Top Picks For Fun

Top picks for fun in Burlington

Last update: August 10, 2007 - 9:01 PM

Print this story

IF YOU GO

Where to stay: Rest your weary head at the Sunset House Bed and Breakfast (1-802-864-3790; www.sunsethousebb.com). The Victorian on Main Street is a block from the town square and three blocks from the waterfront. Rates start at $99, and you share a bath.

Another option, the Hilton Burlington stands across the street from the waterfront (1-802-658-6500). Rates start at around $130.

What to eat: Good food is hard to miss in Burlington. Smokejacks was one of the first restaurants to embrace fresh, organic, locally grown foods (1-802-658-1119).

And don't miss American Flatbread (1-802-861-2999); they top pizzas with the likes of New Vermont sausage, Claybrook Farm heirloom tomatoes, roasted eggplants and locally produced feta cheese, and they brew their own beer.

A Single Pebble whips up great Chinese food (1-802-865-5200).

For more information: Contact the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce (1-802-863-3489; www.vermont.org).

More from Travel

Board a boat: Take a narrated tour on the Northern Lights, a double-decker boat that departs from the King Street Dock (1-802-864-9669). The Spirit of Ethan Allen III also offers narrated sightseeing cruises, departing from the Burlington Boat House (1-802-862-8300). Both locations are in the heart of the revitalized waterfront.

RIDE A TRAIN: At the waterfront, you also can hop aboard a vintage train run by the Green Mountain Railroad. The route takes you through Champlain Valley, offering views of Lake Champlain and New York's Adirondack Mountains beyond, plus two of Vermont's tallest peaks (1-800-707-3530; www.rails-vt.com).

RENT A BIKE: Local Motion can hook you up with cycle and helmet. It's located on the waterfront adjacent to the biking trail that runs along Lake Champlain. Plus, it's a nonprofit dedicated to promoting cycling, walking, in-line skating and the kinds of trails that make such modes of travel easy and safe. Not a bad place to plop down a few dollars (1-802-652-2453; www.localmotionvt.org).

STROLL THROUGH CAMPUS: For an extra dose of New England charm, head to the University of Vermont. The school was founded in 1791 and is filled with red brick structures topped with steeples. Stop by the Robert Hull Fleming Museum on campus to see the works of a variety of artists, including several Vermonters (1-802-656-0750; www.flemingmuseum.org).

SHOP THE CHURCH STREET MARKETPLACE: Despite the Barnes & Noble, Old Navy and Ann Taylor, this four-block outdoor pedestrian mall lets Burlington's spirit shine. Witness these stores: Frog Hollow, which sells locally produced crafts; Dobra Tea, a laid-back teahouse, and Peace and Justice, a store that "supports community building, celebrates diversity and advocates for justice" by selling a selection of fair-trade clothing, books and bumper stickers to support social justice movements. Too much for you? Just head to Ben & Jerry's down the street. The ice cream conglomerate got its start in Burlington.

KERRI WESTENBERG

Recent Travel stories

YA writers find it's a small world - August 10, 2007

YA writers find it's a small world - Lara Zielin and Sarah Quigley never met when they were students at Carleton College, even though they both graduated in 1998. And they never met after they moved to Minneapolis, even though they lived just about a mile apart, in Uptown. Eventually, they both moved away -- Sarah to New York and then California, and Lara to Michigan. More