Itineraries

48 hours in Vermont

Two days is enough for a proper taste of Vermont if you base yourself in Burlington and take one loop into the Green Mountains. This itinerary covers 3 towns, 4 meals, and a mountain view.

· 6 min read

Day 1 — Burlington waterfront and Church Street

Start with coffee at Muddy Waters on Maple Street, then walk to the ECHO Leahy Center for Lake Champlain ($19.50 adult) for a compact primer on the lake ecosystem. Stroll the Burlington Bike Path north to Waterfront Park and rent a cruiser at Local Motion ($30/half day) if the weather cooperates.

For lunch, grab a maple creemee and a lobster roll at The Spot on Shelburne Road, then spend the afternoon browsing Church Street Marketplace. Dinner at Honey Road (156 Church St) is worth the reservation — book two weeks out. Nightcap at Foam Brewers back on the waterfront, where pints run about $8.

Day 2 — Stowe and the Green Mountains

Drive 45 minutes east on I-89 to Stowe. Fuel up at PK Coffee on Mountain Road, then take the Stowe Mountain Resort gondola ($40 in summer) to the top of Mt. Mansfield for panoramic views. Hikers can tackle the Sunset Ridge Trail instead — plan 4 hours round trip.

Lunch at Doc Ponds (294 Mountain Rd) does a killer smashburger and 24 taps. Drive back via Route 100 through Waterbury and stop at the Ben & Jerry's Factory ($6 tour). Cap the trip with dinner at Hen of the Wood in Waterbury — the mushroom toast is the sleeper hit at $14.

Practical tips for a tight 48

You need a car. Public transit between Burlington and Stowe is thin and slow. Pick up a rental at Burlington International Airport (BTV) — Enterprise and Hertz both operate on-site with rates from $55/day off-season. Parking in downtown Burlington is metered at $1.25/hour or free after 6pm and on Sundays.

Book accommodation in Burlington's Hill Section or on College Street to stay walkable. If you’re driving Route 100, gas up before you leave Stowe — stations thin out after Waterbury and prices creep 20 cents higher in the mountains.

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Plan your days here

📍 Places to visit

Walk Church Street Marketplace end to end

Bike the Island Line to the Causeway

Sunset at the ECHO Leahy Center dock

Brewery hop the Pine Street corridor

🥾 Walks & outdoors

Waterfront to Church Street loop (4 km)

🍽 Eat & go out

Walk Church Street Marketplace end to end

Bike the Island Line to the Causeway

Cheap hotels in Vermont: how Vermont hotel destinations works

Vermont hotel destinations is a curated guide to the whole state, not just Burlington. We cover Burlington and the Champlain Islands, Stowe and the Mount Mansfield area, Woodstock and Quechee, Killington and Rutland, Manchester and the southern Green Mountains, Brattleboro in the southeast, Montpelier and the Northeast Kingdom around St Johnsbury and Jay Peak. Each area page explains who the town suits, what a fair nightly rate looks like, and which streets or roads actually put you where you want to be.

We are not the booking engine. When you tap See price, you are handed to app.impt.io, which aggregates over 8 million hotels worldwide at the same price you would find on the big OTAs, often better. The difference: every booking made through that hand-off funds one verified tonne of carbon removal, at no cost to you. Same room, same price, one tonne of CO2 removed from the atmosphere. That is the entire proposition.

Where to stay in Vermont

Burlington is the obvious first base: walkable, on Lake Champlain, with Church Street Marketplace, Leunig Bistro, and the ECHO science centre all within ten minutes on foot. It is also the only place with a real airport (BTV) and an Amtrak stop at Essex Junction. Stowe, 40 minutes east, is the postcard mountain village — Mount Mansfield towering above, the Trapp Family Lodge on the hill, Idletyme Brewing in the valley. Woodstock, further south, is quieter, wealthier, with the Woodstock Inn anchoring the green and Simon Pearce glassblowing seven miles away in Quechee.

For skiing on a budget, Rutland is the pragmatic pick: cheap motels on Route 7, twenty minutes to Killington and Pico. Manchester suits shoppers (the outlet strip on Route 7A) and Hildene visitors. Brattleboro is the artsy river town near the Massachusetts border, good for a Route 9 drive over Hogback Mountain. The Northeast Kingdom, up around Lake Willoughby and Jay Peak, is empty, cheap and stunning if you want no crowds at all.