Visiting the United States? There are 50 states in all.
Vermont, a small state in New England, is known for maple syrup, covered bridges and the blazing foliage that adorns its Green Mountains each fall. It’s a place with fertile valleys and pastoral landscapes, and it’s a wintertime destination for skiers and snowboarders.
Vermont is graced with bicycling trails that pass through quaint villages, historic sites and museums, and bustling farmers markets. State parks offer lakes and streams for fishing and beaches for relaxing.
Burlington — the largest city in Vermont — has a small-town feel but plenty of shops and cultural amenities, including artists’ studios. Throughout the state, breweries and vineyards welcome visitors for tours and tastings.
A wealth of treasures
Shelburne Museum, in the town of Shelburne, has wide-ranging collections of art, design and Americana, with more than 150,000 items displayed in 39 buildings and a 19th-century docked ship. A barn houses vintage carriages, and elsewhere in the museum complex, you’ll find remarkable handicrafts.
Social scene
Burlington’s historic Church Street Marketplace, a traffic-free zone spanning four blocks, is the site of festivals and other events year-round. It occupies a piazza-like setting with restaurants and coffee shops. Browse artisans’ stalls, grab a sandwich and stroll past the life-size statue of local jazz musician Big Joe Burrell, eternally playing his saxophone.
Animals and ecology
The ECHO, Leahy Center for Lake Champlain, an aquarium and science center on Burlington’s waterfront, educates visitors interested in the ecology and history of the Lake Champlain Basin. It’s home to 70 species of fish, amphibians, invertebrates and reptiles, and offers hands-on activities and daily animal encounters.
A taste of heaven
Treat yourself to a guided tour of Ben & Jerry’s, the Waterbury-based factory where some of the world’s best ice cream is made. The popular tour demonstrates how ice cream is made and packaged, and visitors are given a sample to enjoy before entering the on-site ice cream parlor to choose their favorite confections.
Natural wonders
Quechee Gorge was formed by glaciers 13,000 years ago, and this dramatic site can be viewed from an overhead walkway or at water level. Also, don’t miss the nearby Vermont Institute of Natural Science, which rescues and rehabilitates injured raptors before returning them to the wild.
Presidential retreat
The President Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site is located in Plymouth Notch, where the 30th president of the United States was born and eventually retired. Visit Coolidge’s boyhood home, where he was sworn in as president by his father, a notary public, when President Warren G. Harding suddenly died in 1923, and tour the town’s 19th-century barns and other attractions.
Learn more about Vermont and the other 49 states. If you need a visa to visit, here’s how to get one.
