2026 Vermont Travel Guide | Hotels, Dining & Attractions

Whether you’re a lifelong Vermonter or planning your first getaway to the Green Mountain State, the Editors’ Picks in our 2026 Vermont Travel Guide highlight the best places to eat, stay, and explore across the region. Curated by the Yankee team with insights from local experts, these handpicked spots capture the flavor, charm, and spirit that make Vermont so special.

2026 Vermont Travel Guide | Attractions

Best Agritourism Stop:
Scott Farm Orchard, Dummerston

Finding Scott Farm feels a little like stepping through the looking glass: After a winding drive down a dirt road, a 571-acre patchwork of orchards, fields, stone walls, and farm buildings springs into view. During apple season, visitors can strike out into the orchard to pick their own, or simply raid the farm store’s dozens of rare heirloom varieties, from Hubbardston Nonesuch to Zabergau Reinette. After picking, check out the intricate stone walls scattered throughout the farm’s Stone Wall Park, then chill with a flight of hard cider and a ham-and-cheddar baguette sandwich at the adorable outdoor café.

Best Food Festival:
Vermont Cheesemakers Festival, Shelburne

If cheese lovers had a heaven on earth, it would be a summer afternoon spent nibbling cheddar, Tomme, and chèvre inside a barn at Shelburne Farms. Dozens of cheesemakers gather here each summer for the Vermont Cheese Council’s annual shindig, arranging wheels and wedges of both seasonal favorites and rare finds alongside bread, crackers, jams, and chocolate. It’s nearly impossible to try it all, but seasoned veterans skip breakfast, pace their sampling, and come equipped with coolers. They also buy their tickets long in advance—the festival sells out months beforehand.

Best Free Summer Event:
Summervale at the Intervale Center, Burlington

This midsummer party draws multiple generations to Burlington’s Intervale, a 360-acre idyll of fields, gardens, and trails along the Winooski River. Partygoers spread blankets on the grass to soak in sunshine and live tunes as their kids hula hoop and dash through sprinklers. Crepes, burgers, wood-fired pizza, and ice cream (most drawn from local ingredients) provide sustenance. If anyone feels overwhelmed by the goings-on, it’s easy enough to disappear onto one of the Intervale’s many walking trails. This year’s Summervale takes place on July 11.

Best Fun Spot for Grown-Ups:
BurlyAxe, Burlington

There’s something undeniably primal about hurling an axe against a wall. At Burlington’s aptly named BurlyAxe, coaches will equip you with a short- or long-handled hatchet, a dedicated lane, and pointers on how to fling your blade against a wooden target. Axe-throwing makes for an unusual date or birthday party, and the on-site bar pours local beers and wines to fuel the competition.

Best Indie Music Store:
Mountain Music, Rutland

Carve out plenty of time to rummage through the bins inside this airy shop. Vinyl stretches from wall to wall and, on any given day, might include 7-inch records, imported Studio Ghibli soundtracks, and rare jazz and punk records. If an Aretha Franklin song crackling across the shop’s speakers inspires you to pick up a turntable, there’s plenty of used and vintage stereo equipment on hand—as well as cassettes, CDs, jewelry, and T-shirts. (If you can’t find what you’re looking for, owner Meshach Tourigny, a lifelong collector, might offer to hunt it down for you.)

Best Museum Shop:
Henry Sheldon Museum of Vermont History, Middlebury

The shop inside this tiny-but-mighty museum (founded in 1882) brims with local arts and crafts. Prints, pottery, cards, candles, puzzles, bags, pillows, potholders, jewelry, and needlework kits from regional artisans are scattered throughout the space, which was renovated in 2024 and sometimes (in nicer weather) extends to the front porch. Among the unique offerings are basswood bird ornaments hand-painted by Weybridge woodworker Gary Starr.

Best Refreshed Favorite:
ECHO, Leahy Center for Lake Champlain, Burlington

Beneath the surface of Lake Champlain, entire dramas unfold among the bevy of native species navigating shipwrecks and competing with invasives such as zebra mussels and alewives. In July 2025, Burlington’s ECHO center unveiled “Into the Lake,” an expanded 15,000-gallon freshwater habitat that brings visitors face-to-snout with sturgeon, longnose gar, muskellunge, and more. Elsewhere in the museum, another brand-new exhibit explores the history behind Champ, Lake Champlain’s legendary sea monster.

