Best Things To Do With One Day in Burlington, Vermont
There are lots of fun things to do in Burlington, Vermont and in just a second, we’ll give you our favorites for a Perfect One-Day Burlington Itinerary. But before we do, let’s hear from a local.
Just last weekend, we were at a baby shower for friends and met someone who’d lived in Burlington for 5 years. He told us it was great (except for the very cold winters) and that Burlington is still one of his favorite cities (after moving to Mystic, Connecticut). And one of his favorite things to do in Burlington? Gather friends for a boat trip across Lake Champlain to go bar hopping in New York.
We agree this sounds amazing (well, maybe except for Jon who prefers flat land over swaying waters), but unfortunately, we didn’t have any friends in the area - or a boat - to test this out with. There are boats and cruises you can rent in Burlington, and maybe it’d be possible to (responsibly) recreate this multi-state activity if you’re in town for more than one day!
But in the meantime, if you’re limited on time and have just one day to see the city, here are our picks for the best things to do in Burlington, Vermont, and how to plan your perfect one day itinerary!
Where to Stay to Visit Burlington, Vermont
For our trip, Jon, Lincon, and I were staying about an hour and 15 minutes Southeast of Burlington in Topsham, Vermont. I mentioned this while recapping our Foodie Road Trip in Stowe (check it out to read about one of my favorite road trips EVER), but we picked our stay solely because it was in the budget for our two-week stop in Vermont during our 5-Month New England Road Trip.
(Full recap of our 2022 Travel Season - this 5-Month New England Road Trip - coming in November!)
If you’re in town for just a few days and want to maximize your Vermont experience, we recommend staying directly in Burlington or about 45 minutes away in Stowe.
Stowe would be my pick as a home base because you can still easily get to Burlington for day trips and I really enjoyed the cideries and hikes in Stowe (looking at you, Cold Hollow Cider Mill). But if I asked Jon where he’d prefer to stay, I’m pretty sure he’d choose Burlington for more to do and a bigger city feel.
(So I actually did just ask Jon what he would choose, and I’m surprised by - yet fully here for - his answer. He said, “Stowe is over by that cheese place, right? If I had to go back… I’d choose Stowe, for sure.” He’s talking about Cabot Farmer’s Store, and I appreciate that we’re both choosing locations based on food. Just like that time we added a stop in New Orleans on our way home for the holidays so we could eat beignets.)
Either way, you can’t go wrong as both cities are amazing, especially in the summer or fall. (For winter, we’d probably recommend staying in Stowe if you like to ski.)
The Itinerary
Since we were in Topsham and had to drive to Burlington for the day, we couldn’t explore as much as we’d hoped, so I’m sharing what we planned to do vs. what we actually did to give you extra inspiration for your trip.
Here’s how you can replicate our itinerary or plan your own perfect day in Burlington, Vermont!
Option 1:
What We Planned— Road Trip
Option 2:
What We Actually Did—Burlington + Colchester Causeway
Option 3:
What We Considered— Stay in Downtown Burlington
No matter how you choose to enjoy the city, we’re sure it’ll be great, but depending on whether or not you have to drive into Burlington - and how long you’d like to enjoy each stop during the day - you might choose to:
(1) Make your day a full-fledged Burlington Road Trip, including Downtown Burlington, Mt. Philo State Park (& hot apple cider!), and the Colchester Causeway. (What an adventure!)
(2) Stay in Burlington for the majority of the day then make your way out to the Colchester Causeway for a sunset stroll, or
(3) Spend your whole day in Burlington, enjoying the city and its waterfront views with a gorgeous mountain backdrop.
Option 1 was what we originally planned for ourselves - we tend to be overly ambitious road trippers who pivot as we go - and Option 2 is what we actually did.
Because there are tons of things to see and do in Burlington, we did consider just sticking around the city for the entire day. However, this was our only day planned for exploring this area of Vermont, and we heard great things about the Colchester Causeway. So, after our afternoon in Burlington (you’ll see our exact itinerary below), we made our way to the Causeway for a walk.
