Burlington, Vermont

Vermont's largest city on the shores of Lake Champlain — the Church Street pedestrian mall, lakefront sunsets and biking the causeway across the lake, with the Shelburne Museum and Shelburne Farms to the south and plenty of craft breweries and orchards nearby.

Burlington is the largest city in Vermont, yet has fewer than 50,000 residents. It sits on gentle slopes along the eastern shore of Lake Champlain, looking west to New York's Adirondack Mountains with the Green Mountains at its back — a lakeside small city with a strong college-town feel and a thriving outdoor and food culture. Downtown centers on the red-brick Church Street Marketplace pedestrian mall; a ten-minute walk west brings you to Waterfront Park, the ECHO Leahy Center for Lake Champlain and the boat docks. Heading north along the lake, the Island Line Trail lets you bike out onto the Colchester Causeway, which juts into the lake, while the South End around Pine Street is home to clusters of craft breweries and art studios. To the south, the town of Shelburne has the Shelburne Museum, Shelburne Farms and the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory, enough for a full day; farther afield, you can hike Mount Philo or Camel's Hump for views over the lake and valley, or drive through the orchards and wineries of the Lake Champlain Islands. The ski town of Stowe and the Ben & Jerry's factory are about 40–60 minutes' drive east (covered as a separate destination). The seasons are distinct: July and August are warm and pleasant, prime time for boating and cycling; late September to mid-October is the hugely popular fall foliage season, when lodging must be booked well ahead; winters are long and cold with frequent heavy snow, a good time to pair with nearby ski resorts; April and May are mud season, when many mountain trails close. Getting there: Burlington International Airport is about 5 km from downtown, with direct flights to New York, Boston, Chicago and elsewhere; Amtrak's Vermonter and Ethan Allen Express connect to New York; Montreal is about a 2-hour drive. Downtown is walkable, but you'll need a car for sights outside the city. Plan on 2–3 days.

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