Best One-of-a-Kind Pampering:
Vermont Salt Cave Spa & Halotherapy Center, Montgomery Center

When Nafis and Sarita Khan imported 20,000 pounds of rock salt from Poland to build a salt-lined grotto in their barn, they were betting on halotherapy—the inhalation of microscopic salt to address respiratory, skin, and mental health issues. A decade later, scores of serenity-seekers have since settled into a zero-gravity chaise lounge in the cool, dimly lit salt cave to breathe in the mineral-rich air. Guests can also opt for Reiki and massage treatments, sound healing, foot soaks, or time in the infrared sauna.

2026 Vermont Travel Guide | Dining

Best Bread Bakery:
Boule Bakery, St. Johnsbury

It pays to drop in early to this corner bakery before their sourdough breads, baguettes, and croissants sell out, which they often do. If so, sourdough cardamom buns, cinnamon knots, or espresso shortbread cookies make worthy consolation prizes. The superlative baked goods are not the only draw, though; breakfasts and lunches here are elevated by small gestures, such as house-made syrups for coffee (using beans from a West Burke roastery) and house mayo on sandwiches. Laptop warriors can linger at the rustic wooden counter while watching passersby.

Best Breakfast Spot:
The Grey Jay, Burlington

Flavors like sesame, harissa, and zhoug set apart this intimate downtown brunch (sister restaurant to Honey Road), as do accents such as Moroccan tile and lamps. The Middle Eastern–inspired plates run from the burbling shakshouka to biscuits threaded with Halloumi cheese and tahini French toast. The 30-seat space fills quickly, so plan on a wait—unless you land on a weekday morning when Motown is spinning, northern light spills through the floor-to-ceiling windows, and the smell of bacon wafts from the kitchen.

Best Burger:
Brownsville Butcher & Pantry, Brownsville

When Lauren Stevens and chef Peter Varkonyi renovated this long-standing general store in 2018, they kept the lunch counter but added a whole-animal butchery. That’s where local beef is ground and shaped for The Standard, a richly marbled six-ounce patty sheathed in melted American cheese, a tangy secret sauce, caramelized onions, and pickles on a locally baked brioche bun. While many of the excellent burgers around the state ring in above $20, The Standard remains a steady $12, drawing a lively stream of locals, mountain bikers, and random passersby every lunchtime.

Best Coffee Shop:
Blank Page Café, Shelburne

There’s off the beaten path, and then there’s really off the beaten path. So it is for this rustic café tucked into the farm store at Shelburne’s Bread & Butter Farm. The house specialty, butter coffee, pairs beans from Brio Coffeeworks with melting pats of grass-fed butter sourced from a nearby dairy farm. The hiss of the espresso machine might also promise a maple latte or café au lait as you browse for greens, eggs, squash, preserves, or bread on the store’s shelves. All baked goods—from vanilla bean pound cake to double-chocolate zucchini bread and fresh-baked muffins—are gluten-free. There’s no indoor seating, but the grounds invite fair-weather wandering.

Best Craft Cidery:
Fable Farm Fermentory, Barnard

To call Fable Farm a cidery wouldn’t entirely be accurate, at least not for the collective that produces an array of fruit wines at the historic Clark Farm. The crew here presses and wild-ferments apple, pear, and grape wines that are distinctive for their co-ferments and earthy, sometimes herbal notes. Fable Farm’s wines and ciders are distributed as far as California, but those who trek into the hills of Barnard can sample them in flights inside the hand-hewn tasting barn (open on Saturdays from May to December) or during one of the farm’s epic Thursday night parties, dubbed Feast & Field.