The weather wasn’t perfect for our trip to the causeway, so maybe that’s impacting my impression of it, but it wasn’t as much of a must-see as I thought it’d be. Yes, the trail with water on both sides is cool (a trail seemingly into/on top of the water is pretty unique), and it’s a gorgeous walking/running path (that I would use daily if I lived nearby), but the views are actually really similar (even less impressive) than those of the Burlington Waterfront.
I’d have probably preferred grabbing a drink at Splash at The Boathouse and enjoying the views there instead.
But I’m getting ahead of myself, let’s walk through how you can plan your perfect day in Burlington, Vermont, and pick the activities you’d love to see and do most!
Walk Burlington’s Waterfront Park
If you see nothing else in Burlington, you’ve got to see one of the things that makes this city so unique: its waterfront. Because while there are market streets (in this case, a Church Street not to be confused with Pearl Street in Boulder or Larimer Street in Denver), restaurants, shopping, and breweries in lots of cities, there aren’t many other cities sitting on Lake Champlain with a gorgeous mountain backdrop across the water.
That’s not to say everything else Burlington has to offer isn’t amazing, but just to say we recommend starting your day here!
Park at the waterfront (we parked in a lot about a 5-minute walk to the Boathouse Marina), and take in the views while walking towards the main streets of Burlington. It’s gorgeous!
Eat, Shop, and Stroll at the Church Street Marketplace
Even though you can find market streets in other cities, Burlington’s Church Street is a lot of fun with a lot going on.
There are tons of restaurants and shops. Many of which we found out later are dog-friendly! Stop by the pet store, Houndstooth, on your way to Church Street and grab one of their flyers for a list of dog-friendly things to do in Burlington. Outdoor Gear Exchange, for example, was dog-friendly, and an awesome place to stop in + shop if you’re a fan of all things outdoor.
The other reason to check out Church Street Marketplace? It’s this street that has one of the most iconic Burlington, Vermont views: looking from Church Street to Church Street’s Church (First Unitarian). (Google “Burlington, Vermont” or “Church Street Marketplace” and you’re sure to see a photo similar to the third photo below.)
If you’re visiting Burlington in the evening or the winter (or bonus, in the evening in the winter), I think this street would be gooorgeous to experience while lit up with lights!
Eat at The Skinny Pancake or Splash at The Boathouse
So we’re not claiming this is the best food in Burlington (we couldn’t taste test enough restaurants to make that claim), but our crepes were delicious! That said, the bar is relatively low for us when it comes to favorite restaurants: 99% of the time, all we’re looking for is good food with a dog-friendly patio.
The Skinny Pancake was good, dog-friendly, and something different as we’re not regularly eating crepes (so we enjoyed switching it up!).
We ordered the ‘SugarShack’ - Jon’s favorite - with Vermont maple sugar and melted Cabot butter served with a side of local maple syrup. We also ordered ‘The Heartbreaker’ - my favorite - with fresh strawberries, bananas, and hazelnut spread. And we ordered one savory crepe called ‘The Chicken Bacon Rancher’ which is pretty self-explanatory with chicken, bacon, ranch, caramelized onions, and cheddar cheese. Also delicious!
One heads up about this restaurant: It’s semi-service which means you’ll place your order at a counter inside. We share this as a heads-up because, if it’s busy, then after waiting for your table, you’ll also be waiting in line to put in your order. (Jon was in line ordering for about 15 minutes while I was sitting at our table with Lincoln.) Once you order, your food is brought out to your table, hence the semi-service.
We were hoping to find a restaurant on the water, and technically this Skinny Pancake location is at the waterfront, but if you’re looking for a restaurant right on the water with a direct view of Lake Champlain, I’d recommend Splash at The Boathouse (also dog-friendly).
Taste Vermont Hard Cider at Citizen Cider
This one’s for you if you’re a fan of hard cider!
(If you’re not, we passed the Vermont Pub & Brewery on our way from The Skinny Pancake to Church Street Marketplace. It was busy, music was playing, and it seemed like a good time. There are also lots of craft breweries in Burlington, such as: Zero Gravity Brewery, Foam Brewers, Four Quarters Brewing, Burlington Beer Co, and Switchback Brewery.)
