Tarrytown is perhaps the best known of Westchester’s river towns, with its landscape having been immortalized by Washington Irving in his famous short stories, most notably in “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” Irving, like many other former Manhattanites, went to visit a friend in Tarrytown and quickly became bewitched by the bucolic surroundings. He eventually bought and renovated Sunnyside, his Tarrytown estate — now open to the public — with Irving becoming an unofficial mascot of “Sleepy Hollow country.” Tours of his estate and nearby monuments are available year-round and reach a peak during autumn, when the whole town gets into the Halloween spirit. Tarrytown has a sizeable, pedestrian-friendly downtown by the river, with galleries, eclectic design shops, and specialty food stores. You’ll find historic houses big and small here, as well as new construction townhouses and condos.