Vermont is one of our favorite states on the road trip so far. We first visited in 2018, then visited another couple of times in 2019. Seeing as my parents came over from the UK to join us for a month on the road trip to see the fall leaves in New England, we figured a week in Vermont would help us see some great fall colors while also being able to show them some of our favorite parts of the state.
The fall leaves weren’t as great this year (more about that later), but we did still have lots of fun in Vermont, much of which involved food and drink (surprise!). Here’s everything that we did while staying in Hancock, VT for a week.
Where We Stayed
We stayed all week at this Airbnb in Hancock. It’s a two bedroom, two bathroom house with a large grassy area out front. There’s a good-sized living room, well-equipped kitchen (I loved that there was an Instant Pot available!) and was a great place to stay for the week.
While we would’ve liked to have stayed a little closer to Waterbury/Stowe or Montpelier, there wasn’t anything spacious enough within our budget for the dates we needed. This Airbnb in Hancock was therefore a good alternative as it was within an hour’s drive of Waterbury/Stowe and Montpelier, as well as being about 30 minutes from Middlebury where you can enjoy the Middlebury tasting trail which we’d done in the past.
What We Did
Kancamagus Highway
On our way from Gray, ME to Hancock, VT we decided to take a slightly longer route so that we could drive along the Kancamagus Highway. The Kancamagus Highway is Rte 112 running through New Hampshire and is something we wanted to check out as it looked very scenic and photos we saw online from previous years suggested it had stunning fall colors.
We drove along it on our way to Vermont and then part of it on our way back down to Boston where my parents were flying home from. Our favorite spot along the highway was Lower Falls Recreation Site (here on Google Maps). There’s a large parking lot and it’s the perfect place to stop, stretch your legs and enjoy the scenery.
A little further along we parked in a pull-off by the side of the road and walked down to the Swift River.
Fall Leaves
The fall leaves in Vermont weren’t great in 2023. Vermont had some extremely bad weather in the summer, with many areas suffering from significant flooding. This adverse weather seemed to affect the trees, with some dropping their leaves much earlier than expected, while others weren’t as vibrant as expected.
Having said that, we did get to see some nice colors while we were there.
Covered Bridges
Vermont is an incredibly quaint state all over, helped by the fact that they have more than 100 covered bridges. Shae and I had found 10 of them in a day back in 2019 and so we decided to try to find more with my parents.
As it turns out, we managed to visit 10 of them over the course of the week. Two of them we’d seen before and eight were new, although all 10 were new to my parents. Check out this post for more about all of them.
Moss Glen Falls
In addition to covered bridges being all over the state, Vermont has loads of waterfalls too. On our drive from Hancock anywhere further north (Montpelier, Stowe, Waterbury, etc.), we always drove past Moss Glen Falls which is along the side of Rte 100.
There’s a pulloff to park by there just after it (or just before depending on which direction you’re driving from), so it’s worth stopping and walking down the 50 yards or so to the falls.
Warren Falls
A little further up the road is Warren Falls. We loved visiting these falls in the past and so were keen to make a return. The fall weather meant it was too cold to want to go swimming, but it’s still a pretty area.
Somewhat surprisingly considering how much rain they had in the summer, the water level wasn’t as high as when we’d visited during May in the past.
Trapp Family Lodge
My mum is a big fan of The Sound of Music, so with us taking them to Vermont we knew there was somewhere she had to go – the Trapp Family Lodge. The real-life Von Trapp family that The Sound of Music is based on moved to Vermont in 1942, setting up this ski lodge a few years later once the war was over.
That lodge now has 96 rooms, a brewery, farm, hiking trails and much more. Room rates are expensive there and so we weren’t able to book them in for a stay, but we did book my parents in for a history tour which ends with a Q&A session with a member of the Von Trapp family.
Downtown Montpelier
On our first visit to Vermont back in 2018, Shae and I stayed at an Airbnb in Montpelier and loved it. It’s one of the cutest state capitals we’ve seen on the road trip, but sadly it wasn’t looking quite as cute in 2023. That’s because the city suffered some terrible flooding in the summer that I’ve already mentioned in the post, so they’re still working on roads, renovating stores, etc.
