Vacation In Vermont Attractions
Vacationing in Vermont is a top vacation choice for both residents and tourists. Discover what’s new, unique and exciting in the Green Mountain State.
There are something like 350 vacation attractions in New England, and Vermont has some of the most beautiful areas in New England, so I thought I’d write about all the great Vermont attractions.
With summer just around the corner along with a lot of spring cleaning, you may be looking to get away. With the hustle and bustle of everyday life, it is easy to get caught up in your own backyard and forget there are plenty of vacation spots in Vermont
In addition to the festivities listed above, one can visit a number of other special attractions in Vermont. The Vermont Marble Museum in Proctor is a fascinating attraction. In Rutland, the Vermont Teddy Bear Company has an interesting museum showcasing historical teddy bears.
Vermont is a wonderful place to vacation. Yes, there are many museums in Vermont and the skiing is great. But, there is much more that makes up this beautiful state – all things to do in Vermont.
Vermont is equal parts myth and reality, home to a mystique that other states can only envy. A mere mention of its name, and images appear: sunlit meadows of black-and-white cows, dazzling white ski trails, tidy hillside farms, blazing red maple trees along a stone wall, covered bridges, buckets collecting sap for maple syrup.
Certainly these idyllic scenes still exist, although less picturesque plastic tubing has replaced most of the buckets, and many of the farms may now be chic B&Bs.
Vacation In Vermont Attractions
Another Vermont exists alongside this idealized one, represented by bustling Burlington, the outlet malls of Manchester, Killington’s frenetic après-ski scene, and Brattleboro’s unlikely blend of gritty blue-collar and ’70s hippies grown up. Even the state’s mainstay of agriculture has a new look, as dozens of artisanal cheese makers transform Vermont’s dairy industry, and tourists eagerly follow the Vermont Cheese Trail to sample them.
Other trails lead to traditional tourist attractions: maple farms boiling sap and welcoming visitors each March, and covered bridges – seven of them in the far northern town of Montgomery alone. You’ll enjoy both Vermonts.
Discover the best things to do in this captivating state with our list of the top attractions and places to visit in Vermont.
Note: Some businesses may be temporarily closed due to recent global health and safety issues.
1. Stowe
With a covered bridge, white-spired church, weathered barns, and ski trails down the mountainside, Stowe is everybody’s image of Vermont. At the foot of Mt. Mansfield and in the heart of the state’s snow belt, it’s also the town that most personifies the glory days of Vermont’s early ski industry, a heritage that’s explored here in the Vermont Ski Museum.
Although avid skiers had climbed the mountain long before that, and a rope tow was installed in 1937, things really took off in 1940, when the first chairlift was opened.
It’s not all about skiing; you’ll find shops and boutiques, art galleries, dining, and lodging of all sorts. Exhibits of works by Vermont-based artists are shown in the Helen Day Art Center. You can rent bicycles to ride, or you can walk or skate along the 5.3-mile Stowe Recreation Path, a paved multi-use route through meadows and woods alongside the river, with beautiful views of Mt. Mansfield.
Stowe Mountain Resort is still one of New England’s premier ski destinations, and the gondola that carries skiers in the winter takes sightseers to the summit for more views in the summer and fall. You can find things to do here all year.
Accommodation: Where to Stay in Stowe
2. Church Street Marketplace
In the heart of downtown Burlington, Church Street is only four blocks long, but it forms a wide, traffic-free space for public events and a lively street life even in Vermont’s cold winters. Along with the festivals scheduled throughout the year, it’s a place for sidewalk cafes, benches, and public artworks, and the buildings alongside it are filled with shops, restaurants, and boutiques. In the summer, when everyone is outdoors, it has the feel of an Italian piazza.
A mural, Everyone Loves a Parade! by Canadian muralist Pierre Hardy decorates a wall, and other artworks include a life-sized statue of a local jazz artist and a fish fountain crafted of metal. It’s no wonder this has been named one of the Great Public Spaces in America; it’s also listed as a National Register Historic District.
You can stay close to the action, only a block away at the Hotel Vermont. This hip, modern inn has a local community ethic and lovely views of Lake Champlain from its upper-floor guest rooms.
Address: Church Street, Burlington, Vermont
Official site: www.churchstmarketplace.com
Accommodation: Where to Stay in Burlington
3. Hildene
Robert Todd Lincoln, son of the president, visited Manchester with his mother shortly before his father’s assassination. After he had become president of Pullman Company, in the early 20th century, he returned to build the Georgian Revival Hildene as his country estate.
Hildene represents a fine example of homes built as retreats for the families of wealthy magnates and is furnished with a number of pieces from Mrs. Lincoln’s family. Personal belongings of President Lincoln include his famous stovepipe hat.
Other highlights are the thousand-pipe 1908 Aeolian organ, in working condition, and the elegant dining room furnished in Queen Anne style. The home remained in the Lincoln family until 1975, thus preserving the original furnishings and memorabilia. The formal gardens on the terrace overlooking the broad valley have been restored from records of original plantings.
