The city meets the country in this sophisticated region of Connecticut. Fairfield County is home to colonial era towns and contemporary cities, sleepy seaports and vibrant neighborhoods — each with their own personality, history and energy. We have compiled a list of the top reasons those who live here love living in Fairfield County, Connecticut.
Schools
A newly released analysis by financial services website WalletHub of public schools across the country, shows that more than 7% of Connecticut schools are in the top 700 public schools in the country. Connecticut schools (many of which are in Fairfield County) are also top-ranked for Highest Reading Test Scores and Highest Median ACT Test Scores. Along with public grade schools, Fairfield County offers an abundance of options from preschool, Montessori, religious, and private preparatory schools.
Proximity to NYC
Metro-North Railroad's New Haven Line runs from New Haven, Connecticut, southwest along Fairfield County’s I95 corridor to Mount Vernon, New York. There it joins the Harlem Line, where trains continue south to Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan. The morning trains from Fairfield County to NYC run about every 20 minutes from most towns and about every 5 minutes from Stamford. The train commute to NYC is about 1 hour 25 minutes from Fairfield and just about 1 hour from Stamford.
Parking Rates at the Fairfield Metro station are: Daily M-F $6.00 / 6-month permit $210* (FREE on weekends and holidays). While some stations such as Bridgeport and Fairfield Metro do not currently have a waitlist, towns such as Westport, Darien, and Greenwich have waitlists of about 1 year or more.
Coastal Communities
Southern Fairfield County is part of the Connecticut Shoreline where the Southwestern portion of Connecticut meets the Long Island Sound. Most of the towns along the shoreline offer a nice downtown area. The downtown areas usually have a little of everything with independent boutiques, high-end international retailers, local chains, restaurants and galleries. Here blends together New England charm with cosmopolitan appeal.
These towns offer a good selection of salt water beaches for all tastes.
Calf Pasture Beach in Norwalk, Sherwood Island State Park in Westport, Penfield Beach in Fairfield, and Weed Beach in Darien are a few of our favorites. Some of these beaches are hosts to seasonal bonfires, summer concert series, and one of our favorite activities--the 4th of July fireworks displays.
Outdoor Activities
If the beach is not your cup of tea, there are plenty of hiking trails and lakes a little more inland in Fairfield County. There are approximately 825 miles of public hiking footpaths across CT. That’s not including many of the great trail options just over the CT border like Warde Pound Ridge Reservation. However, since this post is about Fairfield County, we will focus on those trails specifically.
Devil’s Den Nature Preserve in Weston tops our list of best places to hike in Fairfield County. 1756 acres, a very popular hiking destination for those living in Connecticut. Devil’s Den Preserve Trail is a 7.7 mile heavily trafficked loop trail located near Weston, Connecticut that features a lake and is good for all skill levels.
Our second favorite local spot to hike, swim, eat, and play is Lake Mohegan in Fairfield. It has 170.4 acres of open space. During the summer months, the man-made fresh water lake is open to swimmers in a designated area supervised by lifeguards. In addition to the swimming, Lake Mohegan has a sprinkler park for children. The fun zone is full of spouts, faucets and misters that will delight tiny toddlers and their older siblings too. The lake also has a playground, a snack bar, picnic shelter and restroom facilities. Fairfield Parks and Recreation holds swimming lessons in the calm lake waters for children beginning at age four. Parking at Lake Mohegan is free, but a fee is charged at the gate to enter the swimming area from Memorial Day Saturday to Labor Day.
Rated #1 in Best Counties for Families in Connecticut and # 18 for Healthiest Counties in America and Best Counties for Outdoor Activities in America respectively by Niche in 2021. It’s easy to see why so many people love to call Fairfield County Connecticut home.
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