Jon and I are big fans of hard cider, so we try to check out a cidery in most places we visit. While at Citizen Cider, we split two flights: The Originals Flight (on the website, this is labeled as the ‘Oldies But Goodies’ Flight) & The Fruit Flight (labeled on their website as ‘The Giving Tree’ Flight). I really liked the Good Neighbor, Jon liked the Raspberry Crush, and we both liked their flagship cider, Unified Press.
Plus a bonus, the Citizen Cider patio is dog-friendly (weather permitting). And the food menu looked great. (I would have happily ordered a burger & pretzels with cheese if I wasn’t so full from our brunch at the Skinny Pancake beforehand.)
Walk or Run the Colchester Causeway
If you’re looking for one more thing to do near Burlington, Vermont to round out your day, consider grabbing your tennis shoes and enjoying as much or as little of The Colchester Causeway as you’d like. (The trail is about 11 miles. We walked for about 30 minutes before turning around.)
I was really excited about the Colchester Causeway (it was one of the first things to pop up during my Burlington research, and I read somewhere that it was neat to almost feel like you’re walking on water with water on both sides of the trail), but as I mentioned at the beginning of this post, this wasn’t as much of a must-see as I thought it’d be.
If you’re in the area, it’s the perfect place to run, walk, or bike, but if you’re just looking to take in the views and enjoy a day in Burlington, I’d probably recommend staying downtown and enjoying the Burlington Waterfront Park instead.
Don’t get me wrong, this is still beautiful! I’d just recommend skipping the Colchester Causeway if you’re tight on time and mostly want to explore Burlington. Otherwise, if you have a few extra days in Burlington or you’re looking for a beautiful, flat trail, this is perfect.
Road Trip to Mount Philo and Stine Orchard
This was our original plan: Drive from Topsham to Mount Philo for a hike, then grab hot apple cider & cider donuts at Boyer’s Orchard and Cider (now Stine Orchard) on the way to Burlington. Then, we’d enjoy our afternoon in Burlington before seeing the Causeway on our way back to Topsham.
But as it tends to be, our plan was just a bit overly ambitious, and we decided to skip Mount Philo and the cidery in favor of more time in Burlington.
I would have loved to compare the hot apple cider with that of the Cold Hollow Cider Mill, but guess that just means we’ll be planning another trip to Vermont in the future… maybe one just to crown the best in hot apple cider, best in apple cider donut, and best in fall ambiance of all the orchards in New England. (This actually sounds amazing. We’re already talking about planning the Ultimate New England Fall Road Trip - the entire month of October dedicated to chasing fall foliage across state lines - and now I’m thinking we might need to add the month of September for rating fall activities. The wheels are turning!)
Anyway, we had picked out the Mount Philo Western Loop, a 1.9-mile loop that’s dog-friendly and (supposedly) has a nice view of Lake Champlain and the Adirondacks on a clear day. If you check it out, please let us know what you think in the comments below!
(And if you’re lucky enough to have visited multiple orchards in New England, please let us know your favorites in the comments below!!)
Keep planning your perfect trip to Vermont
There you have our perfect one-day itinerary in Burlington, Vermont. We made our way first to the waterfront, then put our name on the waitlist at the Skinny Pancake before walking the streets of Burlington to get our bearings. After eating at the Skinny Pancake, we strolled through the Church Street Marketplace before making our way to Citizen Cider for a few flights. Then, after walking around Burlington one last time on our back to our car, we went to see the Colchester Causeway.
We hope this gives you a great starting point as you’re planning your trip! And if you’re looking for more things to do in Vermont, make sure to check out one of my favorite road trips ever: The Foodie Road Trip (with lots of fun things to do in Stowe, Vermont).
Now, it’s your turn! What’s your favorite road trip or the next on your list?
We’re always looking for inspiration, and would love to hear about your adventures too! What’s the best road trip you’ve ever taken (and why), or what’s an upcoming trip you can’t wait to schedule? Please share with us in the comments below!
Save this itinerary for a future road trip
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