When hearing the words "New York," most people automatically think of New York City. In reality, nine times out of 10, I'm referring to the rest of New York. Upstate New York to many doesn't sound like an exciting place at all, but there are plenty of things that make the upper portion of New York just as worthy as the lower part.

Upstate New York contains several pretty amazing cities, including Buffalo, Albany, Syracuse and Rochester. All of these cities are unique and have some great attractions.

Buffalo is home to the American portion of Niagra Falls. While the American portion of the falls aren't quite as amazing as the parts lying in Canada, it's still stunning. You can even ride the Maid of the Mist, which actually does go into Canada, and you don't even need your passport!

Albany is the capital of New York (it's not NYC, although many think it is...) so of course there's quite a bit going on there. You can go to museums, see shows, or even go to the largest Walmart in the United States. This Walmart has an escalator for your CART, which is enough reason to go.

Syracuse and Rochester are also some popular cities to visit, both with plenty of attractions to visit and make a trip out of. All of these cities are also home to some fairly large universities.

Some of the smaller cities and towns are just as interesting as the larger ones. There are many cities in Upstate New York that have very unique characteristics. For example, Binghamton, which is fairly close to the Pennsylvania border, is accredited with the chicken spiedie. People who are not from the surrounding areas of Binghamton have no idea what this is (and believe me, they're missing out). There's even a weekend-long festival called SpiedieFest with concerts, hot air balloons, tons of interesting things to do and try, and of course, there are chicken spiedies. Another very interesting city is Ithaca. Home of Cornell University, a large portion of Ithaca has a college town feel. The highlight of Ithaca is of course the Ithaca Commons, where you can find shops ranging across just about the entire spectrum. Many of the cities throughout the state have quirks about them, which is what makes them so great.

Much of Upstate New York has hills, mountains and simply stunning views. Watkins Glen and Robert Treman State Park are both incredible hiking trails, with waterfalls, gorges, forest trails and more. The Finger Lakes are also in Upstate New York, which are gorgeous as well. The Finger Lakes also have some pretty cool wine tours to go on.

I could continue to list off reasons why Upstate New York is so underrated, but it really speaks for itself. Welcome to (the rest of) New York!