Getting Oriented
Although the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens occupy the Island's westernmost section, the real Long Island begins when you cross the city line into bustling Nassau County. To the east, and growing gradually more rural, is Suffolk County, with its North and South forks extending like the open jaws of an alligator far into the Atlantic Ocean.
Long Island is filled with cars, cars, and more cars. For locals the roadways and their various monikers are second nature, but for visitors and newcomers this can be quite confusing. The notoriously congested Long Island Expressway, U.S. 495, is commonly known to residents as the LIE. It runs through the middle of the island from Queens out to Riverhead. On the North Shore, Route 25, packed with busy shopping centers and traffic lights, is also known as Jericho Turnpike in Nassau and Middle Country Road in Suffolk. The meandering northernmost Route 25A splits in various areas and is known in some areas as North Country Road. This does not make finding GPS directions easy.
On the South Shore, Route 27, also known as the Sunrise Highway, can take you directly from Queens to the end of the island, but there are traffic lights, so it may take quite a long time especially at peak times. The southernmost Route 27A, also called Merrick Road in Nassau and Montauk Highway in Suffolk, is a good option for those who enjoy taking the scenic route. If your schedule is tight, stick to the LIE or the Northern State or Southern State parkways to make the best time between points of interest. Several main north–south thoroughfares make hopping between the shores easy.
Shelter Island, snuggly protected between the two forks, is a destination in itself; the only way to get here is by a short ferry ride from either Sag Harbor, on the South Fork, or Greenport, on the North Fork.
Noteworthy attractions of the North Shore, which stretches from Great Neck to Port Jefferson, include Teddy Roosevelt's summer home at Sagamore Hill, Walt Whitman's birthplace at Huntington Station, and Gold Coast mansions sprinkled throughout. North Fork highlights include quiet villages, bountiful farm stands, and the vineyards and tasting rooms of a burgeoning wine industry. The cultured yet buzzing Hamptons, the fascinating old whaling village of Sag Harbor, and majestic Montauk Point are the essence of the South Fork.
