SKANEATLES (pronounced "Skinny-Atlas"), crouching at the neck of Skaneatles Lake, is perhaps the prettiest Finger Lakes town. It's also the best place to go swimming in the region: just a block from the town center, and lined by huge resort homes, the appealing bay sports a beach and a marina where you can take boat trips and rent watersports equipment. Accommodation is sparse, but the handful of motels includes the Hi-Way Host , 834 W Genessee St (tel 315/685-7633; $50-75), and the Colonial Motel , one mile west on Hwy-20 (tel 315/685-5751; $35-50), while the Sherwood Inn (tel 315/685-3405; $75-100), overlooking the lake, is not as expensive as it looks. It also has two good restaurants; cheaper but still scrumptious meals can be had at the ever-popular Doug's Fish Fry , 8 Jordan St (tel 315/685-3288).

At SENECA FALLS , just west of the northern tip of Cayuga Lake, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and a few colleagues planned and held the first Women's Rights Convention in 1848 - 72 years before the Nineteenth Amendment gave all women in the US the right to vote. On the site of the Wesleyan Chapel , 136 Fall St, where the first campaign meeting was held, is the Women's Rights National Historical Park (daily 9am-5pm; $2; tel 315/568-2991), setting the early women's movement in its historical context. The center also offers a walking tour that takes in the small museum at the Cady Stanton house and passes the (privately owned) former home of Amelia Bloomer , whose crusade to urge women out of their cumbersome undergarments won her a place in the dictionary. A block east of the visitor center, the National Women's Hall of Fame (May-Oct Mon-Sat 9.30am-5pm, Sun noon-4pm; Nov-April Wed-Sat 10am-4pm, Sun noon-4pm; closed Jan; $3; tel 315/568-8060) at 76 Fall St, where over a hundred women, including Emily Dickinson and Sojourner Truth, have been honored for their efforts in fields such as humanitarianism, sports and the arts, makes an interesting stop.

The town itself is a blend of old mills and homes of various architectural styles, tucked away among the mature trees. If you want to stop over, the best place to stay is the Guion House B&B, at 32 Cayuga St (tel 315/568-8129; $75-100). There are several reasonable cafés along Fall Street. Hwy-89, between Seneca Falls and Ithaca, has been dubbed the Cayuga Wine Trail , with dozens of small wineries operating along the west shore of the largest of the Finger Lakes.