New Jersey places

Places to Go in New Jersey

18 towns and places, by region. Pick one on the map, or browse below.

Skylands

The state's highest point, 72 miles of Appalachian Trail and wolves in Columbia

Hope

Hope Township in Warren County keeps its historical landmarks in limestone along its streets, including a Moravian church and the Moravian grist mill that is now the Inn at Millrace Pond. Land of Make Believe and Pirate's Cove, a family water park and amusement park, is in the township.

Morristown

Morristown is best known as the location of General George Washington's winter headquarters during the Revolutionary War. Today its friendly downtown has shops, restaurants and entertainment, and the action starts at "the green."

Gateway

Statue of Liberty views, Edison's lab and what VisitNJ calls the world's most diners

Hoboken

New Jersey's official list of famous firsts says the first organized baseball game was played in Hoboken in 1846. Hoboken is in Hudson County, in the state's Gateway tourism region.

Jersey City

Ellis Island operated from 1892 until 1954 and processed more than 12 million immigrant steamship passengers, and Jersey City was the first destination for many of them. Today the downtown runs from the waterfront Colgate Clock through the Powerhouse Arts District.

Central Jersey

Pick-your-own farms, river towns and the route of Washington's 1776 Delaware crossing

Frenchtown

Frenchtown extends one mile along the Delaware River in Hunterdon County, across from Bucks County, Pennsylvania. It is a destination for river activities, with art galleries, specialty shops and restaurants in its small downtown.

Lambertville

Lambertville was founded in 1705, and its streets are lined with federal townhouses and Victorian homes. Antique shops and galleries cluster on the Delaware River, and a restored 19th-century train depot houses Lambertville Station, a waterside restaurant and inn.

Princeton

For four months in 1783, July through October, the Continental Congress met in the second-floor library of Nassau Hall in Princeton. The building was completed in 1756, when it was the largest stone building in the colonies.

Delaware River

Old main streets, river paddling and cabins in Parvin State Park

Burlington

Burlington mixes folklore and history on the banks of the Delaware River. Ulysses S. Grant lived here, many believe the pirate Blackbeard buried treasure under a walnut tree in town, and several of its 40 notable buildings were stops on the Underground Railroad.

Haddonfield

William Parker Foulke unearthed Hadrosaurus foulkii in a Haddonfield marl pit in October 1858, the first nearly complete dinosaur skeleton discovered virtually intact anywhere in the world. It became New Jersey's state dinosaur in 1991.

Shore

More than 90 miles of beach, 16 surfing beaches on one island and old lighthouses

Asbury Park

Asbury Park is a historic shore town with a revitalized boardwalk, and its Convention Hall and adjacent Paramount Theatre are among the Jersey Shore's landmarks. The historic downtown holds block parties and parades through the year.

Barnegat Light

Barnegat Light sits at the northern end of Long Beach Island, covers less than one square mile and has a winter population of a little more than 700. Fishing is still big business, and the 172-foot red and white Barnegat Lighthouse, "Old Barney," was designed by General George Meade.

Ocean Grove

Methodist ministers came looking along the New Jersey coast for a camp meeting site in May 1869, and twenty people gathered in tents to clear the land that summer. The Great Auditorium now seats 6,250, and its acoustics have been widely acclaimed.

Greater Atlantic City

The state's tallest lighthouse, a six-story elephant and blueberry country

Hammonton

Hammonton hosts the Red, White and Blueberry Festival on the last Sunday in June, with blueberry pie eating contests, rides, a car show and live music.

Margate

Lucy the Elephant stands along the beach in Josephine Harron Park in Margate. James Lafferty of Philadelphia built her in 1881 as the Elephant Bazaar, she was moved to her present home in 1970, and she was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976.

Smithville

Historic Smithville started as a simple, one-room stagecoach stop and has grown into a destination with 50 shoppes. Visitors stroll cobblestone walkways and foot bridges.

Southern Shore

Victorian Cape May, Doo Wop Wildwood and seven free beaches

Cape May

Cape May calls itself "The Nation's Oldest Seashore Resort" and sits at the southern tip of the Cape May Peninsula. The city is designated the Cape May Historic District, a National Historic Landmark, for its concentration of Victorian buildings, and it is named for Dutch captain Cornelius Jacobsen Mey, who charted the area from 1611 to 1614.

Ocean City

Ocean City has eight miles of ocean and bay beaches and two and a half miles of boardwalk, with eight full blocks of family amusements from 6th to 14th Streets. VisitNJ notes it is a "dry" town, with no alcohol sold inside the city limits.

Wildwood

The Wildwoods Boardwalk runs 38 blocks, with fudge shops, family-friendly arcades and roller coasters. Its own guide describes Doo Wop roots that have given way to glowing carnival lights and an iconic yellow tramcar.