Best places for cherry blossoms: Two New York locations to see stunning trees this spring

Buffalo, N.Y. — You don’t have to drive to Washington D.C. to see stunning spring cherry blossoms.

Buffalo has been named one of the best places in the United States to see glorious cherry blossoms by Country Living. The big Western New York city made the list of 30 destinations alongside Macon, Georgia; Central Park in Manhattan; and, of course, the nation’s capital.

Most of the City of Good Neighbor’s beloved cherry blossoms can be found in Buffalo’s Delaware Park. The park is home to the city’s Japanese Garden — an outdoor haven created as part of a sister-city initiative with Kanazawa, Japan that features 40 cherry blossom trees, according to the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy.

“While the cherry blossom displays in New York City are impressive, don’t discount the rest of the state,” Country Living wrote in its flowery roundup. “Buffalo’s Delaware Park — which was designed by the masterminds behind Central Park— is a prime blossom-viewing destination, especially around Hoyt Lake, once the trees bloom in late April.”

The city celebrates the appearance of the pale pink blooms each spring with the Buffalo Cherry Blossom Festival.

The 2024 edition of the festival at Delaware Park will kick off with tea inside the Buffalo History Museum on April 24. The full Buffalo Cherry Blossom Festival — featuring food, music and pink boat rides on Hoyt Lake — will take place April 27 to 28 in the Japanese Garden and museum.

The Buffalo Cherry Blossom Festival isn’t the only fantastic flower festival in Upstate New York: Plan on putting the Rochester Lilac Festival and the Albany Tulip Festival on your May travel itinerary.