, the superior Airbnb choices in Troy led us there and I’m very happy with the decision. Check out our place below. It’s definitely the largest place we’ve ever rented and for one of the lowest prices per person with all the beds filled. Couple that with the central, walkable location and I was a happy traveler π .
Food
Grocery Cost: $121.97/month
Surprisingly there are no large grocery stores in downtown Troy – just bodega type places where you can get condiments and snacks basically. However, there is a large Price Chopper a 15 minute walk away on the other side of the river that’s technically in the city of Watervliet.
My partner and I walked there once and ran there once (it’s less than a mile from downtown Troy) and didn’t find it a big imposition. However, if we did, there is an Aldi and Hannaford a 30 minute bus ride or 10 minute ride share away. Another option is grocery delivery, which we’ve done many times before. Basically, there are options, but I hope downtown Troy has a grocery store built soon because it’s a strange thing not to have it directly in a city. No more food deserts please π .
Eating Out Cost: $294.47/month
As I mentioned, the food is delicious. I found several hidden gems that I’m definitely going to grab any time I’m passing by in the future. This amount reflects how much I ate out compared to the relatively meager grocery spending above and I have no regrets π .
Alcohol Cost: $92.12/month
Troy has a surprising amount of breweries in the area. Troy directly has several (I didn’t even get to all of them!) and at the weekly farmer’s market, loads of breweries and distilleries came from cities within a few hours of here to sell their wares. It’s basically a booze-fest, which I wasn’t prepared for, but was pleasantly surprised by. I might need to make a beer tour part of my next visit π .
Transit
Cost: $21.78/month
As I said, the buses in Troy were awesome, but I walked around town most of the time and just took 2 ride shares to travel from the airport and to the train station. No complaints here π .
Entertainment
Cost: $15.60/month
I spent the month exploring the city on foot, eating delicious food, playing Zelda and reading – all of which is quite cheap π .
Conclusion
So I think I’ve found a new travel hack – staying in a smaller city that’s nearby a large destination if there’s easy and cheap transit between the two. Based on the fact that I keep randomly stumbling upon charming smaller places with great food, green spaces and public transit, I suspect there are a whole lot more out there to experience. Until next time!
Have you ever felt instantly comfortable in a new country?
If you’re interested in my other Slow Travel Reviews, they’re all here:
International
- Slow Travel Review: Phuket, Thailand β The Land Of Sea & Food
- Slow Travel Review: MΓ©rida, MΓ©xico β The Land Of Color & Nature
- Slow Travel Review: MontrΓ©al, Canada – The Land Of Poutine, Bagels & Acrobatics
- Slow Travel Review: Puerto Vallarta, MΓ©xico – The Land Of Beaches And Birds
- Slow Travel Review: Buenos Aires, Argentina – The Land Of Nature and Architecture
USA
- Slow Travel Review: Portland, Maine, USA – The Land Of Deliciousness
- Slow Travel Review: Catskill, New York, USA β The Land Of Mountains
- Slow Travel Review: Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA β The Land Of Chili Peppers
- Slow Travel Review: Decatur, Georgia, USA β The Land Of Flowers And Food
- Slow Travel Review: Seattle, WA, USA – The Land Of Flowers, Sea And Mountains
- Slow Travel Review: Sacramento, CA, USA: The Land Of Flowers & Sunshine
- Slow Travel Review: Chicago, IL, USA: The Land Of Pizza & Waterways
Interesting! I discovered the smaller city trick while exploring wheel and spoke type travel. We got a lovely little airbnb in Bratislavia, Slovakia for something like 50/ a night – five years ago.
From there, Vienna was 30 minutes by train, and Prague and Budapest only 2-3 hours for daytrips!
Very cool! I flew into Bratislava once for like $20 from the UK and then just took a quick bus to Vienna (my original destination).
We had the opposite, we had decided bratislavia was where the axle would be, but it was crazy expensive. Vienna had a lot of options and cheaper flights. Love Vienna, but hella expensive!
Letting lodging costs be my guide led me to spend almost a week in Delft instead of Amsterdam. It was super lovely and very Netherland-ish (bikes, bridges, canals) without feeling touristy like Amsterdam. I agree, visiting the places NEAR bigger places is pretty great!
Awesome! That sounds like a lovely place. I’m liking this approach especially if it’s easy to get to the larger city, but it’s not somewhere I need to be every day.
It’s nice to hear what Troy is like nowadays. 20 years ago people frequently referred to it as the “Troy-let.” I’ll make sure to stop next time I’m in town (especially for that Mexican food!)
Interesting! And yeah definitely check out that restaurant. I miss it so much already π .