1st vacation in Vermont

[tlmgcamp]

Thinking about the Lake Champlain area of Vermont for our 1 week tripthis year. Surfing the web today to see what looks inviting/interesting. We are empty nesters. I see bike trails and a dinner cruise looks like a good time. Any recommendations?

 

[Compadre]

Shelburne Museum, great place to spend a day. Burlington waterfront almost always has stuff going on during the summer. Speaking of waterfronts, a day trip to Montreal and their old town/seaport area is fun. Ferry just south of Burlington will take you across Lake Champlain and its just an hours drive from there to Lake Placid NY.
Where will you be staying?

 

[SeilerBird]

Wait till October and see the fall colors.

 

[Laura & Charles]

X2 on the Burlington waterfront. Lots of good brewpubs. X2 on fall colors. We stay at the North Beach campground (a Burlington city park. You can walk from there to swim in the lake. That campground was ok, but nothing outstanding besides the beach. When we get back there we’ll stay at Apple Island.

 

[tlmgcamp]

Shelburne Museum, great place to spend a day. Burlington waterfront almost always has stuff going on during the summer. Speaking of waterfronts, a day trip to Montreal and their old town/seaport area is fun. Ferry just south of Burlington will take you across Lake Champlain and its just an hours drive from there to Lake Placid NY.
Where will you be staying?

Thanks for the input. Part of the point of the post was recommendations for activities and campgrounds. I found what looks like a nice place to stay on Grand Isle but that is a bit north of Burlington VT where all the activities seem to be. That would mean driving 30-40 minutes farther north than I need to and then drive back south for the tourist stuff. Hoping to find something more convenient

 

[tlmgcamp]

X2 on the Burlington waterfront. Lots of good brewpubs. X2 on fall colors. We stay at the North Beach campground (a Burlington city park. You can walk from there to swim in the lake. That campground was ok, but nothing outstanding besides the beach. When we get back there we’ll stay at Apple Island.

Thanks for the input. North Beach looks like a great location. Apple Island is a bit farther north, but not a big deal. Looking at Apple Island on Google shows it to be basically an open field. We prefer something wooded, but that's just us

 

[tlmgcamp]

Well...North Beach is off the list. Enough complaints about homeless and theft on site. There was also an article about the city using the campground as a homeless encampment a couple years ago

 

[LarsMac]

Well, all the info I found about homeless there was from 2020. So you might want to investigate more current data before making decisions.

 

[Laura & Charles]

Well...North Beach is off the list. Enough complaints about homeless and theft on site. There was also an article about the city using the campground as a homeless encampment a couple years ago

We stayed at North Beach in 2021. My complaint with North Beach had zero to with vagrants or feeling unsafe. It just wasn’t kept up all that well and our 45’ coach was shoehorned in. We like most all city or county RV parks and have stayed at many. North Beach just didn’t measure up to our usual experience at municipal RV parks.

 

[tlmgcamp]

Thank you to everyone for replying.

 

[Compadre]

Burlington has gotten some bad press recently due to homelessness and drug problems. It's not as bad as the press would have you think. Still, not great to look at though.
North beach is the only city campground I know of and its crammed into a spot near the old HS. You'd still need to take transport into the downtown area. I think you're better off staying in Grand Isle and making day trips. Champlain Islands are very nice. I don't know how avid a cyclist you are, or if you have e-bikes, but its a good area for that. There's a bike ferry across a small straight that connects the islands with the Burlington bike path. Vermont is small and largely rural so , other than in Burlington proper, you'd need a car to get around to see the sites. Lots of nice small towns to visit.
I lived most of my life there, now I look at it daily from my perch across the lake in NY.

 

[tlmgcamp]

Burlington has gotten some bad press recently due to homelessness and drug problems. It's not as bad as the press would have you think. Still, not great to look at though.
North beach is the only city campground I know of and its crammed into a spot near the old HS. You'd still need to take transport into the downtown area. I think you're better off staying in Grand Isle and making day trips. Champlain Islands are very nice. I don't know how avid a cyclist you are, or if you have e-bikes, but its a good area for that. There's a bike ferry across a small straight that connects the islands with the Burlington bike path. Vermont is small and largely rural so , other than in Burlington proper, you'd need a car to get around to see the sites. Lots of nice small towns to visit.
I lived most of my life there, now I look at it daily from my perch across the lake in NY.

Again....thanks for the input. However, there are a bunch of recent reviews (4-5 months ago) that cite homeless and theft at North Beach. I also found tjst Nieghborhoodscout.com notes that 99% of US neighborhoods are safer than than Burlington. Lastly, I just read that Vermont's representative in the House of Representatives voted against the Laken Riley Act which requires detaining and deporting illegals that commit crimes while here. All that points me away from spending my vacation time and money in Vermont

 

[Larry N.]

Vermont is small and largely rural so , other than in Burlington proper, you'd need a car to get around to see the sites. Lots of nice small towns to visit.

And the covered bridges in the area are wonderful to see. You'll need a car or pickup for that, since they're too tight for anything else.