Just a two-hour drive from New York City or Boston, Greater Hartford abounds with cultural treasures and a mélange of dining. Reserve the "Culture is Alive and Thriving in Hartford Package" (promo code: CUE) at the new Downtown Hartford Marriott which includes two admission tickets to the Wadsworth Atheneum.  After checking in to the hotel, walk to the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, the nation’s oldest public art museum. Before exploring the museum’s renowned collections, stop for a sumptuous lunch at The Russell at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art…on the terrace, weather-permitting.

For dinner, walk from the museum or hotel to Peppercorn's Grill for award-winning Italian cuisine.

On Day Two, drive twenty minutes to the Hill-Stead Museum in Farmington a 1901 mansion modeled on George Washington’s Mount Vernon. Situated in a lush rural setting, the house museum contains an outstanding collection of French Impressionist paintings and family memorabilia surrounded by landscaped gardens and walking paths. Lunch at The Grist Mill Cafe Restaurant in Farmington before driving twenty minutes to the New Britain Museum of American Art, presenting one of the finest collections of American paintings in New England in their newly completed Chase Family Building. The museum overlooks the Frederick Law Olmstead-designed Walnut Hill Park with paved walking paths.

That evening, before taking in a symphony, opera, Broadway show or jazz concert at The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, dine at trend-setting Max Downtown for award-winning fare.

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