2024 Vermont Travel Guide | Best Restaurants, Hotels, & Things to Do

2024 Best of Vermont: The Classics

VERMONT CLASSIC DINING

BISTRO
Leunig’s Bistro, Burlington

An Édith Piaf song in the Church Street Marketplace? It’s wafting out from Burlington’s little bit of Paris. Onion soup, foie gras, salade Niçoise, beef bourguignon, and steak frites—all the French comfort classics are here, along with American cuisine with a continental flair and an emphasis on Vermont cheeses. Tables spill out onto the brick walk, bringing bistro charm en plein air. leunigsbistro.com

FINE DINING
Simon Pearce, Quechee

Yes, fine glassmaking comes to mind first, but the riverside mill transformed by master craftsman Simon Pearce also houses a celebrated dining establishment. Watch the Ottauquechee River rush by while enjoying shepherd’s pie, sesame chicken, or seared salmon and perhaps a selection of Vermont artisan cheeses. After lunch or before dinner, linger at the cozy bar, or head downstairs to watch glassblowers at work. simonpearce.com

PUB
Three Penny Taproom, Montpelier

The tiniest American capital’s favorite bar/restaurant pours some two dozen drafts—including Hill Farmstead’s celebrated brews—and nearly as many bottles and cans. The menu is built around shareable bar snacks (pair the roasted corn fritters with a sturdy brown ale), burgers, wings, and honest, filling entrees. threepennytaproom.com

VERMONT CLASSIC LODGING

COUNTRY INN
Rabbit Hill Inn, Lower Waterford

Located just a stroll from the Connecticut River, which once carried travelers to the inn’s antecedents, Rabbit Hill exemplifies B&B luxury. Tucked behind the grand columns are rooms and suites with amenities such as gas fireplaces and private balconies; a favorite is the Adirondack-style Cedar Glen, with its massive, hewn-log four-poster bed. Dine at the candlelit 24 Carrot, or enjoy drinks and pub fare at Snooty Fox. rabbithillinn.com

LUXURY INN
Woodstock Inn & Resort, Woodstock

“Casual elegance” is the watchword at this inn facing the town green in one of Vermont’s handsomest villages. Heir to a 230-year innkeeping tradition and rebuilt by Laurance Rockefeller in the 1960s, it boasts contemporary amenities such as an expansive spa, an 18-hole golf course, tennis courts, and tavern and fine-dining options. Book one of the two Rockefeller suites, and you’ve punched your ticket to the high life. woodstockinn.com

WATERFRONT RESORT
Basin Harbor, Vergennes

The fullest full-service Vermont resort commands a spectacular Lake Champlain location. Guests at 74 individual cottages and lodge accommodations choose from a wide array of sporting options including 18-hole golf, tennis, croquet, and pickleball. You’ll want to leave land: Paddleboard, perhaps, or kick back on a narrated cruise. Dine on full American, MAP, European, or B&B plans at a selection of restaurants. There’s even a private airstrip. basinharbor.com

WOODLAND RETREAT
Blueberry Hill Inn, Goshen

Vermont’s favorite cross-country ski lodge, deep in the Moosalamoo National Recreation Area in the Green Mountain National Forest, is an all-season destination inn. Among the guest quarters are a pair of family-friendly double-level loft rooms and a former blacksmith shop with a full kitchen. Rates include a generous breakfast, and fixed-price BYOB dinners are served. Just don’t fill up first on homemade cookies, provided all day. blueberryhillinn.com

VERMONT CLASSIC ACTIVITIES

ANTIQUES SHOP
Windham Antique Center, Bellows Falls

A warren of rooms sprawling across two floors and 7,000 square feet, this is a place where it’s easy to get lost in centuries past. It’s packed with vintage furniture ranging from colonial through Victorian, porcelain and silver tableware, heirloom jewelry, lamps, and restoration hardware. An unexpected sideline is a natural history collection that includes geodes bursting with color. windhamantiquecentervermont.com

FAMILY ATTRACTION
Billings Farm & Museum, Woodstock

Frederick Billings’s 19th-century model farm lives on as a working dairy with a herd of prize Jersey cattle, along with draft horses, sheep, goats, and other farm critters. The museum features reconstructed interiors of a general store and rural farmhouse. Hands-on activities abound, and late-summer visitors get an added mood boost while wandering through the largest “sunflower house” in the country. billingsfarm.org

HISTORY MUSEUM
Vermont History Museum, Montpelier

A series of expertly organized galleries in the capital city’s Pavilion Building takes visitors on a vivid 300-year tour, beginning with a facsimile of a bark-covered Abenaki dwelling. Progress through colonial upheavals, the rise of family farms and dairying, and the state’s discovery by skiers, vacationers, and the ’60s émigrés who helped create today’s Vermont. vermonthistory.org