You can stay in another of these elegant mansions built in Manchester by wealthy industrialists. The Inn at Ormsby Hill, near Hildene, is now an elegant bed-and-breakfast.
Address: 1005 Hildene Road, Manchester, Vermont
Official site: www.hildene.org
4. Mount Mansfield and Smugglers Notch
Mountain Road climbs out of Stowe and up the shoulder of Mount Mansfield, past Stowe Mountain Resort, where a gondola carries skiers and sightseers to the summit. Beyond the resort, the road narrows to snake through Smugglers’ Notch, one of Vermont’s most engaging natural attractions.
The road through this pass between Mount Mansfield and Spruce Peak is so tight and narrow as it winds upward that at some curves only a single car can pass through the openings between the giant boulders.
Snowplows can’t get through it in the winter, when the road closes just past the ski area. The rest of the year, you can park the car and walk the paths among this massive jumble of glacial rock and discover the caves where 19th-century smugglers once hid.
The caves and gigantic boulders were formed when the glacier stalled here during the last ice age, smashing the mountain ledges and dropping them into the notch, where they were carved and tumbled by more glacial action.
Mansfield is Vermont’s highest mountain, and at its top are sweeping views and more than two miles of ridge-top hiking above tree line. This is one of only two places in Vermont where rare arctic-alpine tundra exists. A number of routes reach its summit. The Long Trail crosses Route 108 at the foot of Smugglers’ Notch, climbing steadily for 2.3 miles to the ridgeline.
Close to the point where the Long Trail crosses Route 108 at the base of Smugglers’ Notch, Topnotch Resort is a luxurious base for exploring the area, with mountain views, three pools, a full-service spa, and a fine-dining restaurant.
5. Burlington Bike Path and Waterfront Park
A paved bicycle path borders eight miles of Burlington’s Lake Champlain shoreline, extending from Oakledge Park north to the Winooski River. Alongside is a graded path for walkers and runners, with benches at points with the best views across the lake.
The path connects several parks that mark the shoreline, and a boardwalk forms a promenade along the central section. Here, you’ll find the ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center and Vermont’s only All-America Display Garden, where flowering ornamental plants bloom through summer and fall.
Waterfront Park is the site of several festivals in the summer, and picnic tables along the route invite a lakeside lunch. In the spring, the path is lined by brilliant blooming azaleas and at any time of year, this is Vermont’s best spot for watching the spectacular sunsets over Lake Champlain.
6. Vermont’s Year-Round Ski Resorts
From the slopes of Mount Snow in the south to Jay Peak in the north, skiing extends the entire length of Vermont. Some of the top ski resorts in the east are here, and the state’s nearly two dozen ski mountains offer downhill ski experiences for everyone, from young children and beginners to experts training for the Olympics. State of the art snowmaking and grooming keeps slopes and trails in top condition from December through March.
Winter isn’t the only time you can enjoy Vermont’s ski resorts, however. The larger ones have on-mountain activities all year, offering mountain slides, rope courses, mountain biking, and scenic rides on the lifts that carry skiers to the summits in the winter. Resorts at the base have spas, swimming pools, Segway rides, golf, and activities for all ages.
Okemo Mountain Resort has the Timber Ripper Mountain Coaster; a spa; a mountain bike park; scenic chairlift rides; disc and miniature golf; and the Haulback Challenge Course, an aerial journey from tree to tree. Killington Ski Resort has the Beast Mountain Coaster, a ropes course, and an Adventure Center.
Stowe Mountain Resort whisks visitors to the top on the state’s only gondola lift, or drivers can ascend to the summit of Mt. Mansfield on the Toll Road. Stratton Mountain has a mountain bike park and a 27-hole championship golf course.
7. Quechee Gorge
Vermont’s deepest gorge was formed by glaciers about 13,000 years ago, and has continued to deepen by the constant action of the Ottauquechee River, which you will see flowing 165 feet below. The best place to view the gorge is from the walkway along the arched iron bridge that carries Route 4 across the top.
A trail leads through the woods beside the rim to the bottom of the gorge, where you can see the lower part of it from water level. Close to the gorge, also on Route 4, is the excellent Vermont Institute of Natural Sciences (VINS), a nature center where injured raptors are rehabilitated and returned to the wild.
Address: Route 4, Quechee, Vermont
Official site: www.vtstateparks.com/htm/quechee.htm
8. Bennington Battle Monument and Museum
The 306-foot-high obelisk, visible for miles around, commemorates the 1777 battle fought about five miles west of Bennington, which turned the tide against the British by splitting British General John Burgoyne’s forces in half, making the final American victory possible. You can bypass the monument’s 412 steps by taking an elevator to the top for views.
The nearby Bennington Museum is best known for its extensive collection of works by primitive folk artist Grandma Moses, along with her schoolhouse painting studio.
The museum is also especially strong in its collections of Bennington pottery, furniture, toys, American glassware, and Victorian quilts. You’ll also find fine art and artifacts from the colonial and Civil War periods.
Address: Route 9, Bennington, Vermont