Best Italian:
Gallus Handcrafted Pasta, Waterbury

Vermont’s farm-forward ethos meets Italian tradition inside this two-year-old restaurant. Here, noodles are hand-extruded daily to showcase both local and imported veggies, herbs, shellfish, meats, and cheeses. The menu is succinct but intentional: Think ruffled campanelle tumbled in pesto or supple bucatini with house meatballs, plus a few starters and larger plates as bookends. Guests dine in the brick-lined, candlelit depths of this former grist mill (the original home of sister restaurant Hen of the Wood) where the clang and steam of the tiny open kitchen are as intoxicating as the house Negroni.

Best New American:
SoLo Farm & Table, South Londonderry

Easily one of the top restaurants in the state, SoLo nevertheless has a total lack of pretension. Instead, this homey spot exudes warmth at every turn, from the cat that might greet you outside to the servers, bartender, and host. In the kitchen, chef Wesley Genovart marries the bounty of southern Vermont with French technique for dinners that ping all of the senses. The menu changes constantly: On a chilly night, it might include pork ramen with house-made noodles; at the height of summer, a Technicolor salad or bright gazpacho dressed with radishes, dill, and crispy jamón.

Best New Restaurant:
Café Monette, St. Albans City

Though just a short drive from the Quebec border, the friendly burg of St. Albans didn’t have much in the way of French cuisine until last summer. That’s when culinary instructor Adam Monette teamed up with former students Henry Long and Tyler Comeau to open Café Monette, quickly winning over locals with classic bistro dishes such as poulet à la moutarde and onion tarte tatin. Monette, who won the Food Network’s Holiday Baking Championship, also crafts superlative pastries, breads, and fresh pastas.

Best Pizza:
The Yard at The Crooked Ram, Manchester

The synergy between 24-hour-fermented crust, San Marzano tomatoes, and fresh basil makes for transcendent Margherita pies at The Crooked Ram, while the wood-fired Valoriani oven lends charred edges and oozing middles. Other seasonal pizzas might be topped with Calabrian salumi, spinach-mascarpone fonduta, or simply mushrooms and fontina. Seasonal is the operative word, as these pies are served only in The Yard, a patio behind The Crooked Ram proper that’s open from May to October and usually feels like a garden party.

Best Restaurant with a View:
Dining Room at Edson Hill, Stowe

Ski mountains and lakes make for dramatic vistas, sure, but one of the most quietly arresting Vermont views belongs to the Dining Room at Edson Hill. Tucked into a hillside outside Stowe, its dining room and patio look out across the inn’s pond, gardens, and fields to the foothills of the Green Mountains. The scene shifts from deep greens to reds and ochres to snowy white, depending on season, but the maple margaritas and coal-fired rib eye steaks remain constant. Reservations required during most times of year.

Best Taqueria:
El Comal Mexican Cuisine, Williston

The dining room at El Comal may be bare-bones, but the regional Oaxacan dishes served here are rich with color and flourish: soul-warming chicken pozole; dainty, triangular tetelasstuffed with black beans; chicken mole accented with raisins and sesame; and luscious sirloin tacos served on blue-corn tortillas. The kitchen pours its heart into the details, hand-pressing their own tortillas, crushing salsa in a mortar and pestle, and slow-cooking beans in traditional stone vessels, or ollas, until they’re smoky and silken.

2026 Best Vermont Lodging

Best Affordable Overnight:
Mad River Lodge, Waitsfield

This renovated barn blends minimalist design with understated comfort across its apartments and studios (some with kitchens, all with private bathrooms) for under $200 a night, depending on the season. Amenities are simple—think coffee, laundry facilities, and a breezy common room—but the location is hard to beat: right in the heart of the Mad River Valley, minutes from the Mad River Glen ski area, the village of Waitsfield, and a patchwork of restaurants, breweries, trails, and swimming holes.

Best Luxury Overnight:
Twin Farms, Barnard

Magical. Special. Life-changing. These are some of the words used to describe this all-inclusive, five-star getaway in the Barnard hills. Every guest’s whim is met, whether it’s a sudden urge to try ice fishing or a craving for a midnight snack. Rooms in the Main House (once home to Sinclair Lewis) feature soaking tubs, fireplaces, and original artwork. Elsewhere on the 300-acre property, multilevel cottages, lodges, and eight treehouses offer even more privacy. Guests can commandeer one of the inn’s Volvo hybrids to explore nearby towns and countryside, then return “home” for a massage or languorous farm-to-table dinner in the award-winning restaurant, helmed by chef Nathan Rich.