2024 Best of Vermont: New & Buzzy

VERMONT NEW & BUZZY DINING

BREWPUB
Bent Hill Brewery, Braintree

This destination brewery has long fascinated beer lovers with its bold flavorings—dill, blood orange, rhubarb, currants, graham crackers, and maple have all gone into the fermenters. Since 2021, the hilltop pub has offered a vegetarian menu that’s just as inventive, with things like pesto gnocchi, fried cauliflower tacos, and black bean quesadillas to pair with fresh brews. benthillbrewery.com

SHAREABLE MENU
Onion City Chicken & Oyster, Winooski

Someone had to bring the two together—on the menu, not the plate. The eponymous celebrities here are plump, fresh-shucked oysters and fried chicken from Vermont’s Misty Knoll Farm. Also on the card are cheddar beignets, lobster rolls, fish-and-“crisps,” and the option to go low with a hot dog or high with osetra or beluga caviar or both with tater tots topped with trout roe, smoked char, and chive crème fraîche. onioncityvt.com

LOCAVORE SPOT
A Vermont Table, Brattleboro

“Locally sourced” are the magic words for Vermont eateries these days, and this downtown Brattleboro newcomer sticks with the program, featuring the region’s meats and produce in its dinner and brunch menus. Look for grass-fed beef, Upper Connecticut Valley pork, and seasonal vegetables from area farms—even soy from Vermont beans. We’ll forgive the chefs for shopping elsewhere for white anchovies and bottarga. avermonttable.com

VERMONT NEW & BUZZY LODGING

ADVENTURE LODGE
Tälta Lodge, Stowe

Styled as a “boutique base camp,” Tälta is at the center of outdoor action. Stowe Mountain Resort is nearby, as are the Long Trail, the Stowe Recreation Path, mountain-view golf courses, and mountain bike rentals. “Lodge” may sound rustic, but rooms range from four-person bunk accommodations up to deluxe kings with patios. There’s also an indoor pool, a sauna, and a bar offering craft cocktails and light bites. bluebirdhotels.com/hotels/talta-lodge

BED & BREAKFAST
Rockwell’s Retreat, Arlington

It’s not just a name. This was Norman Rockwell’s residence, where he painted many of his Saturday Evening Post covers. His homestead has been adapted as an inn, with accommodations divided between the main house, where rooms (one overlooks the Battenkill River) all have gas fireplaces, and studios in two outbuildings, one of which housed Rockwell’s workspace. All this history and inspiration comes with a full breakfast. rockwellsretreat.com

MANSION HOTEL
Blind Tiger, Burlington

Formerly the Willard Street Inn, this 1881 Queen Anne brick mansion harks back to the days when Burlington nabobs made the Hill Section the city’s toniest neighborhood. No two of this boutique property’s 14 plushly furnished rooms are alike; choose from garden or Lake Champlain views, the best of which are from the Treehouse, located in a top-floor tower. larkhotels.com/hotels/blind-tiger-burlington

RESTORED HOTEL
Quincy Hotel, Enosburg Falls

Small-town railroad hotels have mostly vanished—but not the 1876 Quincy, steps from the Enosburg Opera House and the Missisquoi Valley Rail Trail. Accommodations at this freshly revamped charmer with rocking chairs on its front porch include four one-bedroom and three two-bedroom suites, all with oversize windows and restored vintage furniture. Kathy’s Tavern serves homemade comfort food at phenomenally low (well, not 1876 low) prices. quincyhotelvermont.com

VERMONT NEW & BUZZY ACTIVITIES

STATE PARK
Taconic Mountains Ramble State Park, Hubbardton

The centerpiece of one of Vermont’s newest state parks is a gorgeous Japanese garden created by Hubbardton residents Carson and Mickie Davidson, who bequeathed it and the rest of the future park property to the state in 2016. The Zen masterpiece incorporates dramatic rock outcrops, small serene ponds, a trickling waterfall, and floral plantings. It’s set amid 200-plus acres of gentle hills laced with hiking trails. vtstateparks.com/taconic.html

PUBLIC ART
Downtown Murals, Rutland

Most of downtown Rutland’s two-dozen-plus murals were painted in the past five years. From lively animal depictions to inspirational themes to a rural scene enlivening an alleyway and a striking portrait of climate activist Greta Thunberg, they make for a fun connect-the-dots walking tour of the city. Also discover downtown sculptures and BenchART Project’s vibrantly decorated benches. Maps available online. downtownrutland.com

GIFT GALLERY
ArtHound Gallery, Essex

This hound knows no bounds, gathering up as wide-ranging a selection of Vermont products as any gallery in the state. Jewelry, toys, housewares, artisan foods and beverages, and quirky creations share this space in a former shopping mall rebranded as the Essex Experience. ArtHound also represents original work by Vermont painters, printmakers, and photographers. arthoundgalleryvt.com

2024 Spotlight: Summer Weekend in the Vermont Shires