Central Vermont towns of Killington, Woodstock, Ludlow packed with things to do

Vermont > Central > Things to Do and See > 30 Great Things To Do in Vermont

Central Vermont offers great things to do in every season. This region is home to the Green Mountain National Forest, The stunning Quechee Gorge, and many maple sugar works. Cozy inns and full service resorts offer every kind of luxury and relaxation. Enjoy the best biking, hiking, golf, tennis, boating, fishing, swimming in warmer weather and skiing, snowboarding, ice skating and snowshoeing when winter sets in. Discover the many fairs and festivals with arts, crafts and antiques, visit local farms, and savor great food, beers, wines and cider.

Long Trail Brewery

5520 US Route 4 Bridgewater Corners, VT, 05035 Phone: 802-672-5011

After a day hard at work or play, a riverside brewery that's a great place to unwind

After a long day at work or a fun day spent in the wonderful wilds of Vermont, is there anything better than a frosty glass of beer in the cheerful atmosphere of a local brewery? Long Trail Brewery, on the banks of the Ottauquechee River, is the perfect place to celebrate or just to relax; with a variety of its beers on tap including seasonal selections and limited releases as well as hard cider, wine and soft drinks. In the warmer months you can bring your dog to the outdoor beer garden or settle in with friends in one of the four heated sugar shacks in the winter. And, yes, there is food! A rotating seasonal menu, featuring locally sourced ingredients, includes everything from hearty soups and fresh salads to entrees like turkey Reubens, shrimp po' boys and burgers.

Harpoon Vermont Brewery

336 Ruth Carney Drive Windsor, VT, 05089 Phone: 802-674-5491

Looking for a fun time? Head on over to this brewery, taproom and beer garden

Spend a fun afternoon or evening at the Harpoon Brewery Taproom & Beer Garden in Windsor, VT. Enjoy delicious food and great brews in the inviting taproom or outdoors in the spacious beer garden. Dine on handmade pretzels, wings, burgers, and barbeque with a menu that changes seasonally. Pair them with delicious beers ranging from New England IPAs to stouts from Harpoon, UFO, Clown Shoes, and more. During the winter months, guests can reserve a private outdoor heated hut that seat 6-12 people and features a call light for service, Bluetooth speaker, and group games to enjoy. Look out for special events like live music, ticketed events, and more! You can also rent out private space for your special occasion.

Liberty Hill Farm & Inn

511 Liberty Hill Road Rochester, VT, 05767 Phone: 802-767-3926

Milk a cow, pick berries, ski in the winter or swim in summer: Lots to do at this year-round inn

At the Liberty Hill Farm & Inn, they like to say a visit is like going to your cool grandma’s house: You’ve never slept better, meals are a time to cherish, and there’s a new adventure every day. Milk one of the working dairy farm’s 270 Holsteins, bottle-feed a newborn calf or cuddle with kittens. Pick veggies from the garden or berries from the bushes, reel in a trout or salmon, go for a swim in the summer or build a snowman in winter. The farm’s endless trails beckon cross-country ski and snowshoe fans (local rentals are available, in case you need gear); in the warmer months, visitors go hiking and mountain-biking, stroll through wildflower meadows – or star-gaze at night from a porch rocking chair.

Sleigh Ride - Mountain Top Inn - Chittenden, VT

Mountain Top Resort

195 Mountain Top Road Chittenden, VT, 05737 Phone: 802-483-2311

You don’t have to leave this idyllic resort to fill your days with engaging activities

The beauty of a vacation at the Mountain Top Resort? You don’t have to leave to find every kind of activity imaginable. Stroll down to the pristine 740-acre lake’s private sandy beach and take out a kayak, canoe or paddle board, fish for bass or sunfish (or catch frogs at the kids’ pond). Play tennis, disc golf or sand volleyball or take a clay bird shooting lesson. Go hiking, skiing or snowshoeing on 40 miles of trails, or go ice skating, or sledding, then come back for hot cocoa in the tavern or s’mores by the fire pit. Go horseback riding or glide through snow-covered meadows in a horse-drawn sleigh. Then relax in the pool, hot tub or with a massage at the spa.

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Lake Morey Resort

1 Clubhouse Road Fairlee, VT, 05045 Phone: 802-333-4311 Toll-Free: 800-423-1211

List of this lakeside resort’s activities is as vast as the mountains that surround it

From biking to boating, snowshoeing to swimming, the Lake Morey Resort has dozens of activities, all year long, to keep guests entertained and as active as they like. That means you can go on a 4.5-mile ice-skating trail in the winter or a pontoon boat tour in the summer. You can golf on a championship course, paddle a kayak or play tennis or bocce ball. Or, you can just relax: in a sauna, indoor heated pool or on the beach. There’s a slate of activities for kids and families, from organized STEM activities to volley ball and classic bingo games. If you do decide to leave the resort, the local area features general stores, farms to visit, a science museum and a planetarium.

Summer Camp Bonfire - Your Place in Vermont - Okemo Valley

Okemo Valley - Your Place in Vermont

The skiing is great, but there is so much more to see and do in this scenic valley region

If you think Okemo Valley is just about skiing, think again: This picture-perfect region is rich in outdoor and indoor activities, every season of the year. But first: The skiing, both alpine and Nordic, is great. So is the snowboarding, snow tubing, snowmobiling, skating and fat-biking. But there’s also zip-lining, hang-gliding, rock-climbing, golf, kayaking, canoeing, fishing, swimming: And that’s just part of the outside list! There are museums to visit, plays and concerts to see, scenic trains to ride. Visit the Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site or a farm with baby animals. Ride a horse, hike to a mountain summit, go on a cycling tour or zip down a mountain on a coaster track. Dining and shopping are both eclectic and plentiful.

