Places to visit on your trip to Vermont
Vermont is a state in the northeastern U.S. known for its natural landscape, which is 75% forest. It’s also known for home to over 100 19th-century covered bridges, and as a major producer of maple syrup.
There are many Vermont attractions throughout the state for tourists & residents to visit. Attractions include historical places, monuments, museums, state parks & forests.
Shelburne Museum
Restored historic buildings and the collections at the Shelburne Museum reflect Vermont’s rich history. America’s folk and fine art traditions. You can explore a round barn; the lake steamer SS Ticonderoga (now on dry land); a lake lighthouse.
A barn filled with vintage carriages and wagons; a print shop; and collections of carved decoys. American quilts, handmade hatboxes, hooked rugs, and trains, in a bucolic village setting among manicured gardens.
Mount Mansfield
Mount Mansfield is the highest mountain in Vermont. It’s the most visited mountain in Vermont. It’s one of two places in Vermont where Arctic Tundra can be found. Mt. Mansfield State Forest named for Mount Mansfield. The Mount Mansfield Visitor Center at the top currently serves as an information center and starting off point for hikers and nature enthusiasts.
Mansfield at its top are sweeping views and more than two miles of ridge-top hiking above tree line. A number of routes reach its summit. The Long Trail crosses Route 108 at the foot of Smugglers’ Notch, climbing steadily for 2.3 miles to the ridgeline. The Auto Toll Road is accessible to cars only, and takes visitors up a steep and windy unpaved 4.5-mile-long road.
Church Street Marketplace
The Church Street Marketplace is an uncovered outdoor pedestrian shopping and dining mall in Burlington, Vermont. Consisting of the four blocks of Church Street between Main and Pearl Streets. It encompasses about 60 plus local retailers and 30 plus dining experiences.
There are multiple great lodging options all within walking distance of the Church Street Marketplace. The marketplace is also home to dozens of restaurants, bars, and coffee shops. Along with the festivals scheduled throughout the year, it’s a place for sidewalk cafes, benches, and public artworks.
Sugarbush Farm
Visit a working Vermont farm and sample 15 kinds of cheese and the four different grades of Pure Vermont Maple Syrup at Sugarbush Farm. Open every day with free self-tours of the maple sugar house with an educational video about the maple syrup boiling process.
Explore the maple walk in the woods to see how trees are tapped. Located 5 miles from historic Woodstock on a scenic gravel road. No reservation needed but best to call for road conditions during winter storms and early spring thaw. Picnic area, kids play area, and farm animals during the warmer months.
Hildene
Robert Todd Lincoln, son of the president. Visited Manchester shortly before his father’s assassination. He returned to build the Georgian Revival Hildene as his country estate. Hildene represents an example of homes built as retreats for the families of wealthy.
Furnished with many pieces from Mrs. Lincoln’s family. Personal belongings of President Lincoln include his famous stovepipe hat. Other highlights are the thousand-pipe 1908 Aeolian organ, in working condition, and the elegant dining room furnished in Queen Anne style.
Bennington Battle Monument
The 306-foot Bennington Battle Monument features an observation deck with views of three states Vermont, New York and Massachusetts. You can bypass the monument’s 412 steps by taking an elevator to the top for views. Upward 168 feet where the rock-faced stone changes above this is a band of rock-faced stone punctuated by twenty, eleven-foot slotted openings at the observation level.
On the grounds at the Monument are a number of additional monuments. The largest is the heroic figure of Seth Warner, commander of the Green Mountain Boys cut from granite. Also prominently displayed is a large granite boulder with a bronze tablet, which was placed in honor of General John Stark and the 1,400 New Hampshire men who were involved in the Battle.
Quechee Gorge
Vermont’s deepest gorge was formed by glaciers about 13,000 years ago. Has continued to deepen by the constant action of the Ottauquechee River, which you will see flowing 165 feet below. The Quechee Gorge, located in Quechee State Park, draws thousands of tourists yearly who marvel at the beautiful sights.
The best place to view the gorge in Quechee State Park is from the walkway. Along the arched iron bridge that carries Route 4 across the top about 7 miles from Woodstock. A trail leads through the woods beside the rim to the bottom of the gorge, where you can see the lower part of it from water level. Campsites are available for overnight guests, and the park’s location is super convenient for those who stay overnight.
Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historic Park
The Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park concentrates on land stewardship in America. Incorporates both a working farm and a Victorian mansion set in formal gardens. Tours of the Rockefeller home and grounds. Include themes of gardening, forestry, and their relationship to conservation.
Walk through one of Vermont’s most beautiful landscapes, under the shade of sugar maples and 400-year-old hemlocks, across covered bridges and alongside rambling stone walls. Visitors can tour the mansion and gardens where these exceptional people lived and observed nature and visiting the conservation stewardship exhibit at the Carriage Barn Visitor Center.
ECHO, Leahy Center for Lake Champlain
ECHO, Leahy Center for Lake Champlain is an innovative science and nature museum. Located on the Burlington waterfront in northern Vermont. Discover over 100 interactive family experiences, 70 live species, seasonal changing exhibits.
Northfield Savings Bank immersive 3D Theater. ECHO has been reinvented by all new permanent and highly interactive science exhibits, Awesome Forces and Engineer It. Visitors of all ages tackle daily engineering challenges at our tinkering bench and test zones.
Ben & Jerry’s
Vermont’s most popular tourist attraction for children. Ben & Jerry’s factory tour is a favorite experience for adults, too. The Waterbury site is the only Ben & Jerry’s factory open to the public. On the guided tour of the factory, you’ll watch workers as they make and package ice cream. The small Scoop shop, retail area and tour route have remained fairly unchanged over the years.
Be sure to visit the Flavor Graveyard. Of course, a sample of the day’s flavor is included, and you can sample more flavors before choosing your favorite at their scoop shop.
Things to Do in Vermont
Every year, Vermont Maple Producers collect sap from sugar maple trees and boil it down. Creating pure Vermont maple syrup and other maple products. Visit a sugar house during maple sugaring season.