★ 4.7Vermont’s biggest town, pinned between Lake Champlain and the University of Vermont — walkable, opinionated, and never quite as urban as it thinks.
Rising gently from the eastern shore of Lake Champlain, Burlington is Vermont’s largest city — though with a population around 45,000 it keeps the intimate, human-scaled warmth of a New England town. What sets it apart from almost any other small city in the United States is its natural amphitheatre: standing anywhere on the downtown waterfront, your eyes sweep across 12 miles of open water to the jagged 5,000-foot skyline of New York’s Adirondacks on the western horizon. The city itself climbs from water level at 95 feet up to the Hill Section and UVM at 300 to 400.
Burlington combines a progressive college-town intellectual spark, driven by the University of Vermont and Champlain College, with a fiercely independent shop-local ethos. You will not find major retail chains on the historic pedestrian mall; instead four brick-paved blocks hold local bookstores, artisan coffee roasters, independent fashion boutiques and outdoor outfitters. Add a world-class craft fermentation scene, farm-to-table restaurants supplied by Champlain Valley growers and miles of paved shoreline trail, and Burlington stands as New England’s undisputed lakeside capital.
Where to stay in Burlington
Base yourself downtown, within a few blocks of Church Street and the Battery Street bluff, if you want to leave the car parked and walk to dinner, the waterfront path and the ferry dock. The Hill Section above it, around UVM and the hospital, is quieter and greener but means a steady climb home, while the cheaper rooms sit out along Shelburne Road and Williston Road in South Burlington, near the airport and handy for I-89 but a drive from anything worth seeing. Winooski, one bridge east, is a good compromise: its own small restaurant scene, ten minutes from downtown. Book well ahead for foliage weekends in late September and early October, and for UVM graduation and move-in, when the whole city fills at once.
Hand-checked stays
Stays in Burlington
★ 4.7
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★ 4.6On the ground
Things to do in Burlington
- Walk Church Street end to endFour brick-paved blocks of pedestrian marketplace running from City Hall Park up to Pearl Street, with independent bookshops, outfitters and coffee roasters instead of the usual chains. Street performers work the middle blocks all summer and it is the best people-watching in the state.
- Ride the Island Line bike pathThe Burlington Greenway follows the shoreline north from Oakledge Park for roughly eight miles to the Colchester Causeway, a stone berm that runs straight out into Lake Champlain. A small bike ferry bridges the gap known as the Cut from mid-summer into the autumn, letting you continue to South Hero.
- Watch the sun drop behind the AdirondacksWaterfront Park and the bluff at Battery Park both look west across twelve miles of open water to the New York peaks. The ECHO Leahy Center and the lake cruise boats leave from the same stretch of waterfront if you want to be out on the water for it.
- Drink your way down Pine StreetThe South End Arts District has the highest concentration of breweries, cideries and studios in the city, with Zero Gravity, Citizen Cider and Foam Brewers near the waterfront end. The South End Art Hop each September opens the warehouses and working studios for a weekend.
- Climb or drive up Mount PhiloAbout 25 minutes south in Charlotte, a short trail and a narrow seasonal auto road reach a 968-foot clifftop with the whole Champlain Valley laid out below. Early-to-mid October is the payoff, and the small car park fills by mid-morning on foliage weekends.
- Shop the Saturday farmers marketOne of the largest in Vermont, outdoors downtown in the warm months and indoors through the winter. Champlain Valley vegetables, cheese, maple and cider, plus enough prepared food to count as lunch.
Getting around & the essentials
Transport
Burlington International (BTV) sits three miles east in South Burlington, and the Amtrak Ethan Allen Express runs daily from the downtown station to Albany and New York. Drivers come in on I-89 exit 14 or up US-7 from the south; downtown itself is walkable with Green Mountain Transit filling in, but a car is worth having for day trips into the Greens or out to the islands.
Good to know
Common questions
Do I need a car in Burlington?
Not for the city itself. Downtown, the waterfront, the Hill Section and UVM are all walkable, and Green Mountain Transit buses cover the rest, including the airport three miles east. You will want a car for Stowe, Shelburne, the Champlain Islands or any hiking.
When is the best time to visit?
September and early October give the best weather and the foliage, but they are also the busiest and priciest. July and August are for the lake. Winter is cold and often grey, with the cheapest rooms; April is mud season and worth skipping.
Can you swim in Lake Champlain?
Yes. North Beach, Oakledge and Red Rocks Park in South Burlington are the usual spots, and the water is comfortable from late June through August. Vermont posts occasional cyanobacteria advisories in late summer, so check the beach signage before you get in.
How far is Ben and Jerry’s or Stowe?
The Ben and Jerry’s factory in Waterbury is about 35 minutes east on I-89, and Stowe roughly 50 minutes. Both make easy half-day trips, and you can string them together in one loop.
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