Blades Are Moving at Lake Morey

Lake Morey Resort, on Clubhouse Road in Fairlee, realized about a decade ago that climate shifts were bringing less snow, even as the ice on the lake stayed strong and long. So the resort shifted into a major hub for ice skating and speed skating, open to anyone from newbies to champion speed skaters. The resort created a four-and-a-half-mile plowed skating trail on the lake and opened a center where the public can rent skates.

Montshire Museum of Science - Norwich, VT

Play on the Trails, in the Water, at Montshire

Montshire Museum of Science, in the Vermont town of Norwich on the Vermont/New Hampshire border, offers lots of outdoor and nature-enhanced learning for families. Visit to hike the nature trails, which include the Planet Walk, where you can skip among the Sun, the planets, and asteroid belt. Splash in the water play areas of the David Goudy Science Park. Frolic at the The Play Grove. See museum website for hours.

Perfect Storm of Covered Bridges

Vermont has more than 100 covered bridges, the heaviest concentration per mile of any state. The earliest of these beloved and hardworking bridges, dates from 1820. The state offers a handy covered bridge map for people who like to visit and photograph these small engineering gems. Northfield, for instance, has three bridges within one-quarter mile of each other and they display two types of construction: lattice and queenpost. Vermont residents welcome visitors to enjoy these beautiful artifacts of the past.

Forest Canopy Walk at VINS

Vermont Institute of Natural Science, or VINS, at 149 Natures Way in Quechee presents a new exhibit Forest Canopy Walk that accommodates people of all physical abilities. Because the VINS property drops in elevation as it slopes toward the backwater of the Ottauquechee River, the boardwalk to the canopy walk remains mostly level while the land drops away beneath. At the highest points, visitors will be 65 feet above the forest floor, sharing the space in the tree tops with birds, squirrels and other treetop life. The canopy walk includes a giant spider’s web and an eagle’s nest. VINS is open year-round, daily, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Call for canopy walk hours.

Enjoy Awesome Nature AND Shopping at This Gorge

Quechee Gorge is one of New England's most popular natural wonders. The 165-foot cleft in the mountain and its plunging stream can be seen from the Route 4 bridge and neighboring paths. When you are sated by the natural beauty, man-made fun is accessible at the adjacent Quechee Gorge Village at 5573 Woodstock Road, Quechee.. Twelve small shops sell artisan crafts like gold jewelry, alpaca clothing, antiques, home décor, gifts, and spa products. Visitors can chat with artists as they work. The Vermont Toy & Train Museum has added several new exhibits. You can rent Segways and take a ride.

Beautiful Place, Refined Pottery

The town of Woodstock is as close as you can get to an idyllic New England small town, and it’s all a genuine, working community, with plenty of interesting fun for visitors. The fun includes shopping, because the town and nearby neighbor are home to two refined pottery makers: Farmhouse Pottery, headquartered in Woodstock, and Miranda Thomas Pottery in nearby Bridgewater. Farmhouse describes itself as a place of “old-world potters with simple tools and strong beliefs in process and authenticity.” Its products – like the best-selling bowls, crocks, and candlesticks – are simple and exquisite (802-457-7486). It offers “clay dates,” where guests may work alongside a potter to create their own memento from the studio, Miranda Thomas Pottery in Bridgewater is a traditional workshop studio of experts making and decorating pots by hand. (802-672-5175)

Mad River Antler – How Wild Does That Sound?

If you want to go home from your Vermont vacation with a really Vermont-y artifact, consider a chandelier, lamp, candle holders, or wine rack made from antlers of moose, elk or deer. The artists of Mad River Antler hastily note that that antlers used in these artworks are shed naturally by animals and later retrieved from the forest floor. And the artworks are beautiful. Tour the retail space at Bridge Street Trading Co., 40 Bridge Street in Waitsfield to enjoy this melding of nature and artistry.

Mad River; Lovely Byway

Among the country’s wonderful National Scenic Byways is the Mad River Byway, which travels along two of Vermont's most scenic roads, Routes 100 and 100B. Towns and villages along this byway include Middlesex Village (Route 2); Moretown (Route 100B); Waitsfield, Warren, Granville Gulf Reservation (Route 100); Fayston, and Buels Gore to the top of the Appalachian Gap (Route 17). The byway is heavily salted with classic New England landscape and architecture - mountain ridgelines, a winding river, hillside farms, and steepled villages.

Vermont Icelandic Horse Farm - Waitsfield, VT

Ride the Trails on an Icelandic Horse

The tireless movement of the Icelandic Horse makes it the ideal saddle horse, and you can take a trail ride on the Icelandic at the Vermont Icelandic Horse Farm at 3061 North Fayston Road in Waitsfield, in the heart of the Sugarbush area. The farm hosts full-day and half-day trail rides as well as two- to six-day treks. In winter, the Icelandic Horse is at its best, growing a shaggy coat and reveling in the snow. Rides accommodate all levels of riding skill, including novices. Children over 10 years old with riding experience are welcome.

Independent Bookseller Welcomes Book-Loving Folks

Bear Pond Books on Main Street in Montpelier presents a slogan “Celebrating 35 years of independent book selling in central Vermont,” and it takes pride in every word. The business opened in 1973 and has endured flooding, a major move to a beautiful historic building, and other ups and down. It offers customers a well-read staff, events such as public readings by authors, a communal gathering place, a resource for children’s literacy, and a useful website. Book lovers looking for things to do who are in or near Montpelier really must visit the store; you will feel right at home. Open daily.

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