As a result, we didn’t spend too much time downtown. I did take them on this hike up behind the State House to Hubbard Park Tower though.
The views from the top of the tower are nice…
…but the views on the hike back down via a different route are even better as you get a lovely view out over the city.
Bragg Farm Sugar House
A trip to Vermont wouldn’t be complete if you didn’t do something maple syrup-related, so I took my parents to Bragg Farm Sugar House after visiting downtown Montpelier.
The most interesting part of a visit there is watching a 5-10 minute video all about the process of how they collect the maple tree sap and refine it into maple syrup.
Ben & Jerry’s
Just like a trip to Vermont wouldn’t be complete without a trip to something maple syrup-related, it also wouldn’t be complete without a trip to Ben & Jerry’s. Ben & Jerry’s was founded in Burlington, VT in 1978 and they still have a manufacturing facility in Waterbury, VT that you can visit and take a tour of.
The tour includes ice cream tasting, then you can get more ice cream at the end (more about that in the food & drink section in a moment).
Texas Falls Recreation Area
A few minutes away from our Airbnb was somewhere we didn’t visit until our final night in Vermont, but I wish we’d visited earlier as it was so picturesque.
Texas Falls Recreation Area doesn’t have the largest waterfall you’ve ever seen, but it’s a magical spot. My photos don’t do it justice, but it felt like there should’ve been fairies flying around.
Quechee Gorge
On our way down to Boston from Vermont we stopped off at Quechee Gorge. This was yet another place we’d visited in the past and so wanted to return to it in order for my parents to experience the area.
Similar to downtown Montpelier, Quechee Gorge wasn’t as cute this time due to the 2023 flooding. One of the trails down into the gorge was damaged, so the route down and back up took longer than last time. On the way down, you could see on the other side of the gorge where flooding had left loads of debris.
Once down in the gorge itself, the water level was lower than the last time we visited and the flooding meant it didn’t look quite as pretty as in the past. It didn’t help that the weather was gloomy that day and was starting to drizzle.
Where We Ate & Drank
Vermont has tons of great places to eat and drink and we tried to experience as many as possible during this most recent visit.
Black Cap Coffee & Bakery
We stopped for a picnic lunch in Rusty Parker Memorial Park in Waterbury, then got hot drinks from Black Cap Coffee & Bakery afterwards to warm ourselves up. It wasn’t until after I’d ordered my hot chocolate that I noticed their October drinks specials and wished I’d ordered their Apple Crisp as it sounded delicious.
Service was slow and the drinks weren’t very hot, but they did the trick. I also ordered a small s’mores tart/pie which was very good, but I forgot to take a photo of it I’m afraid.
Cabot Creamery
I don’t like cheese, but Shae and my parents do and so we stopped by there so they could do some cheese tasting. They enjoyed all the cheeses they tried which included a habanero cheese, but their favorite was a horseradish cheese. They ended up buying a block of it and we’ve bought even more since as we’ve found it at the grocery store.
Lake Champlain Chocolates
In the same complex as Cabot Creamery is Lake Champlain Chocolates. Unlike Cabot Creamery, they don’t offer free tastings of their chocolate, so we bought a few instead.
I tried their maple crunch, honey caramel and maple caramel chocolates – the maple caramel ones were my favorite as they were absolutely delicious.
Smugglers’ Notch Distillery
Also in that same complex is Smugglers’ Notch Distillery, so you can have cheese, chocolate and spirits within minutes of each other!
Shae offered to drive, so I did two separate tasting flights of their whiskey, rum, vodka and maple cream liqueur. One of the nice things about Smugglers’ Notch Distillery is that they’re pet-friendly and so Truffles was allowed inside with us, but we decided to order the flights and sat outside at one of their picnic benches.
Von Trapp Brewery & Bierhall
While my parents went on the tour of Trapp Family Lodge and learned about the Trapp family’s history, Shae, Truffles and I headed over to Von Trapp Brewery which is part of the lodge but which is a couple of minutes away when driving. It’s pet-friendly on their patio, so we sat out there as we had Truffles with us. It was a bit of a chilly day though, so we all had to wrap up warm.
