The best places to unplug in Vermont
Vermont is small, green and mostly rural. There are no big cities, billboards are banned, and a lot of the state is still farms, woods and little villages with a general store and a white church.
Every place here is rated highly by guests and sits close to trails, water or plain quiet. These are the ones we'd send a friend to, sorted by the part of the state they're in.
Stowe and the Mad River Valley
Stowe sits at the foot of Mount Mansfield, the highest mountain in the state. It's the best known ski town in Vermont and it can get busy, but the trails and the notch are right there.
Over the ridge to the south, the Mad River Valley is quieter. Waitsfield and Warren are small villages on Route 100 with Sugarbush and Mad River Glen up the hill.
A small inn on Route 100 in Waitsfield with a swimming pond, an outdoor hot tub, a sauna and fire pits. There are rooms in the inn and a few cottages, dogs are welcome, and you can walk out to trails from the property.
The Northeast Kingdom
The three counties in the far northeast corner are the emptiest part of Vermont. Lots of lakes, hill farms and woods, and not many people. If you want real quiet, this is where to go.
Lake Willoughby, Kingdom Trails in East Burke and the villages around Craftsbury are the main reasons to come. Cell service is hit or miss.
Craftsbury Farmhouse
★ 4.90Craftsbury, VT
Hot tubHiking trailsNear wilderness
From $221/night · Nov 6–8A farmhouse inn in Craftsbury with a hot tub, a garden and a bistro and bar on site. Besides the rooms there are a couple of houses and a canvas tent, and it's rated about as high as anything in the state.
Woodstock and Killington
Woodstock is the classic Vermont village, with a green, covered bridges and old houses. Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park is on the edge of town, with carriage roads and trails up Mount Tom.
Killington is about half an hour west. It's a big ski resort, but the country around it is mostly state forest, and the Appalachian Trail crosses through.
The Champlain Valley
The west side of the state is flatter, with dairy farms running down to Lake Champlain and the Adirondacks across the water in New York. Vergennes is a small city with a good main street, and the country around it is quiet.
Whitford House
★ 4.75Vergennes, VT
Hiking trailsNear wildernessHorseback riding
From $369/night · Nov 13–15A small bed and breakfast in the countryside outside Vergennes, with rooms in the main house and a cottage with a kitchenette and a mountain view. There's a library, a fireplace, and rooms have their own patio and a deep soaking tub.
Before you go
- Fall foliage, usually late September to mid October, is the busiest time of year. Book early or come another time.
- Mud season is real. In April and May a lot of dirt roads get soft and many trails close to let them dry out.
- A lot of back roads are dirt. They're fine in most cars, just take them slow.
- Stay at least two nights. Nothing in Vermont is far apart, but you'll want the time to do nothing.
All our stays in Vermont
First look
New places we find and the odd guide to somewhere quiet. A few emails a year, that's it.