Lake Champlain Shores, Burlington & Vermont Island Hopping

A four-block pedestrian mall in Burlington's downtown, closed to vehicle traffic since 1981, with an independent retail and restaurant mix that has survived the era that killed similar shopping districts in smaller cities. The marketplace runs from the 1816 Unitarian Church at the head to the City Market cooperative at the bottom; the Saturday farmer's market on City Hall Park is the best in Vermont.

A science and nature center on the Burlington waterfront focused on Lake Champlain's ecology and history — the 120-mile-long lake, once called the sixth Great Lake, supported a 200-year commercial fishing industry and was the site of three significant naval battles. The museum's lake ecology exhibits are particularly strong for a day with children; the outdoor observation deck faces the lake directly.

Burlington's lakefront park runs 8 miles along Lake Champlain from the Colchester Causeway to the south end — the most complete urban waterfront trail in New England. Bicycle rentals are available at Skirack on College Street; the Colchester Causeway section extends 3.5 miles into the lake on a former railroad bed, with the Adirondack High Peaks visible across the water.

The Hyde Log Cabin on Grand Isle is the oldest standing log cabin in the US, built by Jedediah Hyde Jr. in 1783 from a single stand of white cedar — 23 feet by 25 feet, with the original hand-hewn logs and the 1790 door hardware intact. The Grand Isle State Park surrounding it is the most popular Vermont state park, with a lakefront campground and a beach facing the New York shore.

A Victorian inn on North Hero Island, in continuous operation since 1891, with a dining room serving Vermont lake fish and farm produce above a private dock on Lake Champlain. The walleye from the lake, the Vermont cheddar soup, and the house-smoked salmon are the kitchen's seasonal anchors. The porch table facing the lake is the best lunch setting in the Champlain Islands.

A mile-long sandy beach on the eastern shore of South Hero Island — the warmest freshwater swimming in Vermont, with lake temperatures reaching 75°F in August. The Sand Bar causeway separates the swimming lagoon from the main lake; the views of the Green Mountains to the east and the Adirondacks to the west are simultaneously available from the beach.

A South Hero farm producing apples since 1870 on 80 acres above Lake Champlain — the largest apple orchard in Vermont, with 25 varieties from McIntosh to Empire to Cortland available for pick-your-own from late August through October. The farm store sells apple cider, apple cider donuts, and maple products made on the premises.

A 45-acre campus housing 39 historic structures moved from across New England and filled with Electra Havemeyer Webb's collection of American folk art, quilts, decoys, weather vanes, and the 220-foot steamboat Ticonderoga preserved on dry land. The museum's 150,000-object collection is the largest repository of American folk art in the world; the round barn from Passumpsic, the covered bridge from Cambridge, and the lighthouse from Lake Champlain are among the relocated buildings.

A 1,400-acre working farm on the Lake Champlain shore — originally the Vanderbilt-Webb estate, now a nonprofit educational farm producing farmstead cheddar from a herd of Brown Swiss cows. The farm's 1888 Farm Barn is the largest wooden structure in Vermont; the walking trails through the lakeside landscape include a beach on the Champlain shore. The farm store samples cheddar aged from 6 months to 2 years.

The 1899 Webb family mansion converted to a country inn, with a dining room serving Shelburne Farms produce and Vermont ingredients in a room with floor-to-ceiling windows facing Lake Champlain and the Adirondacks. Sunday brunch includes the farm's own cheddar, eggs from the farm's chickens, and maple syrup from the sugar bush on the property.

The Charlotte-Essex ferry is the oldest continuously operating ferry in the US, crossing Lake Champlain in 20 minutes between Vermont and New York. The ferry has operated since 1790; the current vessels are diesel-powered flat-bottom ferries that carry 10 cars. The crossing provides the best unobstructed view of both the Green Mountains and the Adirondack High Peaks.

A professional theater company operating from the 1876 Delaware & Hudson Railroad station in the Adirondack village of Westport — the summer season runs 8 productions from June through September in the restored station. Westport's lakefront on the New York side has a private character distinct from the Vermont shore; the dock serves the Adirondack ferry to Burlington.

The dining room of the historic Westport Hotel on the Adirondack shore of Lake Champlain, serving locally sourced New York and Vermont ingredients in a Victorian-era inn with views of the lake and the Vermont mountains. A comfortable final dinner before the long drive south on I-87 through the Adirondacks.