Vermont Attractions

Covered bridges, dairy farms, historic landmarks, natural wonders....Vermont will surprise you!  Until you’ve been to Vermont, it’s difficult to grasp how much there is to see and do in this tiny, rural state. 

The biggest attraction in Vermont is the natural beauty. All those picture postcard photographs you’ve seen: they’re really here! And not just a few. Vermont has thousands of beautiful scenes. Pick any road, even the highways (no billboards!) and you will find great Vermont beauty around nearly every corner. Vermont is 80 percent forest and about ten percent pastoral farmland. If you love the natural beauty of the outdoors, you’ll love Vermont - it’s that simple. 

You don’t need to worry about where you should go in Vermont. The entire state is worth seeing. And even though it’s a tiny state, give yourself as much time as you can to see it. Two things we guarantee – you will be glad you came and you will vow to come again. 

Where to start? You could go to the Vermont Attractions Association web page for a start: www.vtattractions.org  These are the larger commercial attractions but you will get to see the state while you are traveling to visit these sites. Most every village has a country store, craft studio, antique store, historic site, or other attraction that will give you hours of enjoyment. Below are some random selections to give you some ideas. They are divided into small geographic regions to make your planning easier. Enjoy!

1. The Food Trail: from Ben & Jerry’s to Stowe
Let’s start with Vermont’s number one tourist attraction: Ben & Jerry’s ice cream factory (www.benjerry.com). It’s located in Waterbury, in the north central part of the state, a few minutes northwest of the capital of Montpelier, and about halfway between the year-around resorts of Stowe and Sugarbush (both a little over 12 miles away). Burlington and Lake Champlain are about 25 miles northwest. This factory was Ben and Jerry’s first big operation. It’s open about 363 days a year and features a humorous half hour factory tour which concludes with free samples. There is also a scoop shop with all B&J’s flavors, plus a souvenir shop if are looking for something for the folks back home. Don’t forget to ask them where the Flavor Graveyard is. It’s the final resting place of flavors that did not sell well enough to survive. There are clever epitaphs on the gravestones.

While you’re in the area, you can almost literally eat your way up Route 100. From Ben & Jerry’s, turn left onto Route 100 and go a few miles to the Cabot Cheese outlet store (www.cabotcheese.com). More free samples here too! You can’t miss it – just look for a crowd of people around a table munching on the cheese samples. Also in the same facility is Lake Champlain Chocolates, “some of the best chocolate in the country” according to the NY Times (www.lakechamplainchocolates.com).

If you can break away from the food for a few minutes, the world famous Vermont Teddy Bear Company (web address here) has its Waterbury Bear Shop here with the company’s full line of bears, clothing, and gifts.

Next stop: a cider mill. Turn left from the Cabot Cheese store and follow Route 100 north a few minutes to Cold Hollow Cider Mill (www.coldhollow.com). It’s a working mill where you can watch apples being squeezed. A local favorite here are the fresh cider doughnuts. There is also a large store with tons of Vermont food and craft products.

By now, you’re only a few minutes from the village of Stowe (www.stowe.com) so keep heading north on Route 100. This area made its reputation on skiing but it is now a year around resort with plenty of summer activities such as golf, tennis, hiking, swimming, horseback riding, and more. One popular destination in the area is Trapp Family Lodge (http://www.trappfamily.com). Yes, the Trapp family still owns and manages the facility. You can usually find at least one of Maria’s and the Baron’s children or grandchildren at work.

Stowe is so small it doesn’t have a traffic light. There’s just one stop sign but there is plenty to see and do here. The thing to do in Stowe is find a place to park along the street or behind the buildings, and then walk around to enjoy the village. There are general stores, craft and art galleries, restaurants (58 of them!), even a covered bridge for pedestrians. The ski areas are about seven miles outside town, on Mountain Road (Route 108) which leads to a spectacular drive over a mountain notch. Called Smugglers’ Notch, it’s closed from late October to mid May because of the amount of snow that falls there and because the road is so twisty, it would be too difficult to get a snowplow through. 

There is a gondola ride at the Stowe ski area which you can ride to nearly the top of Mount Mansfield. At the top is a restaurant called The Cliff House. The Gondola runs during the summer and it’s a great way to see the foliage during the fall too. Look for the Gondola on Route 108 about seven or eight miles from town, on the left. Across the street, at Spruce Peak ski area, is an Alpine Slide open during the warm weather too.

If you would like to go to the top of Mount Mansfield (highest mountain in the Vermont), you can drive there! Look for the Toll Road on Route 108, also on the left about a mile before you get to the gondola ride. Look for the Stowe Inn at the Mountain. The toll booth is at the back of the parking lot. It’s a 20 minute drive along a dirt road to the top of the mountain. There is a ranger station at the top of the mountain. The ranger can direct you to a trail along the ridge of the mountain where you can get a 360 degree view. On most days you can see the Adirondack Mountains in NY and the White Mountains in NH.  The Toll Road is a ski trail in the winter so you can’t drive it then. But you could rent some snowshoes and take a walk you'll remember forever!