"Burlington - The Perfect Little City on... " a Burlington Travel Page by sarahandgareth

Burlington is Vermont's largest town, and it's probably best-known as the home of the University of Vermont (UVM), which has a big campus to the east of downtown. West of downtown there's not much at all, since that's where Lake Champlain begins - and on the other side of the lake, you're in New York.

Burlington is a great spot for a weekend visit, since it's very manageable in size and offers such a diversity of things to do: boating on the lake, biking and running along their wonderful bike path, exploring other nearby small towns (like Middlebury, another place that hosts its share of college students), or visiting dairy-themed businesses like Cabot creamery and Ben and Jerry's! The rural connection is never far away up in this part of the US: there's also an important folk museum nearby, and just as the winter is waning this is a great place to see maple syrup being made.

One of the most appealing things about the town is how easy it is to get around the central area: there's no need at all for a car, and there are plenty of buses to places like the college campus so you can feel quite environmentally virtuous; it seems quite appropriate to keep a green state green!

Burlington is about 3.5 hours from Boston, and under 2 from Montreal, and and with so many places to stop off along the way it's really ideally suited for weekend stays, especially if you can get out of work early in the day and perhaps indulge in a hike or bike ride on the way up to break up the trip a little (it's 6 hours from New York City, more of a trek but well suited to a long weekend out of state!).