Explore the beauty of Vermont!
During our trip to Vermont, we got to experience the charming town of Burlington, the countryside with it’s maple farms and some really interesting attractions like the granite mine. Vermont has a lot to offer and is a wonderful year round destination.
This trip took place in July 2021. Before Vermont, we were in New Hampshire and after, we were in New York City. This took place as part of a 2 week New England Road Trip!
Check out the full vlog here:
Montpelier
Our first stop in Vermont was the capital city, Montpelier! This is a super cute, small capital city. In fact, it’s the only capital city that doesn’t have a McDonalds, and the only one without a Starbucks! We enjoyed lunch here at the Skinny Pancake – which is an amazing breakfast/brunch place that also has a location in Burlington. The town has a ton of cute stores, and a really nice capital building.
Just outside of the city is the Rock of Ages Granite Quarry. We just learned that they recently closed the visitor center and cancelled the guided tours as of 2025, after 100 years of operating tours to the public. I’m sad to hear this – because it was a really great tour. They have a nice visitor center, and then took you on a small group tour up to the top of the quarry. From there, you can look down into the bright milky blue water! From the top you can barely see little people at the bottom working, at almost 600 feet below us. We weren’t lucky enough to see any major work being done while we were there, but even just seeing how tiny the machinery looks at the bottom is incredible. Since you won’t be able to visit for yourself, check out the pics below.
This quarry helps produce a ton of granite that helps build headstones, among other things. A little morbid, but there is a really amazing cemetery close by if you want to see some elaborate (i.e. way too expensive) headstones.
Burlington
Burlington might just be one of the cutest towns we’ve visited. The weather was perfect in the summer, it has the gorgeous Lake Champlain right outside your door, and is super close the the mountains and charming maple factories. It’s a great home base for exploring the surrounding area. We stayed at this wonderful hotel with a great location, walking distance to everything.
Church Street
Our first evening, we had a great dinner, and then walked down Church Street. The downtown area is so adorable. It has brick sidewalks, stores, live music and more. It’s also known for Ben and Jerrys (more on that later), so we stopped to get some this evening!
Lake Champlain
If you’re in Burlington, a great option for your day is to relax at the lake. There are a lot of beaches you can visit, and great bike paths along the lake. We chose to spend the day at North Beach Park. We picked this beach because they had kayak rentals, a nice beach and facilities. We really enjoyed this relaxing day with gorgeous views over the lake and the mountains in the distance. We packed a picnic and spent the day here.
Also – don’t miss out on the sunsets in Burlington. The lakefront near downtown has huge grassy areas, places to sit and a great path for walking.
Oh, and they have the worlds largest filing cabinet – critical to add to your list!
Shelbourne Farms
This is a nonprofit farm that is open to the public. It has extensive trails and walking paths, with a ton of animals to see along the way. You can also see them making cheese (can take a full tour if you get tickets!) and just wander around the beautiful farm. We stayed just less than 2 hours, but you could make a whole afternoon of it. They have a really nice farm shop too where we got some maple syrup to take home with us.
Food!!
Some great food we ate while in Burlington:
- Handy’s Lunch – this adorable diner has been around since 1945 and was filled with locals. We had a delicious, and afordable breakfast here
- Splash – this restaurant is right on the lake and has amazing views. Food was good, although you’re paying a bit for the views!
- Beansie’s Bus – this is essentially a food truck, in a converted school bus. It’s right in a park with a playground and amazing views of the lake. Food is delicious and inexpensive. This was a favorite of our kids!
- El Cortijo – good Mexican food right in center of downtown area
- Skinny Pancake – we liked this so much in Montpelier that we went back again in Burlington
- Burlington Bay Café – we went to this place right near the lake to try a maple creemee – which is basically like soft serve maple ice cream, and a must try while in Vermont!
Stowe
Using Burlington as our home base, we made our way out to Stowe, making a few stops.
Ben and Jerry’s
This is the headquarters of Ben and Jerry’s where you can actually take a factory tour. We opted out, since we had a packed day, but we did make a quick stop to visit the flavor graveyard.
Adorable Farm Stands
All along the drive to Stowe, and even around the Vermont area we saw so many amazing farm stores. I’ll try to list what we went to, but you’ll see them everywhere. We basically whipped the car into the parking lot anytime we’d see any farm stand. They always have great food to sample and purchase to bring home.
Couple we tried: Morse Farm Maple Sugarworks, Cabot Farmers Store, Smugglers Notch Distillery (was closed when we went, but apparently has maple rum!), Lake Champlain Chocolates, and Cold Hollow Cider Mill. We also stopped at the Vermont Artisan Coffee & Tea. I got a maple latte and it was life changing. I still dream about this latte.
Von Trapp Family Lodge
We are children of parents who loved the Sound of Music, so we had to make a stop at the lodge while we were here. The lodge itself is really beautiful and has great views of the surrounding countryside. We didn’t stay long, but looks like there is a brewery and things to do while here.
Stowe Mountain Resort
The Stowe Mountain resort is a really fun family place to visit while in the area. We were not prepared, but if you book ahead, they have activities like ziplining you could do. We booked a gondola ticket to the top of the mountain (overpriced – of course), but got some great views from the top.
We were sad to leave Vermont – what a beautiful state. On the drive towards New York, we really enjoyed all the rolling hills, farms and more farm stands to stop at.
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