One day might not seem like enough time to spend in one place but you can definitely see the highlights of Burlington, Vermont in just one day.

Things to see and do in Burlington, Vermont

Try a hot chocolate from the Lake Champlain chocolate shop
Walk along the boardwalk at the waterfront
Have a soft serve ice cream
Wander the main street (Church Street)
Take a cruise on Lake Champlain
The Burlington Bike Path / Island Line Trail (only if you have time)

Church Street, Burlington’s Main Street

If you have more time and a car, here are some more options

Shelburne Country Store (try the fudge!)
Ben & Jerry’s factory tour (30 min drive / 1hr 30min one way via public bus) – make sure you book the factory tour in advance
Lake Champlain Chocolates Flagship Store (750 Pine St, Burlington, VT 05401)
Visit the towns of Woodstock, Stowe or Montpelier
Visit one of the many Maple sugar farms nearby
Visit one of the nearby orchards e.g. Adams Apple Orchard & Farm Market
Green Mountain Girls farm (was included in the Trafalgar tour I took but I thought it was overrated and could’ve been skipped)
Shelburne Farms and Museum
Lake Champlain Chocolates and Cabot Creamery Store – Waterbury (2657 Waterbury-Stowe Rd, Waterbury Center, VT 05677). Cabot Creamery had plenty of free cheese samples!

Vermont State house in Montpelier

Montpelier main street

Sample 1 day Burlington Itinerary

If it’s raining I wouldn’t bother with the Lake Champlain cruise as it will be hard to take photos. I ended up with very few usable pictures in the pouring rain. The boat keeps close to the shore, goes past an island and otherwise there isn’t much to see. I don’t think it’s a must do activity.

Morning

Take scenic drive and visit one of the nearby towns early (arrive before 9am) so you can enjoy it without crowds (and find a park).

Next, visit the Shelbourne Country Store, Ben and Jerry’s factory or Lake Champlain chocolate factory.

Afternoon

Visit a farm for lunch. Stop by one of the orchards or Maple Sugar farms. Then walk along the boardwalk at the Burlington harbour at the waterfront. Take a cruise of Lake Champlain (if you wish).

Evening

Wander Church Street (the main street of Burlington). It’s not very long so only takes about half an hour. Try a hot chocolate from Lake Champlain, ice cream from Ben & Jerry’s or have dinner at one of the restaurants in town.

If you do a cruise of Lake Champlain, hopefully you’ll time better weather than I did!

How to get to Burlington, Vermont

I visited Burlington as part of an ‘Autumn Colors’ Trafalgar bus tour that started and ended in Boston visiting Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.

I was expecting full forests of trees with autumn leaves – sold a lie on Instagram! This is what the majority of the drive around new England looked like (except the Kanc highway) – pockets of autumn leaves but still plenty of green. The leaves change at different times too. There might be the exact same tree close to each other with one already peaking, and another yet to turn. The tour director did say that the autumn colors were mild the year I went (2024).

I considered doing a DIY itinerary and flying into Burlington, but there were limited day trip options without hiring a car (I don’t want to drive on the ‘opposite’ side of the road in the USA). However if you do feel comfortable driving in the USA, you can collect a hire car from Burlington airport and do plenty of day trips to the surrounding area. Burlington airport is only 30 minutes from Burlington.

Montreal in Canada is 1.5hrs drive (excluding time spent crossing the border). It’s a 3.5 – 4hours drive from Boston, but you could stop in at Lexington, Concord or Woodstock on the way.

Main Street of Concord – plenty of cute shops to browse

Classic American house near the Lexington Battle Green

Where to stay in Burlington, Vermont

You could stay in Burlington itself, but accommodation will be cheaper if you stay a short drive outside of Burlington. The tour hotel was the DoubleTree by Hilton. We enjoyed the walking distance to Michaels and Staples (just across the road) for my stationery fix!

We also walked to Target and Applebees for dinner, then caught the public bus back in the evening (there is a bus stop out front of the hotel). The bus fare was only $2 USD and took literally 2 minutes (saved 20 – 30min of walking). Buses were only running every half hour when I visited in October. You can also take the bus all the way into Burlington if you want dinner downtown.

The hotel had huge bedrooms, a cookie on arrival and plenty of parking if you had a hire car.

What time of year to visit for autumn colors?

I visited Burlington on the 9th of October. This was during peak fall foliage time but there weren’t too many autumn leaves in Burlington itself. I’d probably wait another week until mid October to visit to give the leaves more time to turn. You’ll need a car to see some of the surrounding forests with more trees.

If you’re looking for autumn leaves, New Hampshire (White Mountains and the Kancamagus Highway) had the best autumn leaves.

More ideas for your New England itinerary in this post: Trafalgar Autumn Colors Tour Review (New England – Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine)