Explore the Towns in the Heart of Vermont - VermontInns.com

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A picturesque rural setting on the shores of the ‘West Coast’ of New England, the village of Addison, Vermont offers ready access to all the activities of Lake Champlain coupled with world-class birding, biking, and hiking. Panoramic views of the Adirondack and Green Mountains abound in Addison’s quiet countryside. Addison is close to the bustling centers of both Middlebury and Vergennes and convenient to the Chimney Point ferry from New York.

Addison

The ‘Art and Soul of Vermont’, the inviting village of Brandon pairs a vibrant village center of art galleries, studios, restaurants, and quaint shops, with outlying access to lakes, Green Mountain National Forest, Moosalamoo National Recreation Area and Vermont’s best hiking, biking, skiing, and golfing. The entire core village of 250 buildings is an American sampler of architecture listed on the National Historic Register. Unhurried, unspoiled, unforgettable Brandon, Vermont is a favorite destination wedding location in any season.

Brandon

A quintessentially quiet Vermont village surrounded by family-owned dairy farms, Bridport’s meadowland rolls down to Lake Champlain and offers outstanding views to the east and west. Visitors appreciate the peaceful atmosphere, the well-preserved village center, and the proximity to Middlebury, Vergennes, and the Chimney Point ferry from New York.

Bridport

Bristol, together with the smaller hamlets of Jerusalem and Lincoln, perches on the west-facing slopes of the Green Mountains. Bristol celebrates life in Vermont with a myriad of community activities, eclectic eateries, and both cultural offerings and outdoor pursuits. The classic National Historic Register commercial block of Main Street soon gives way to scenes of cascading rivers, magnificent evergreen forests, and the rustic feel of Vermont’s Green Mountain landscape. Downhill and Nordic ski centers make winter in and around Bristol, Vermont as enticing as summer.

Bristol

Host to one of Vermont’s liberal arts colleges, Castleton is “a place where a stranger can feel like family.” The unofficial capital of the Lakes Region of western Vermont, Castleton boasts marinas and restaurants on Lake Bomoseen, the largest body of water entirely within Vermont, and other popular swimming and boating venues such as Lake St. Catherine and Lake Hortonia. Castleton, Vermont is also an excellent nest from which to explore Hubbardton Battlefield, site of Vermont’s only Revolutionary War battle.

Castleton

By area the largest town in the state, Chittenden, Vermont was named after Thomas Chittenden, one of the Green Mountain Boys and governor of both the independent Vermont Republic, and later, the state of Vermont. Chittenden is now home to the Frederic Duclos Barstow Memorial School, Chittenden Reservoir, Mountain Top Inn, Fox Creek Inn, and much of the Green Mountain National Forest.

Chittenden

Sleepy Cornwall village, with neither post office nor traffic light, is Middlebury’s lovely garden district. The picture-postcard village is just 3 miles from the Middlebury College campus. Scenic orchard and pastureland is framed by mountain views east and west. Well-preserved examples of 18th and 19th century architecture abound, and the pace of life in Cornwall, Vermont will take any visitor back to that less hurried time.

Cornwall

Vermont’s Western Gateway and the Slate Center of the Nation, Fair Haven is centered around a large town green, replete with fountain and gazebo, and surrounded by exemplary Victorian architecture. The people make good use of this space, with weekly concerts during the summer as well as annual events and festivals. Long-established eateries and shops make Fair Haven, Vermont a regional destination as well as a perfect place to experience a vibrant, walkable Vermont village.

Fair Haven

A world apart from modern life, Goshen sits high in the new Moosalamoo National Recreation Area and abounds with miles of trails for year-round recreation in the Green Mountain National Forest. The setting is magical and memorable; the tranquility is total; the experience is unsurpassed. Goshen, Vermont is a place where time has stood still, and where you’ll want to do the same.

Goshen

Hancock’s tiny population (382 at the last census) belies the treasures within the town. The village is nestled at the foot of Middlebury Gap, and is home to the Middlebury College Snow Bowl (with the oldest base ski lodge in the United States), the eastern half of one of Vermont’s few state-designated ‘Scenic’ driving routes (state route 125), the Hancock Overlook of the National Forest, and the cascading flume of Texas Falls. Hancock, Vermont invites you to enjoy its unique and pristine outdoor attractions.

