A Wine Country Escape Minutes from New Hope & Lambertville

New Hope, Pennsylvania, and Lambertville, New Jersey, have long been two of the Delaware River Valley’s favorite destinations for a weekend getaway.

Connected by a walkable bridge across the Delaware River, these neighboring towns offer an easy mix of independent shops, art galleries, restaurants, historic streets, nightlife, and theater.

But there is another side of the region worth exploring.

Drive just a few minutes beyond downtown Lambertville and the busy riverfront streets begin to give way to the rolling countryside of Hunterdon County, where vineyards, farms, wineries, and scenic back roads make it easy to add a little New Jersey wine country to your weekend.

Here’s how we would spend a weekend exploring New Hope, Lambertville, and the surrounding wine country.

Friday Evening: Check In & Explore the River Towns

Start by making New Hope or Lambertville your home base for the weekend.

On the New Jersey side, Lambertville Station Restaurant & Inn puts you along the Delaware River and within walking distance of Lambertville’s restaurants, galleries, antique shops, and boutiques.

Across the bridge in New Hope, Ghost Light Inn offers another waterfront option next to the historic Bucks County Playhouse.

Once you’re settled in, spend the evening exploring on foot.

Walk Bridge Street between New Hope and Lambertville, browse the shops, stop for dinner, and enjoy the riverfront atmosphere that makes the area such a popular weekend destination.

If there’s a performance at Bucks County Playhouse, Friday night is also a great opportunity to add a show to your itinerary.

Saturday Morning: Breakfast, Shopping & Exploring Lambertville

Start Saturday with breakfast and coffee before exploring downtown Lambertville.

Liv & Charlie’s is a convenient stop for breakfast sandwiches, pastries, and coffee before a morning of walking around town.

Lambertville is particularly fun to explore without much of an agenda. Antique shops, galleries, bookstores, boutiques, and historic buildings are scattered throughout downtown.

Design lovers should make time for Zinc Home + Garden, a Lambertville destination filled with furniture, home décor, gifts, accessories, and seasonal finds.

From there, walk across the bridge into New Hope.

The town has its own eclectic collection of galleries, boutiques, restaurants, and specialty shops. Stop at Ferry Market for coffee, a snack, or lunch from one of its artisan food vendors before continuing your afternoon.

Saturday Afternoon: Head Into New Jersey Wine Country

After a morning along the Delaware River, trade downtown streets for vineyard views.

About 10 minutes from Lambertville and New Hope, Old York Cellars Winery & Vineyard sits among the rolling hills of Ringoes, New Jersey.

The change of scenery happens quickly. Within a short drive, the shops and sidewalks of downtown are replaced by country roads, farmland, and vineyards.

Old York Cellars offers several ways to build a winery visit into your weekend, depending on how much time you want to spend.

Visitors can enjoy guided wine tastings, lunch with wine, weekend bubbly brunch, private vineyard cabanas, and live music on select weekends. Those looking for a more immersive food and wine experience can explore chef-curated pairing experiences and seasonal winery events.

For a relaxed afternoon, reserve a table, order a bottle and something to eat, and spend a few hours overlooking the vineyard.

If wine tasting is your priority, a guided tasting is an easy introduction to the winery’s New Jersey-grown and produced wines.

For a special occasion, look for experiences such as multi-course wine pairing dinners, Oma Casa wine and tapas pairings, Dinner in the Vines, Wine & Comedy Nights, and the Hunterdon Wine Express.

The vineyard offers a completely different atmosphere from downtown New Hope and Lambertville, which is exactly why the combination works so well.

Add Another New Jersey Wine Stop

You don’t necessarily have to stop exploring wine when you leave the vineyard.

Back in downtown Lambertville, Tomasello Winery’s Lambertville Tasting Room offers another opportunity to sample New Jersey wine.

Tomasello is one of New Jersey’s longstanding wine producers, and its downtown tasting room makes it particularly easy to include in a Lambertville itinerary.

Visiting both gives you two very different wine experiences in one afternoon: a full vineyard and winery experience in the Hunterdon County countryside followed by a downtown tasting room back in Lambertville.

Saturday Evening: Dinner, Wine & a Show

Once you’re back in New Hope or Lambertville, there are plenty of ways to spend Saturday night.

Check the schedule at Bucks County Playhouse for an evening performance, make a dinner reservation in either town, or settle in for wine and small plates at Nektar Wine Bar in New Hope.

If you’ve booked one of Old York Cellars’ evening wine dinners or special events, you can also make the vineyard your Saturday-night destination before returning to your hotel.

Sunday Morning: Take It Slow

One of the advantages of this area is that you don’t need to pack every hour of the weekend.

Grab breakfast or coffee, take another walk along the Delaware River, revisit a shop you discovered Saturday, or check out a local farmers market before heading home.

If you didn’t make it to wine country on Saturday, Sunday is also an easy day for a winery visit.

Why New Hope & Lambertville Make a Great Wine Country Weekend

The appeal of this getaway is the variety packed into a relatively small area.

In one weekend you can explore two historic river towns, shop independently owned boutiques, browse art and antiques, see a live performance, discover local restaurants, drive through the Hunterdon County countryside, and taste wines produced in New Jersey.

You don’t have to choose between a downtown getaway and a wine country weekend.

Here, you can do both.

A Sample New Hope & Lambertville Weekend Itinerary

Plan Your Wine Country Escape

Whether you’re planning a romantic weekend, girls’ getaway, anniversary trip, or simply looking for somewhere new to explore, New Hope and Lambertville make an excellent starting point for discovering this corner of the Delaware River Valley.

And don’t stop at the river.

Some of the region’s most beautiful countryside, vineyards, farms, and wine experiences are waiting just a few miles away.

Explore the towns. Taste the wines. Discover a different side of New Jersey Wine Country.

Photo Credits: Images sourced from the websites of the featured wineries, restaurants, hotels, and local attractions in New Hope, Lambertville, and the surrounding New Jersey Wine Country. All images remain the property of their respective copyright holders.