Burlington (Vermont) Travel Guide
From Wikitravel
Burlington [1] is the largest city in Vermont with a population of 38,889.
Contents |
Get in
By air
- Burlington International Airport (BTV), Airport Drive, Phone: 802-863-1889, [2]. Flights arrive via most major carriers daily.
By car
By car, Interstate 89 runs directly through town. The town center is accessible via exit 14W. Interstate 89 continues North from Burlington to the Canadian border at Highgate, and South to the New Hampshire border. It is a 6 hour drive from New York City, a 3.5 hour drive from Boston and a 1.5 hour drive from Montreal.
By bus
There is a Greyhound bus terminal on Pine street, just south of downtown.
- Vermont Transit Company, 345 Pine Street, Phone: 1-800-552-8737, [3].
By train
The closest Amtrak station is in Essex Junction, about a 15-20 minute drive to the east with daily service between Washington, D.C. and New York City.
By ferry
Ferry service is available from downtown Burlington to Port Kent, NY across Lake Champlain, this gives access to the Adirondacks area of New York state. See the schedule and rates.
Get around
On Foot: Downtown Burlington is one of the most walkable and beautiful small cities in New England, and you'd do well to get out of your car and soak it in.
By Car: There are car rental offices at Burlington International Airport, including Hertz, Avis and Thrifty. Traffic is generally bad during the normal crunch hours and Williston Road and Shelburne Road are always congested, and, unfortunately, unavoidable for the most part.
Transit: Burlington and the surrounding communities of South Burlington, Shelburne, Colchester and Essex Junction are served by the Chittenden County Transportation Authortity (CCTA) which operates public buses. Buses are generally clean, uncrowded and relatively cheap. The main terminal is in downtown Burlington at the intersection of Church St. and Cherry St. Visit http://www.cctaride.org/main.php.
See
- ECHO at the Leahy Center for Lake Champlain, 1 College St., Phone: +1 802 864-1848, [4]. Daily 9AM-5PM in summer. Lake aquarium and science center. $9/$7.
- Shelburne Museum, Route 7, Phone: +1 802 985-3346, [5].
- Burlington's downtown is home of an eclectic mix of shops and restaurants, and is well-known for its pedestrian Church Street Marketplace [6].
- Regular cruise tours of Lake Champlain aboard The Spirit of Ethan Allen II [7] leave from Burlington's harbor.
Do
Go Biking [8] Burlington has a 7.6 mile bike path that runs along the lake and now connects to the Colchester bike path. For more info check out:
Buy
Eat
- Lake Champlain Chocolates, 750 Pine Street, [9] is a local chocolate maker. They have a company store and a viewing area to see the chocolate being made. They also have a small coffee bar where they serve espresso drinks and their own ice cream.
- Church Street, [10] has many places to eat along this pedestrian mall ranging anywhere from the famous "Hot Dog Lady" street vendor to the New England Culinary Institute. The marketplace maintains its own directory:
- Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shop No trip to vermont would be complete without a stop by one of the renowned Ben & Jerry's scoop shops to sample their latest contributions to americana. Indeed, few would dispute the fact that ice cream is in season every season.
Pizza
- Big Daddy's, 177 Church St, Phone: +1 802 863-0000. The footlong Oinkin' Gobbler is a local favorite, but the pizza is great as well.
- Lee Zachary's Pizza House, 1234 Williston Road, So. Burlington, +1 802 864-9817.
- Leonardo's Pizza, 83 Pearl St., +1 802 863-8404.
- Manhattan Pizza, 167 Main St., +1 802 658-6776.
- Mr. Mike's, 206 Main St., +1 802 864-0072.
Seafood
- Shanty On The Shore, 181 Battery Street, Phone: +1 802 864-0238. Shanty on the Shore is the area's only seafood restaurant now (Perry's closed its doors in 2005 and reopened as an Italian restaurant.) Fresh seafood and great lake views. Expect a wait on weekends.
Chinese
- China Express, 293 Shelburne Road, +1 802 865-2155.
Japanese
- Koto Japanese Restaurant, 792 Shelburne Road, So. Burlington, +1 802 660-8976.
- Sakura Japanese Restaurant, 2 Church St., +1 802 863-1988, [11].
- Asiana House, 191 Pearl St, Burlington, +1 802 651-0818.
