Burlington Travel Forum

Never been to Burlington
first time vistor, what is there to do there?

This website may give you some ideas. Burlington is a fairly artsy town.. right on the water. There's usually an artists fair going on - you can check their city calendar.

http://www.ci.burlington.vt.us/

There is a boat tour of Lake Champlain and a fine university

As with everything, it all depends upon your age, your interests and how much time you have.

Both the state's website (http://www.vermont.gov/portal/government/) and the city's (http://www.ci.burlington.vt.us/) are useful resources.

Burlington is set on the eastern shore of Lake Champlain, so there are all the usual water activities that you would expect. Sailing, kayaking, swimming, beaches, boat tours and so forth. And it's fairly close to the Green Mountains, too, so hiking or just driving around looking at the scenery are easy day trips. And overnight camping is available at North Beach (inside Burlington, right on the lake) or at several state parks (http://www.vtstateparks.com/) nearby.

There are a number of good restaurants --- both fine dining and casual, of a wide (but not comprehensive) variety. http://hungryburlington.com/search/all.php

Quite a lot of music going on, too. Several clubs (Red Square, Metronome, Nectar's, etc.) have bands of all sorts playing. Several restaurants (Leunig's, Avenue Bistro, etc.) have jazz and cabaret music. Higher Ground (www.highergroundmusic.com) is a concert venue that's large enough to attract great acts and small enough to feel intimate. Take a look at the Seven Days newspaper (www.7dvt.com) or look at http://www.vtliving.com/music/burl.shtml.

As far as museums and the like go, there's the Fleming Museum at the University of Vermont, the Shelburne Museum nearby (about 7 miles south of Burlington) and the Echo Center (on the lake, downtown). Apart from museums, there's a vary active arts community in Burlington and shows everywhere.

The Flynn Theatre (http://www.flynncenter.org/) is always busy. And there's the Vermont Stage Company (http://www.vtstage.org/), Main Street Landing (http://www.mainstreetlanding.com/) and acting companies at UVM, St. Michael's College, Waitsfield (about 25 miles away) and other places.

Burlington is also a really great place for bicycling, with a paved bike path that starts at the southern end of the city and runs about fourteen miles northward up into the lake, with a ferry boat that crosses over to the islands. Local Motion (http://www.localmotion.org/) actively promotes biking and operates the ferry. They also rent bikes, as do a couple bike shops, North Star Cyclery (http://northstarsports.net/) and Ski Rack (http://www.skirack.com/).