50 Best Sights in Northern Vermont, Vermont

Along Burlington's "new" North End, a long line of beaches stretches to the Winooski River delta, beginning with North Beach, which has a grassy picnic area, a snack bar, and kayak and SUP rentals. Neighboring Leddy Park offers a more secluded beach. Amenities: food and drink; lifeguards; parking (fee); showers; toilets. Best for: partiers; swimming; walking; windsurfing.

The 399-acre North Hero has a swimming beach and nature trails. It's open to rowboats, kayaks, and canoes.

A once-abandoned relic of the Industrial Revolution, Pine Street is the heartbeat of Burlington's recently revamped South End Arts District, an enclave of bars, restaurants, breweries, art galleries, and eateries. Start at the intersection of Pine and Maple Street and begin walking south to find a treasure trove of all things art, music, food, and drink. The S.P.A.C.E Gallery and Conant Metal & Light attract artists from within state borders and far beyond, and the Coal Collective hosts weekly food truck celebrations in the warmer months. Early September's annual Art Hop brings even more energy to the bustling scene, with open galleries and live music around every corner. Make sure to stop by The Soda Plant, a small business incubator with over thirty local artisans, artists, and makers inside a newly refurbished 19th-century industrial soda factory, including nationally acclaimed Brio Coffeeworks and a Burlington outpost of Middlebury's Haymaker Bun Co.

Attractions here range from the awe-inspiring (the quarry resembles the Grand Canyon in miniature) to the mildly ghoulish (you can consult a directory of tombstone dealers throughout the country) to the whimsical (an outdoor granite bowling alley). At the crafts center, skilled artisans sculpt monuments and blast stone, while at the quarries themselves, workers who clearly earn their pay cut 25-ton blocks of stone from the sheer 475-foot walls. (You may recognize these walls from a chase scene in the 2009 Star Trek movie.)

A Quaker family farm for nearly two centuries, this National Historic Landmark served as a safe haven for enslaved people seeking freedom during the days of the Underground Railroad. Join one of the guided house tours, explore the grounds and the historic farm buildings, or set off on the more than 50 acres of hiking trails. The mid-summer pie and ice cream social is an annual highlight.

One of Vermont's best swimming beaches is at Sand Bar State Park, where a 2,000-foot stretch of sand leads into shallow water perfect for wading in gently. Amenities: food and drink; parking (fee); toilets; water sports. Best for: swimming

Tucked away behind the Hula campus, Burlington's unofficial tech and co-working headquarters, Vermont-based SAVU has set up two of its high-end Scandi-inspired saunas right on the shore of Lake Champlain; they're ideally placed for an after-work sweat and a cold plunge, but offer a relaxing break if you're on vacation, too.

From U.S. 7, you'll see rows and rows of organically grown vines. Visit the attractive tasting room and learn how wine is made, relax on the lawn during a weekly Friday Bluegrass & BBQ event in the summer, or take in jazz or comedy in the winery during the colder months. Also available on-site are natural wines from IAPETUS, an experimental label from winemaker Ethan Joseph, and spectacular ciders from Vermont-based Eden Ciders, which merged with Shelburne Vineyard in 2023.

A good spot for picnicking, hiking, and/or camping, Smugglers’ Notch is a narrow pass through the Green Mountains that's lined with 1,000-foot cliffs. The climb to Sterling Pond also takes you to the Long Trail and to the top of the Smuggs ski slopes. Stop by the Barnes Camp Visitor Center for maps and information about the park, then head out on the 3½-mile-long scenic highway that passes through the steep and winding pass; make sure you take the time to enjoy the view. The park is filled with recreational opportunities like bouldering, biking, ice climbing, and cave exploring.

Vermont's first vineyard was started here in 1996; today, the winery specializes in nontraditional botanical hybrid grapes designed to take advantage of the island's microclimate, similar to that of Burgundy, France. Take a self-guided tour and sip some samples in the tasting room—dessert wines are the strong suit. On Thursday evening, June–September, you can picnic and enjoy the free concerts on the lawn.

