Hi, I'm from Canada, and thinking about taking our family summer vacation in VT. I'm trying to see where the best place to go with kids is. My daughter is 9, and my son is 3.5.

Not sure what there is to see! I do know I would like to go to Stowe to see the Sound of Music.

thanks!

I am partial to the mid vermont area, over the mountain road from White River Junction into Middlebury and along Rte 7, Lake Champlain,, mountains, and oh, the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory for your children - a boat ride on lake champlain, some lovely innes and hotels

Here is a post on the area, if you scroll to my screen name I list the historical, museums, sights that are some of my favorite and some web links to ideas.

http://tinyurl.com/sytjh

The Stowe area and Sound of Music/ Von Trapp Family lodge is also lovely - don't know how much time you have. I stayed at the lodge once, about ten years ago but it was in winter and we were basically on site snow shoeing, cross country skiing, etc so I can not speak to the surrounding area very well.

The nice thing about the White River Junction/ Middlebury area is also lots of places to stop along the way for little ones to stretch their legs, but you can likely be creative and do that anywhere. Also, I am not adept at drive times without googling everything and don't know where in Canada you begin from and how long a car trip your kids can do.

thank you!

I'm travelling from Nova Scotia, so from what I gather it's a 14 hour drive, thru Maine, and New Hampshire. We may stop at Santa's Village in NH on the way.

My kids are pretty good in the car, and I'm thinking of getting a portable dvd player for them to watch on the drive.

While visiting Stowe a few years ago, we enjoyed a day at the Shelburne Museum, which is 7 miles south of Burlington, VT. Our kids were probably about 6 and 8. It is a collection of buildings, spread out over a huge of property.

It is quite unique. There is an actual 220 foot steamboat, a jail, a 1-room schoolhouse, a circus building with carousel, a blacksmith, a 1950's house, a covered bridge, a steam locomotive and more. The kids loved it (the adults did too).

The website is www.shelburnemuseum.org

We also brought our bikes and rode on the short bike path in Stowe. [On another trip, we brought our bikes to Burlington, VT, and rode their bike path. That is something we try to do a lot on driving vacations. We look for a converted rail trail (rails-to-trails) and plan a day of biking.]

Another thing the kids enjoyed in Vermont was the tour of Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Factory. It was quite a commercial tour (set up for tourists and not really authentic), but we enjoyed it nonetheless.

Good luck and have fun!

Smugglers Notch! The kids will adore the place and you for taking them.The foods not great but everything else is superb.Stowe nearby has lovely spots to visit.Plenty to do and see and spend really good family time and you can read books in quiet!

kids in the car tip--make some funny cds with songs for the trip -Roald Dahl revolting rhymes kept us all laughing for millions of miles!Stories on tape/cd are great too and its a good way to enhance everyones mind.The secret garden /black beauty /treasure island/ just thought how many times they have saved my mind when driving trips turn into world war two in the back seat!now whenever the kids hear certain songs they immediatly mention the trip the cd was created for..

Definitely the Burlington Shelburne area. You have the Shelburne museum and the Shelburne farms both excellent with children.Paul