Indian
- India House Restaurant, 207 Colchester Ave., +1 802 862-7800.
- Shalimar of India, 16 North Winooski Ave., +1 802 864-5693.
Thai
- Bangkok Bistro, 144 Church St., +1 802 951-5888
- Tiny Thai, Essex Shoppes & Cinema, +1 802 878-2788. Closest the Burlington area has to real Thai food unless you go to Montpelier.
- Tantra Organic, 169 Lower Church St., +1 802 651-9660, [12]. All local farm fresh & vegetarian.
American
- Al's French Fries, 1251 Williston Road, South Burlington, +1 802 862-9203. [13]
- Bruegger's Bagel Bakery, 93 Church St., +1 802 860-1995, [14].
- New England Wings, 505 Riverside Ave., +1 802 658-6399.
- Muddy Waters, 184 Main St., +1 802 658-0466.
- Greenstreets, 30 Main St., +1 802 862-4930, [15].
- Rusty Scuffer, 148 Church St., +1 802 864-9451.
- Uncommon Grounds, 42 Church St., +1 802 865-6227
- Vermont Soup Company, 1636 Williston Rd., So. Burlington, +1 802 862-5678.
- Windjammer Restaurant & Conference Ctr., 1076 Williston Rd., So. Burlington, +1 802 862-6585. [16]
- Sweetwater's, 118 Church St., +1 802 864-9800.
- Smokejack's, 156 Church St., +1 802 658-1119, [17].
- Ice House Restaurant, 171 Battery St., +1 802 864-1800.
- Handy's Lunch, 74 Maple St., +1 802 864-5963.
Italian
- Three Tomatoes Trattoria, 83 Church St., +1 802 660-9533.
- Cannon's Italian Resturant, 1127 North Av., +1 802 652-5151.
Tex-Mex
- Coyote's Tex-Mex Cafe, 161 Church St., +1 802 865-3632, [18].
Brazilian
- Souza Brazilian Restaurant, 55 Main St., +1 802 864-2433.
- New World Tortilla, 10 North Winooski Ave., +1 802 865-1058.
- Five Spice Cafe, 175 Church St., +1 802 864-4045, [19].
- Leunig's Old World Cafe, 115 Church St., +1 802 863-3759.
- Tortilla Flat, 317 Riverside Ave., +1 802 864-4874.
Drink
- The Vermont Pub and Brewery 144 College St., +1 802 865-0500. [20]
- Akes' Place 134 Church St., +1 802 864-8111. [21]
- Ri Ra Irish Pub 123 Church St., +1 802 860-9401. [22]
- Nectar's 188 Main St., +1 802 658-4771. [23]
- Esox - 194 Main St., +1 802 862-7314.
- What Ales You 152 St. Paul St. (on the corner of Main and St. Paul), +1 802 862-1364.
- Ruben James (or simply "RJ's"), 159 Main St., +1 802 864-0744.
- Church Street Tavern 103 Church St., +1 802 658-1309.
- Red Square 136 Church St., +1 802 859-8909 [24]
- Three Needs Brewery and Taproom 207 College St., +1 802 658-0889. Freshly-brewed self and local beers, as well as a small but decent selection of beers on tap. Red felt pool table in the back, and friendly barstaff.
- The Wine Bar
Sleep
- Hawthorn Suites South Burlington, 401 Dorset St., Tel: 802-860-1212. [25]. This all-suite hotel in the heart of South Burlington Vermont provides 104 spacious and well-appointed one and two-bedroom suites to meet all of your travel needs.
- Sheraton Burlington Hotel & Conference Center, 870 Williston Road, +1 802 865-6600. [26]. The largest hotel and conference center in the state of Vermont, it is close to businesses and shopping in beautiful downtown Burlington. The hotel is also close to Lake Champlain, Burlington International Airport and many Burlington attractions.
- Wyndham Burlington Hotel, 60 Battery Street, +1 802 658-6500. [27] Set in the Lake Champlain area in Burlington, Vermont, the hotel offers vacationers 256 hotel rooms.
- Willard Street Inn, [28]. Very close to Champlain College and UVM with views of Lake Champlain and the Adirondacks.
- Lang House, [29]. A cool alternative to a hotel and is just a short walk down the hill to the Church Street Marketplace.
Get out
The Canadian border and Montreal, Quebec, is less than a two hour drive north.
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