Village of Sleepy Hollow

Settled in 1640 and incorporated as North Tarrytown and later in late 19th century 1996 this Hudson River village officially adopted the Sleepy Hollow name for the area due to the renown short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," by Washington Irving. Irving resided in Tarrytown and is buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. (source: Wikipedia and www.sleepyhollowny.gov) The short story is about the village and its infamous specter, the Headless Horseman, a Hessian soldier who terrorized the entire village by decapitating residents in a frightening time.

The village is bounded by the Spuyten Duyvil Creek, the Croton River, the Hudson River, and the Bronx River where the rivers intersect as streams and brooks for a picturesque scene appearing in landscape paintings or photos. I am always enamored with Irving's short story and fascinated with the village for its rich history of early 16th Colonial period (1607-1765) before the incorporation of the colonies forming the United States of America. Colonial era life is vastly different than 21st century U.S.A. With my party of four we toured the cemetery and the village I contemplate and reflect if there are any current living descendants who are currently residing in Village of Sleepy Hollow as seven generation residents from a long line of Dutch settlers or any descended from original Dutch settlers. It is a quaint village that stands with the passage of time. Progress and evolution change civilization. I am enamored looking at old world charm of Colonial era residential stone houses and commercial buildings of stone structure that continues to stand and function in 21st century 2019 era. Time stands still. Stone structure can withstand fire as the foundation will still stand without having to re-build the entire foundation after a fire disaster.

I advise visiting Sleepy Hollow is much enjoyed with a group or as couples and most attractions are within walking distance without the need of a car for a day trip. Local area attractions are: Sculpture of Headless Horseman, Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, Kingsland Point Park and the Lighthouse, and the historic Philipsburg Manor House. Halloween is a good time to visit.

My son and I took our first trip to Sleepy Hollow this October. It is the quintessential Halloween town! The town is alive and full of Halloween decor. The cemetery and bridge aren't to be missed! Plenty of good shops and restaurants. Make sure to plan your day to get the most out of it!

Lovely and beautiful place to visit and or live. Plenty of shops and restaurants. We enjoyed touring through Washington Irving's setting for The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. We will be back for Halloween for more festivities. I recommend visitors to take a day like today to visit and get their bearings for a more eventful holiday outing. The park by the Hudson is perfect for a picnic. A number of restaurants are family friendly and great for a date night. There are jazz events and live music at some of the venues. All around a great place to visit and explore.

So this place is legit creepy, and when I say creepy I mean creepy fun .... this place just has a feel about .... as you cross over the bridge that has a placard for being the place where the covered bridge of Sleepy Hollow tradition talks about .... to the cemetery that lies just the other side of the bridge on the hillside overlooking the area.

Come here at night, especially in the fall and winter months, and there is an eerie fog lingering about the statue of the headless horseman.

An expansion of Tarrytown, the Village of Sleepy Hollow also has some nice views of the light house and a few pretty good spots to eat. Stay in neighboring Tarrytown and have quick easy access to check this place out.

It really doesn't take long, unless you dare explore the cemetery, which will take a little longer.

Fun place to visit, should make your list of places to visit while in NY .... especially if you are within an hour drive .... just for the photo op with The Headless Horseman.

Terrific place to take a weekend getaway or a day trip when it's nice out.

Easy to get to by Metro North railroad. The Courtyard Marriott is a terrific hotel to stay at, and there are a few others close by. Don't really need a car as it's easy and cheap to get around by local cabs, and most places are within a few minutes of each other.

Main street in Tarrytown has a bunch of really nice restaurants, ice cream parlor, coffee house, boutique shops, a bar, a tea room, and a wonderful historic music hall that attracts many big name acts. There is always a lot to see and do in this area with street fairs and festivals going on. Many historic sights and estates to take tours of. Nice parks too and very clean overall.

Walking around here you definitely get that "small country town" appeal to it. Not a party city by any stretch, but a nice place to get away for a bit and breathe in some fresh air and be all leisurely like.

Had to come by and visit the Horseman's homeland especially after getting caught up with the new TV show. Strange the town didn't play that up at all?

Outside of the Halloween timeframe we found out there's very limited events or items related to Washington Irving's story? I was hoping that there would be history guides that would be available for hire. The kind that jump in the car with you and guide you to sites to explain history and interesting facts of the area, much like Gettysburg, PA...but no.

Tarrytown is rich in history beyond the Sleepy Hollow storyline and guides could easily combine traveling to locations of the Headless Horseman, Revolutionary War, and etc with stories and stops at restaurants, shops, etc during the off (non-Halloween) season. Something I hope the townsfolk consider.

Still, despite there not being too much to see other than the cemetery, the church, visiting restaurants and quaint shops it turned out to be a great weekend escape for my wife and I. We especially loved the relaxing atmosphere at the Tarrytown House Estate and Conference Center, simply beautiful. That alone made it a fantastic time.

After speaking with the locals and reading some reviews from fellow Yelpers we're definitely coming back around the Halloween time frame. Look for an update then but for right now based on the number of attractions, the lack of even self-guided history or horror tours, the cost and travel time I give the city 3.5 Stars with a round down to 3. That said I gave certain restaurants and our hotel much higher so be sure to look at those reviews as well.

I come here all the time to get permits for different jobs our company has to perform and the workers here are extremely nice and quick at filing permits.

Lovely village for a day trip. We were here to do the spooooky Sleepy Hollow 10K and the town was out, full fore, supporting the runners. Halloween punnery abounded, and the streets are lined with beautiful old manors and their seasonally decorated yards.

The Old Dutch cemetery was one of the more interesting ones I've seen and well worth a visit. There is a tour which I did not take but it looks worthwhile. The Horseman's Hollow and The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze are said to be excellent if you can score tickets.

Plenty of food options, and the Kingsland park and lighthouse are in walking distance.

Being Dutch it's nice to travel through 'Dutch country' and look at 'our' heritage. It's a nice place for a daytrip. Visit the cemetery (with the Rockefellers tomb and a lot of Dutch names on the gravestones). And visit one or more of the houses in the Hudson Valley. From Sleepy Hollow you can take tours to the Rockefeller estate Kykuit and the Philipse manor.

Note that although there are daily tours to the houses, only on sunday there guided tours on the cemetery. And my suggestion would be to first take a tour (they can fill up quickly) and then visit the Dutch Church and cemetery. That can save you a lot of idee time.

And please forgive any grammar and spelling mistakes. English is not my first language and my Apple device keeps turning words into proper Dutch (my first language). Damn autocorrect :(.

Horseman's Hollow Review:

I came here for the Horseman's Hollow and after leaving at the end I wasn't really impressed. I was very excited because I heard it was scary but I really didn't get scared. Maybe it was because I came in a group of 11 and it was hard to keep everyone together. Half of us was moving to slow or too fast and some "pop ups" were already foreseeable if you were in the back. Then if you were too fast we caught up with the group ahead of us and had to wait until it we felt like it was time to go again. There were some sections which were good and others which dragged or could have been set up to be scarier.

The make up and the costumes were excellent. The actors who portrayed who they had to portray did well.

I recommend going in groups no more than 4 people at a time. I think it would have been even more scarier if people went one at a time. Also there is free parking if you park in the "additional parking area"