Itineraries

48 hours in Vermont

Two days is enough to hit Burlington, taste 3 local cheeses, and stand on a covered bridge — if you plan tight and drive smart.

· 6 min read

Day 1: Burlington and Lake Champlain

Start on Church Street Marketplace with a maple latte from Muddy Waters on Main Street (around $5). Walk down to the ECHO Center on College Street for the lake, then rent a bike at Local Motion on the waterfront ($30 for a half day) and ride the Island Line out toward the Colchester Causeway. Back in town, lunch at American Flatbread on St. Paul Street for a wood-fired pie (around $18). End with sunset at Battery Park and dinner at Hen of the Wood on Bank Street — book a week ahead.

Day 2: Stowe and Waterbury

Drive I-89 south 40 minutes to Waterbury. Ben & Jerry's factory tour on Route 100 costs $6 and takes 30 minutes with samples. Continue north to Stowe: hike Sterling Pond off the Route 108 notch (2.4 miles, closed in winter) or ride the gondola at Stowe Mountain Resort ($34). Eat lunch at The Bench on Mountain Road for wood-fired flatbread and Vermont beer. Stop at Cold Hollow Cider Mill on the way back for a $2 cider donut before returning to Burlington.

Where to sleep

Base yourself in Burlington to skip repeat drives. Hotel Vermont on Cherry Street is the sharp choice at $280-$380; the Made INN Vermont B&B on North Willard runs about $220 with breakfast. Budget travelers should look at North Beach Campground on Institute Road ($40 tent, walk to town) or the Burlington Hostel on Main Street from $55. Avoid staying in Stowe unless you’re skiing — the drive back on Route 100 after dinner is dark and full of moose.

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Plan your days here

📍 Places to visit

Walk Church Street end to end

Sunset ferry to Port Kent, NY

Bike the Island Line Causeway

ECHO Center on the waterfront

🥾 Walks & outdoors

Church Street to Waterfront Loop (3 km)

🍽 Eat & go out

Walk Church Street end to end

Where to stay in Vermont

Burlington is the obvious first choice: a walkable downtown, the Church Street Marketplace, waterfront paths along Lake Champlain, and a strong food and brewery scene (Foam, Zero Gravity, Citizen Cider all within a mile). Stowe is where you go for the mountain postcard — Mount Mansfield rises behind the village, and the Mountain Road climbs past inns, farm-to-table restaurants and the Trapp Family Lodge. Woodstock, further south, is quieter and more moneyed, with the Billings Farm, the Ottauquechee River and a green surrounded by Federal-era buildings.

For skiing, Killington has the biggest lift network in the east and lodging clusters along the Killington Road; Stowe and Sugarbush are more scenic but pricier. Manchester suits shoppers (the outlets on Route 7A) and hikers doing Equinox. The Northeast Kingdom — think Craftsbury, Greensboro, Burke — is the cheapest and emptiest quarter of the state, best for travellers who want dirt roads, Hill Farmstead beer runs and no crowds. Brattleboro is the arty southern gateway, easy from Boston.

What Vermont hotels cost

Prices swing hard by season. In shoulder months (late April to early June, and early November), a decent motel or inn runs $85-$130 in Rutland, St. Johnsbury or Brattleboro, and $130-$180 in Burlington or Stowe. Mid-range B&Bs in Woodstock and Manchester sit around $180-$260. Summer (July to Labor Day) adds roughly 20-30% and brings two-night minimums to popular inns. Burlington waterfront properties like Hotel Vermont or the Courtyard on Cherry Street run $250-$340 in July.

Then comes foliage. From September 25 through mid-October, expect $300-$500 at Woodstock Inn, Twin Farms nudging $2,000-plus all-inclusive, and even roadside motels charging $200. Ski season pricing depends on snow and holidays: a slopeside condo at Killington or Stowe runs $280-$550 midweek and $500-$900 on Presidents Weekend or Christmas week. Book foliage by April and Christmas ski weeks by June if you want any choice.