erie canal village

Has potential but nothing special, not well done. no amenities, not recommended. This could be a great historical attraction with some TLC but it really lacks everything.

It needs a major overhaul - buildings are crumbling, and we have to pay admission for this? There are many more better preserved Erie Canal sites all across the corridor. Don't bother!

place is rundown , no boat ride as indicated on website. several buildings closed as they are deemed unsafe. all of the rest except for 2 can only be viewed from doorway. i really felt like asking for my money back but figured they need it more than i do. this place is on its last legs and i doubt will last much longer. we only saw 2 other visitors during our stay.

Really great historical timelines, pictures, recreations. Very lo key and definitely not disneyed out. The place could use a little TLC but if you are looking for the history of life along the canal this is the place. I am an American History teacher by trade and I give it my hearty recommendation.

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I wish the owner would take better pride in what this place is all about. it has deteriorated and is in very poor condition. seems the owner doesn't care about this place at all and its value in history. my children have gone there on field trips and I cant believe the teachers would take them there. what a sad thing to let this place go to hell !!!! the only good area is the ft bull part as someone is keeping the place neat and interesting with the information.

Place is beyond run downAll shops are closed and nothing thereI remember back in the day this place was amazing and full of life now its a waste land sadUtica and Rome are dying..pathetic

The Erie Canal Village used to be a wonderful place, but is in need of a face lift. Some of the buildings are condemned and you can no longer go into them. Everything was dusty. Some Erie Canal buff needs to come along and refurbish the place. If the canal boat could actually give you a short ride on the canal, that would be great. The one saving grace is there is a train ride available which children loved.

I was steered wrong by posters on TA about another attraction and I usually trust these reviews so I feel I need to write an honest report here and save out of towners a trip here. I was at Erie Canal Village a few weeks ago for an annual event. The village is in sad shape since my last visit 3 years ago. A poster wrote that he/she took a packet boat ride on the canal here this past July. That cannot be possible. The packet boat is sitting in shallow water with the planks warping and is in no way a water-going vessel. I did ride it in 2010, but it looks like that boat hasn't been in the water for a year or more. You can look in the doorway of every building but the not-fit-for habitation papers tacked on every door, was, well, tacky. The cheese museum is still open. The horses are gone. The saving grace is that volunteers have cleared the Fort Bull area so the earthworks are clearly visible and it was a nicer walk than it used to be to the site. A volunteer even had to mow the parking area for the event I attended. Shame, shame, shame on the owner! Admission was free that weekend, donations requested, I did not donate as the owner will not receive a dime from me as he is obviously pocketing it. I think the buildings are too far gone and certainly a hard winter will destroy what is left. Sad!!!! Sad too that no one around to help with the buildings, but when an event is on, men come out of the woodwork with walkie talkies and vests telling you where you can't sit, stand or walk. I wish there was hope for this place...

When I read about this place online it seemed very interesting and sounded like a fun day trip. We packed our picnic lunch and got there only to realise we were the only ones there ! I am glad we packed some lunch, coz you cannot get anything decent to eat there. The place looks run down from the inside, the bathrooms are nasty, the museum itself is a shame. The train took off just for us ! This place is rich in history but it really needs a facelift. Don't waste time and money going there.

We went on the "Most Haunted" tour that took place after regular hours from 7 to 9 pm. The people who conduct the tour are not part of the village staff and are interesting and actually very nice. That was the only positive. We went into the village, thinking we would be able to investigate the whole village only to find out that were only allowed to go in the center of the village. We were not allowed to go to Fort Bull, which is where we really wanted to investgate, or behind any buildings. To enforce this, several "volunteers", of which there were almost as many as there were guests, were placed so there was nowhere you could go without one of them watching. And watch they did, every move you made was observed and they were in contact with one another by radio. If you got close to the boundry lines, they told you so in a rude manner. A couple of them were outright jerks.We left after a half an hour. So, if you want to spend ten dollars being treated like a criminal without any chance of conducting a real investigation this is the place for you...

From all the brochures and its website, the Erie Canal Village sounds like a really fun place, with lots to see and do. The minute you pull in the packing lot, you can tell the place needs help. Admission seems cheap until after you pay it, when you actually get a look around. The bathrooms are not the cleanest, weeds and grass are growing tall everywhere, old roofing lies in a field, barns are falling down, lights and moving activities (push the button and watch/listen) don't work, displays are old and out dated. To top it all off, three of the historic structures have been condemned and are not fit for human occupancy. The only halfway decent part of the museum is the train ride, which you have to pay extra for. The Cheese Museum is also nice, but the barn is crumbing down around it. My overall opinion is poor (as you might have guessed by now) and I wouldn't recommend visiting. The museum should donate its artifacts to another better-run, more financially stable museum and close its doors for good. A good fire is needed.

I Love this place, and visit it often! This was a trademark in thetime of the Erie Canal Barge system, which was of extreme importance for logging, and getting things back and forth to towns! The buildings were not original to the village, although they are of the period and were moved to the location from other local areasAt the same location is the site of battlefield of Fort Bull, which was fought during the French and Indian War! There is a monument which stands there in honor of the people who died!You can also take a short ride on an old train, which brings you alongside the canal!We need to preserve this kind of history! Unfortunately, the way the world is going, I am afraid history is not as important as it used to be!If you are in the area of Utica/Rome/Syracuse, please be sure to stop in to visit this wonderful place!

This has so much potential, but frankly it's not that great. I wouldn't go out of my way to see it.There are a few interesting buildings , but overall, the last time I was there, I was distracted by the poor shape the grounds and attractions were in. The Rome Sports Hall of Fame however is OUTSTANDING and is located near this attraction.

I have lived here over 30 years and visited Erie Canal Village exactly once. That was enough. What a ripoff. We did take the mule-pulled packet boat along the towpath, which was the only redeeming thing...barely. We tried a hotdog, but the flies were ubiquitous. Since it is my hometown, I really want to be supportive, but I just can't. It's a dump.