Syracuse to Buffalo road trip: Distance, drive time & best stops
By car, the distance from Syracuse to Buffalo is 149 miles, with a 2h18m driving time. The best road trip stops on the Syracuse to Buffalo drive are Seneca Falls, Canandaigua and Six Flags Darien Lake.
Planning a Syracuse to Buffalo road trip itinerary
The drive from Syracuse to Buffalo connects two of the biggest cities in north-western New York. This New York road trip passes the Finger Lakes along the way.
Good Syracuse experiences include axe-throwing, scavenger hunts and the Erie Canal Museum.
Good experiences in Buffalo include Best of Buffalo double decker bus tours, a history of chicken wings food tour and the Theodore Roosevelt Inauguration National Historic Site.
Syracuse to Buffalo distance and driving time
By car, the distance from Syracuse to Buffalo is 149 miles. That makes for a driving time of around two hours and 18 minutes. The quickest route is almost entirely along the I-90.
The best road trip attractions along the Syracuse to Buffalo drive are Seneca Falls, Canandaigua and Six Flags Darien Lake.
Syracuse to Buffalo road trip attractions: Seneca Falls
The small town of Seneca Fallas is known as the Birthplace of Women’s Rights. In 1848, a convention was held here to discuss the rights of women, and a movement spread from there.
The Wesleyan Chapel where the convention was held is now part of the Women’s Rights National Historic Park. Several other buildings linked to the convention and resultant declaration are inside the park and open to visitors.
Nearby is the National Women’s Hall of Fame, which celebrates the feats of great American women, from Abigail Adams to Oprah Winfrey.
Film fans, meanwhile, can head to the It’s A Wonderful Life Museum. Frank Capra supposedly used Seneca Falls as the inspiration for the fictional town of Bedford Falls.
Best stops between Syracuse and Buffalo: Canandaigua
Canandaigua is at the top of Canandaigua Lake, and is home to the Granger Homestead and Carriage Museum. This handsome mansion was home to the longest-serving Postmaster General of the United States. You need to take a guided tour to go inside and see the horse-drawn carriage collection.
Fans of glorious mansions can also visit the Sonnenburg Gardens and Mansion State Historic Site, although it’s the perfectly primped formal gardens that are the highlight here.
You can also enjoy Lake Canandaigua wine tours, beer tours that hop between local craft breweries and sunset cruises on the lake.
Syracuse to Buffalo road drive: Six Flags Darien Lake
No-one is going to pretend Six Flags Darien Lake is the high point of the Six Flags amusement park empire. But it’s still a pretty good theme park.
Just south of the town of Corfu, NY, Six Flags Darien Lake also has a water park. It’s the rollercoasters that most visitors, will come for, however. Tantrum has a 97 degree drop, the Viper was the first coaster in the world to have five inversions and the Ride Of Steel climbs 208ft high, travelling at speeds of up to 72 miles per hour.
More Syracuse road trips
Albany to Syracuse | Syracuse to Chicago | Syracuse to Niagara Falls | Syracuse to Rochester.
More Buffalo road trips
Albany NY to Buffalo | Buffalo to Atlanta | Boston to Buffalo | Chicago to Buffalo | Cincinnati to Buffalo | Cleveland to Buffalo | Columbus to Buffalo | Dallas to Buffalo | Detroit to Buffalo | Buffalo to Fort Lauderdale | Houston to Buffalo | Ithaca to Buffalo | Nashville to Buffalo | Buffalo to Pittsburgh | Rochester to Buffalo | Buffalo to Tampa.