This spot marks the site where French soldiers and Jesuits put ashore and built a fort, creating Vermont's first European settlement in 1666. Vermont's first Roman Catholic Mass was celebrated here on July 26 of that year.

Switchback may not get as much press as other more famous craft Vermont beers, but its classic unfiltered ale is a solid, respected brew that's well worth exploring at the brewery and an expanded tap house and beer garden, added in 2024, in Burlington's buzzing South End. In addition to superfresh beer right from the source, beer-filled cocktails and a menu of perfect-for-pairing bites, the space hosts regular events and live music throughout the year. Employee-led Askew Beer Co. holds down a few experimental taps, too.

Crowning the hilltop above Burlington is the University of Vermont, known as UVM for the abbreviation of its Latin name, Universitas Viridis Montis, meaning the University of the Green Mountains. With more than 12,000 students, this is the state's principal institution of higher learning. The most architecturally impressive buildings face the main campus green and have gorgeous lake views, as does the statue of founder Ira Allen, Ethan's brother.

The collection here, begun in 1838, focuses on all things Vermont—from a catamount (the now-extinct local cougar) to Ethan Allen's shoe buckles. The museum store stocks fine books, prints, and gifts. A second location in Barre, the Vermont History Center, has rotating exhibits with notable photographs and artifacts.

The state's skiing and snowboarding history is documented here. Exhibits cover subjects such as the 10th Mountain Division of World War II, the national ski patrol, Winter Olympians, and the evolution of equipment. One of the most memorable mobiles you'll ever see, made from a gondola and ski-lift chairs, hangs from the ceiling. One recent exhibit, Searching for Vermont's Lost Ski Areas, documents a 20-year search for the state's long-gone destinations, from Buckturd Basin to Freak Peak.

The regal capitol building surrounded by forest is emblematic of this proudly rural state. With a gleaming dome and columns of Barre granite measuring 6 feet in diameter, the State House is home to the country's oldest legislative chambers still in their original condition. Interior paintings and exhibits depict much of Vermont's sterling Civil War record. A self-guided tour, available year-round, takes you through the governor's office and the house and senate chambers. Free guided tours run from late June through October.

On the 30-minute tour of this fun-filled factory you'll hear more puns than you ever thought possible, while learning how a few homemade bears sold from a cart on Church Street turned into a multimillion-dollar business. Parents and children can relax, eat, and play under a large canvas tent in summer, or wander the beautiful 57-acre property.

What started as a single tap in a pizza restaurant has turned into one of Burlington’s most successful and hippest breweries, thanks to frothy gems like Conehead and Green State Lager. Its shiny brewery in the South End Arts District is always buzzing—starting first thing in the morning with coffee and amazingly crispy, tender waffles flavored with brown butter, sea salt, and, of course, Vermont maple syrup. And yes, you can get a beer with that. Tasty complements continue throughout the day, with items like bratwurst, crispy cheddar curds, and foodie-friendly bistro bites, paired with Zero Gravity's popular favorites or taproom-only offerings, like bottle-conditioned brews and unusual co-ferments. Sink into the cozy couches in front of the fireplace, or watch the brewers at work through large windows behind one of the two bars.

The 30-minute tours at the famous brand's factory are unabashedly corny and only skim the surface of the behind-the-scenes goings-on, but this flaw is almost forgiven when the samples are dished out. To see the machines at work, visit on a weekday but call ahead to confirm if they will indeed be in operation.

Routes 14, 5, 58, and 100 make for a scenic drive around the Northeast Kingdom, so named for the remoteness and stalwart independence that have helped preserve its rural nature. You can extend the loop and head east on Route 105 to the city of Newport on Lake Memphremagog. Some of the most unspoiled areas in all Vermont are on the drive south from Newport on either U.S. 5 or Interstate 91 (the latter is faster, but the former is prettier).