Best New Hotel:
The Weston, Weston

This white colonial facade looks modest enough from the street, but inside, The Weston is a meticulously crafted retreat. Eight rooms and suites, split among the main inn, mill building, and carriage house, are adorned with four-poster beds, flickering fireplaces, ornate textiles, and antiques. The Sharps, the same family behind The Carlyle and Gramercy Park Hotel in New York City, have brought their city-to-country vision here and created a space guests may never want to leave: The property includes a French bistro, The Left Bank, and a spa with sauna and steam shower. When guests do step outside, Weston’s charms await: The library, local shops, and The Vermont Country Store are a stroll away.

Best One-of-a-Kind Rental:
Naulakha Stable, Dummerston

In the early 1890s, British author Rudyard Kipling married Brattleboro resident Carrie Balestier, and the couple built a sprawling house on her family’s estate just outside of town. Naulakha is where Kipling wrote The Jungle Book, though a family feud later forced him to flee back to England. More than a century later, the main house and carriage house are protected landmarks and short-term rentals. In early 2026, owner Landmark Trust USA renovated the property’s former stable into a gabled hideaway with space for two, plus a small kitchen, bathroom, and the same valley views Kipling gazed across as he wrote the poem “The Law of the Jungle.”

Best Pet-Friendly Hotel:
Kimpton Taconic Hotel, Manchester Village

The Kimpton chain’s sole Vermont property, the Kimpton Taconic Hotel, takes dog-friendliness to a new level: It welcomes all pets, “as long as they fit in the elevator.” While that might rule out pet alligators and rhinos, it does mean lots of cats and dogs doze in style inside the hotel’s 86 rooms. No pet deposit is required, and among the creature-friendly amenities are food bowls, leashes, collars, and complimentary poop bags.

Best Reading Retreat:
Sterling Ridge Resort, Jeffersonville

An inviting cluster of log cabins in the mountains outside Jeffersonville, Sterling Ridge Resort hosts immersive literary weekends with prominent fiction, nonfiction, and genre authors. Their Friday-to-Sunday “reading retreat bundles” include signed books, welcome snacks, meals with the author, and a closing book swap. Between events, guests can paddle the resort’s pond, get a spa treatment, or explore on-site trails by foot or snowshoe; in nearby Stowe, they can browse Bear Pond Books or the local library. Devoted readers can curl up year-round in one of the modern-rustic studio cabins—each with a kitchen, gas log stove, porch, and outdoor firepit.

Best Romantic Inn:
Rabbit Hill Inn, Lower Waterford

Among the earliest guests at this atmospheric Colonial inn were those traveling by wagon from Montreal to Boston. Generations later, Rabbit Hill Inn’s sweeping White Mountains views, historic charm, and enveloping hospitality remain. Modern touches grace its 19 rooms and suites—some of which have four-poster beds or whirlpool tubs, almost all with flickering gas fireplaces. A stay here feels like a tranquil escape: After a nearby hike or ski run, guests can warm up with afternoon tea, a puzzle by the parlor fire, or a plate of coq au vin inside the inn’s candlelit restaurant. An adjacent pub, the Snooty Fox, is a cozy spot for a nightcap.

Best Solo-Travel Escape:
Main + Mountain Bar & Motel, Ludlow

This boutique motel sits in the heart of Ludlow, a walkable mountain town that swarms with Okemo skiers in winter and hikers during summer and fall. Behind its Victorian facade, Main + Mountain’s 13 rooms are sleek and functional, with modern lines, memory-foam mattresses, and mini-fridges. The contactless check-in and casual ethos evoke a guesthouse, making solo travelers feel like locals as they explore Ludlow’s myriad cafés, shops, trails, slopes, and spas. In the evening, the pretty ground-floor bar pours artful cocktails and mocktails that guests sip while swapping stories around the firepits out front.

Honorees were selected by Yankee editors with contributions from Corin Hirsch, a longtime Vermont food writer and the author of Forgotten Drinks of Colonial New England.

Yankee Magazine

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