Von Trapp doesn’t offer flights, but you can get 6oz taster pours and so I got a few of those. Their Dunkel was my favorite.
Bohemian Bakery
Although it wasn’t a strenuous hike up to Hubbard Park Tower, we decided to treat ourselves afterwards with a drink and snack at Bohemian Bakery in downtown Montpelier.
Bohemian Bakery is a cute bakery/coffee shop with friendly staff. I wouldn’t have minded my hot chocolate being a little more hot but it tasted good, as did the éclair.
Maple Creemees At Bragg Farm Sugar House
We visited Bragg Farm Sugar House after visiting downtown Montpelier. At the end of our visit there we got a Vermont staple – maple creemees. These are soft serve ice cream with maple syrup (or maple syrup flavor depending on where you get them).
These were very good, but we ended up having even better maple creemees later in our visit.
Barr Hill
On a previous visit to Vermont Shae and I had come across a farmers market where Barr Hill was offering tastings of their gin. We ended up visiting their distillery later that visit, although they were in the process of moving to Montpelier at the time. Well, they’ve since opened that new location and it’s beautiful.
They offered free tastings of some of their spirits which are made with honey yet don’t taste of mead. Their vodka requires 4lbs of honey to make each bottle which is apparently the equivalent to the life’s work of 893 honey bees.
I’m not a big fan of gin, but their Barr Hill Reserve Tom Cat Gin was surprisingly tasty as it’s barreled in American oak casks which results in it having a richer flavor more akin to whiskey than the Christmas tree-y flavor of gin.
After doing the tasting, we headed over to the bar area for my mum to try one of their cocktails as I was driving. Shae was working back at the Airbnb that day, so we’re going to have to return as many of the cocktails were unique and delicious-looking.
My mum ended up ordering the Mutiny! (you can see what’s in it above). She very much enjoyed it; I tried a little sip and really liked it too.
Lincoln Peak Vineyard
Lincoln Peak Vineyard was another tried and tested favorite of ours, so we took my parents there on a separate day for wine tasting. Since we first visited, they’ve been bought by Shelburne Vineyard – a larger Vermont winery – and their wine lineup has changed.
The tasting experience has changed too. When we visited in 2019 you could choose any five wines, but now you have a choice of five different pre-selected flights, with a few ciders from IAPETUS being included on some flights too.
As with the last time we visited, Truffles was allowed inside in her backpack.
We’d liked Lincoln Peak Vineyard’s wines the last time we visited, so we were curious as to whether we’d like the new lineup now that there’s a new vineyard in charge. Seeing as it was four years between the visits it’s too hard to compare, but we think their new wines might be even better, so it’s definitely worth paying a visit to Lincoln Peak Vineyard (or their parent company Shelburne Vineyard). The four of us each got a different flight and each of us liked what we ordered.
Maple Creemees At Vermont Maple Market
While at Lincoln Peak, the friendly server recommended getting maple creemees from Vermont Maple Market just up the road. We’re not ones to say no to ice cream, so we took her suggestion and stopped by there afterwards.
It’s quite a small store/ice cream shop, so you can find it here as it’s fairly unassuming. A sign on their store said they have Vermont’s best maple creemees and based on our (admittedly limited) experience, they really do have the best creemees! The one I got at Bragg Farm and elsewhere in the past were all good, but the one from Vermont Maple Market had an even richer maple taste.
Golden Rule Mead
After finishing our delicious creemees, we made one more stop in Middlebury. We’d hoped to take my parents to Woodchuck Cider as we’d loved that when visiting in the past, but it was unexpectedly closed that day.
Instead, we went somewhere else which was new for us too – Golden Rule Mead. I think this might’ve been somewhere else recommended to us by our server at Lincoln Peak. Similar to Vermont Maple Market, the meadery is in an unassuming building too that looks more like it’s someone’s home.
We got to try all seven meads as part of the tasting. The owner is creative with the flavors, with one having blackcurrant, another brewed with coriander and rosemary, another with dandelion and chicory roots, another with white and toasted tea, a further one with orange mint, elderflower, calendula, juniper berries and more.
