During the summer there are a bunch of things to do. There are plenty of clubs (I like the Lux Lounge personally), great restaurants, baseball if you like that kind of thing, malls, and Canada is really close. We often take day trips to Niagara. You’ll find plenty of stuff to do, no worries!

http://www.cityofrochester.gov/index.cfm?id=483 Here’s a link with all the big festivals that happen year round. If you like Jazz, the Jazz festival is pretty big in June. The baseball team is the Rochester Red Wings, the soccer team is very good - the Rochester Rhinos. They both play at Frontier Field. There are a couple good coffee shops - Java’s, and Spot. Not sure how old you are, but the “East End” area is full of bars—East Ave and Alexander Street.

If you’ll be in the area at the right time: http://www.lilacfestival.com/
or the: http://www.park-avenue.org/events.html.

You can always go to the mall:
http://enrollment.rochester.edu/admissions/rochester/shopping.shtm.

If you like Rochester Style Wings I recomend Country Sweet:
http://dinesite.com/info/rstrnt-69548/??&t=0

And no trip would be complete without a
Nick Tahoes’ Garbage Plate.

Is there anything specific you’d like to do?

If you are coming fom a big city, like NYC, don’t expect that same type of atmosphere. It isn’t the same type of vibe. There are lots of things to do, ie bars, museums, sports arenas, festivals, etc. they just aren’t all on top of each other or connected by a NYC subway-type of system like in NYC. Expect to drive.

That being said: Check out: The Insider Rochester weekly aimed at 20-40-somethings, lots of calender, things to do type of info.
Also check out The Rochester Wiki -A wiki by rochesterians again 20 – 40 somethings with reviews of different things to do etc.

Depending on the time of summer, there are alot of festivals going on. The Lilac festival and the Park Ave festival are the two big ones and are at different times. There are lots of little festivals going on throughout the summer. I think we average like 1 a weekendfrom Memorial day through Labor Day. Those are always a good summer time activity.
I would recommend going to a Red Wings baseball game at Frontier Field. The Rhinos are our soccer team and they will be playing part of the season at Frontier field and part in a brand new stadium that won’t be ready until July or August (I think). They are in the AAA of soccer, but they draw better than most of the MLS teams.

If you want to “know” Rochester, do the things in this paragraph:
Go to the George Eastman House, The Susan B. Anthony House is in a rough neighborhood, but well worth it. Eat a Garbage Plate. Make sure you go to the Pittsford Wegmans. Go the Public Market on Saturdays. Get an Abbott’s custard. Go to Fairport (eastside) or Brockport (westside) and walk the canal.

There are lots of little restaurants, but they are in the suburbs, I llike the Montage (which is downtown, oops) and Alladins in Pittsford on the Erie Canal. Donnelly’s in Fairport is a great little bar. Daisy Duke’s is a country bar in the city too.

There are three really big malls to go to. If you are staying on the westside of town, go to Greece Ridge. On the eastside, go to Eastview.
If you are staying in a suburb, you will probably have to drive to get anywhere. If you are staying in the city (Monroe ave. Alexander st., etc.) There are a lot of funky little places to shop and eat.
If you are staying out in the country (Macedon, Rush, Hilton, etc.) you are on your own. I would see the Finger lakes for some boating and there are a ton of wineries in those areas.

“Rochester” has one of the highest murder rates in the state, but that is only in the inner city. It is rare for there to be a murder in the suburbs or outside of certain neighborhoods in the city. None of these things are really in those areas though.

I hope that helps, Good luck.