★ 4.0Bordering Canada in the northwest.
Vermont’s maple-sugar and dairy heartland, where Lake Champlain’s quiet eastern shore meets rolling pasture, sugarbush hills and the wetlands of the Missisquoi delta. Bordering Quebec, it trades tourist crowds for railroad-town history, covered bridges, island state parks and the biggest maple harvest of any county in the country.
Where to stay in Franklin County
St. Albans is the only place in the county with a walkable centre, and staying near Taylor Park gets you restaurants, groceries and the Amtrak platform without needing the car for the evening. For the lake, drop three miles west to St. Albans Bay or south along the shore through Georgia, which is where the swimming, the boat access and the campgrounds are — quieter, but you will drive for everything else. The eastern half of the county is different country: Enosburg Falls and Richford on VT-105 and VT-118 sit among the sugarbush hills and are the cheapest, most rural beds, while Swanton and Highgate put you minutes from the Missisquoi delta and the I-89 border crossing if Montreal is part of the plan. Rooms are easy to find most of the year, with the exception of maple weekends in March and the Vermont Maple Festival, when St. Albans sells out.
Hand-checked stays
Stays in Franklin County
★ 4.0
★ 4.0
★ 4.0
★ 4.0On the ground
Things to do in Franklin County
- Vermont Maple FestivalSt. Albans, the 'Maple City', throws a three-day maple street party every April — syrup contests, pancake breakfasts, creemees and a parade.
- Montgomery’s covered bridgesSix historic Trout River covered bridges sit within one mountain town — the highest concentration anywhere in the United States.
- Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge6,700 acres of delta marsh in Swanton — boardwalk trails, the Black Creek canoe route and some of the best migratory birding in Vermont.
- Burton Island State ParkA 253-acre car-free island in Lake Champlain’s Inland Sea, reached by the Island Runner ferry from Kill Kare State Park.
- Missisquoi Valley Rail TrailA flat 26.3-mile crushed-limestone path from St. Albans to Richford, tracing the river past dairy barns and trestle bridges.
- Lake Carmi State ParkSandy beaches and quiet camping on Vermont’s fourth-largest natural lake, with warm-water fishing for pike and walleye.
Getting around & the essentials
Transport
I-89 runs the length of Franklin County from Georgia north to the Canadian border at Highgate Springs, with US-7 and VT-78, VT-105 and VT-118 filling in the back roads. St. Albans is the northern terminus of Amtrak’s Vermonter, which makes it one of the few rural Vermont towns you can genuinely reach by train, and Burlington International (BTV) is about 30 minutes south. Outside St. Albans itself the county is rural and a car is essential.
Good to know
Common questions
Is it worth basing here instead of Burlington?
If you want lower prices and quiet, yes. St. Albans is about 30 minutes up I-89 from Burlington, so you can day-trip into the city and still stay in farm country with lake access.
How easy is crossing into Quebec?
Very. The I-89 crossing at Highgate Springs is the busiest in the state and puts you on the Montreal autoroute, with the city around an hour and a quarter from St. Albans. There are smaller crossings at Richford and elsewhere, and everyone needs a passport or equivalent.
When is maple season?
The sap normally runs from late February into early April, depending on how the freeze-thaw cycles fall. Many producers open to visitors during a statewide maple open house weekend in March, and St. Albans holds the Vermont Maple Festival once the boiling is done in spring.
What is there to do here in summer?
Lake Champlain is the main draw: swimming and boating at St. Albans Bay, camping on the island state parks, and birding in the Missisquoi delta. Add the rail trail, the covered bridges, and a dense run of farm stands and creemee shacks.
Keep exploring
Nearby towns
Every booking through Vermont Destinations funds one verified tonne of carbon removal — same room, same price, no markup.
Find a stay