It was therefore very different to any meads we’ve tried before. We didn’t like them enough to buy a bottle, but it was an interesting place to stop and try his different creations.
Cold Hollow Cider Mill
We tried visiting Cold Hollow Cider Mill a few times during our visit, but the first 2-3 times we drove by there was a long line of cars trying to find parking. It’s a popular place as it is, so with it being the fall, an apple cider place in the middle of Vermont gets slammed in October.
We returned again before our Ben & Jerry’s tour at 2pm on Monday and it was a little quieter. It was still busy, but we were able to find a parking spot which was what we needed! We took a quick wander around the inside of the store/gift shop, exploring their section which teaches you more about the apple cider they make and getting a free tasting of their cold apple cider. (Side note for fellow Brits: here in the US, apple cider is a non-alcoholic drink – it’s basically apple juice that can be served cold or hot. What we think of as cider they call ‘hard cider’)
Next up it was time for the most important part of a visit to Cold Hollow – freshly made hot apple cider donuts. Here’s a quick video of them being made:
It was then time to give the fresh donuts a try. We’d tried apple cider donuts at Thompson’s Orchards in Maine the week before, so which were better? They were both very good, but I think I’d have to give the ones from Thompson’s the edge as they also came with sugar on. The donuts at Cold Hollow were very good nonetheless though and are worth getting.
Opposite the store/gift shop is a bar/restaurant owned by Cold Hollow. We still had some time to kill before our Ben & Jerry’s tour, so we got a quick flight to try out their ciders.
We’d done this a few years ago and I wish I’d read that post as a reminder. Shae and I had liked three of the ciders we’d tried, but didn’t like the Grateful Sled. It sounded like one we’d like as it’s described as a crisp mulled cider. However, it has a strong clove flavor that we’re not big fans of, so we hadn’t enjoyed that one
We’d forgotten about that previous experience and, seeing the description of Grateful Sled, ordered it again. Sadly it was the same experience – we very much enjoyed three of the ciders, but didn’t care for that clove-flavored one. If you like cloves though, that’s the one for you!
Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream
After finishing up our ciders, it was time for our Ben & Jerry’s factory tour. The tour includes some free ice cream, but that’s only a small scoop and so we decided to get more after. They have 30 different ice cream flavors, as well as a few sorbets and non-dairy frozen desserts.
My dad and I both got their Marshmallow Sky flavor as we’d not heard of that before. It’s described as “marshmallow ice cream with marshmallow swirls and gobs of chocolate chip cookie dough and chocolate chocolate chip cookie dough.” What we hadn’t expected was for it to be blue! Still, it was tasty and a fun alternative to more regular flavors of ice cream.
The first time that we visited Ben & Jerry’s in 2018, Shae got a Mini Vermonster. This contains four scoops of ice cream, a brownie, a couple of chocolate chip cookies, one scoop of four different toppings, hot fudge and whipped cream. It took her more than 20 minutes that first time, but she managed to eat all of it.
When returning to the scene of that triumph in October 2023, she decided to do it again. This time she couldn’t finish it in one go; in fact, we took it back to our Airbnb with us and despite working on it the next day, she still didn’t manage to finish it all off.
Sandwiches From Hubbard’s Country Store
Much of Vermont is fairly rural, so it can often be a 20-30 minute drive to the closest large grocery store depending on where you stay. That was the case where we were in Hancock, but just a few minutes down the road was Hubbard’s Country Store. There are lots of these types of country stores/general stores throughout Vermont, so it was nice having one so close to us.
On the final night of our stay we stopped by there to grab something for dinner. They have a deli area, so Shae and I both got roast beef sandwiches. I got mine on wheat or multigrain bread, while Shae got hers on a white sub. I forgot to grab a photo until almost finishing the sandwich, but it was very good with lovely, soft bread.
Hubbard’s General Store was very cute too with lots of fun stuff for sale in addition to food.
Final Thoughts
I mentioned Vermont’s 2023 flooding a few times in the post and how some things weren’t quite as pretty as when we’d visited in the past. Don’t let that put you off visiting Vermont though – we still absolutely adored our week there and even when its prettiness isn’t at 100%, Vermont is still more stunning than most other states.
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