Hancock

Hinesburg, Vermont boasts a wonderful location, just fifteen miles from Vermont’s ‘big city’ of Burlington (population 38,889) and its multitude of cultural attractions, yet nestled in the quiet of the mountains. The village’s history is a classic example of the Vermont experience, and today’s Hinesburg offers a pleasant country backdrop to the diversions available nearby.

Hinesburg

The locality of Lake Dunmore, Vermont rings the northern half of the lake of the same name in the town of Salisbury, Vermont. Thousand-acre Lake Dunmore is warm, calm, and crystal clear, a delight for fishermen and families, and adjacent to Green Mountain National Forest and the Moosalamoo National Recreation Area hiking and mountain biking trails. Brandon and Middlebury are within a short drive.

Lake Dunmore

Leicester

Lincoln

Mendon, Vermont means mountains. This multi-faceted town is perched between central Vermont’s commercial and cultural center, Rutland, and the biggest downhill skiing in the East, Killington. It is home to several shops, storied restaurants including one in a large maple sugarhouse, and excellent hiking and mountain biking opportunities. Most of Mendon is conservation land, offering a chance to get out and experience wilderness while only moments away from your comfortable inn and such diverse nearby offerings as museums, rock-climbing, and live theater.

Mendon

The shire town of Addison County, Middlebury, Vermont bustles with the life that only one of the nation’s premier liberal arts colleges can provide. The Middlebury College campus is an integral part of village life and the driving force behind the presence of the myriad of excellent restaurants, artist and artisan shops, and cultural venues that comprise the architecturally distinguished downtown. Cosmopolitan Middlebury village is an exciting counterpoint to its bucolic surroundings.

Middlebury

Orwell’s position across Lake Champlain from restored Fort Ticonderoga bears witness to its own role in the American Revolution as the site of Mount Independence, a fortress built by American patriots. Today, Orwell is a peaceful setting of picturesque orchards and farms which spread out from the classic central village.

Orwell

New England’s poet laureate, Robert Frost, summered here in Ripton for forty years – come experience the solitude and scenery that brought him back season after season. Ripton, Vermont is a classic hillside hamlet, tranquil and timeless, home to a picturesque collection of civic buildings and an authentic old-time country store. Winter skiing, summer and fall hiking, and year-round hospitality beckon you to Ripton, enveloped by the Green Mountain National Forest, yet convenient to Middlebury and its enticements.

Ripton

Nestled along the White River in the Green Mountains, Rochester sits in a valley of natural beauty that embraces a community pulsing with life and creativity. Here young and old, native and visitor graciously blend. The village center, on Vermont’s ‘Ski Corridor’, Route 100, offers a compact collection of eclectic shops and cafes. Rochester, Vermont is a destination to relax and enjoy beauty and tranquility around a vibrant Vermont village.

Rochester

A quiet country village with a town green, historic civic buildings, and a slow pace of life, Shoreham, Vermont sits beside Lake Champlain, in the heart of Vermont’s orchard and bicycling country. The historic Fort Ticonderoga cable ferry brings travelers across the lake to Fort Ticonderoga in 7 minutes, and returns them to Shoreham’s spectacular rolling farmland ringed with views of the Adirondacks and Green Mountains. Middlebury is a short distance away.

Shoreham

Starksboro is a mountain village near excellent downhill skiing venues and close to the Long Trail and Appalachian Gap. An authentic place with old-time character, Starksboro, Vermont is set apart, yet accessible to Shelburne, Burlington, Bristol, and Waitsfield. A special place where the young and the old, and the native and the visitor graciously blend.

Starksboro

America’s smallest city, Vergennes, Vermont is a compact collection of sophisticated shops, varied dining options, and splendid architecture centered around the falls of the Otter Creek. This most intimate of communities offers a microcosm of so much of what makes Vermont special. Cultural events and panoramic vistas from the city on the hill add to the attractions of Vergennes.

Vergennes