Experience Burlington on Lake Champlain

Plan your stay in Burlington around the interests that matter to you: waterfront paths and parks, museums, a market visit, restaurants, or events. The Burlington Greenway and Waterfront Park offer their own highlights along Lake Champlain, while the Church Street Marketplace brings together shops, dining, and year-round entertainment. If you’re looking for hotels in Burlington, you can narrow down your travel dates and the focus of your stay based on these offerings.

By the water: Greenway and Waterfront Park

The Burlington Greenway is an eight-mile paved multi-use path along the shore of Lake Champlain. It connects several parks, nature preserves, and public beaches. In Burlington’s South End, the path begins just before Oakledge Park; its other end is at the pedestrian bridge over the Winooski River. Its length and endpoints give you concrete reference points when planning to include the path in your stay.

The Greenway is part of the Island Line Trail. Its gravel-surfaced causeway in Lake Champlain has a seasonal bike ferry to the Champlain Islands. If you’d like to plan around the ferry, check the schedule in advance.

West of downtown, on the shore of Lake Champlain, is Waterfront Park, a large regional park. Several major events are held there in spring, summer, and fall. The seasonal details differ for planning purposes: events take place at Waterfront Park in three seasons, while the bike ferry operates seasonally.

Market, restaurants, and events

The Church Street Marketplace is a pedestrian street with more than 100 shops and restaurants. Within its four blocks are more than 30 local restaurants. The Marketplace also offers year-round events and entertainment. Dining, shopping, and events thus come together in one area of the destination.

The Burlington Farmers Market has been held every Saturday since 1980, from late spring through fall. The exact dates vary each year. Unlike the Church Street Marketplace’s year-round events, the market is limited to a specific time of year. If you’d like to plan your stay around it, check the specific market dates.

Museums and a glimpse of aquatic life

The Fleming Museum of Art opened in 1931, bringing together collections of fine art, geology, archaeology, anthropology, and Vermontiana for public display, education, and research. Its collections include approximately 25,000 works of art and cultural heritage objects. The public can search records for more than 20,000 works using an online research tool.

At ECHO, visitors can experience native wildlife up close in the Into the Lake exhibit. The exhibit includes a 15,000-gallon Lake Tank, Vermont’s largest freshwater aquarium. ECHO also holds animal care demonstrations daily at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.; check the times before your visit, as they may change. The Back-of-House Tours program offers personal, hands-on tours behind the scenes. You should also check the booking details for these tours in advance.

Learn about and taste chocolate

At its flagship store on Pine Street, Lake Champlain Chocolates offers a chocolate tasting. It includes a selection of chocolate confections and information about how chocolate is made, the qualities of high-quality chocolate, and how to taste it like an expert. The experience combines tasting with insights into how chocolate is made and assessed.

Discover more destinations: Underhill, Shelburne, Colchester, Williston, South Burlington, Essex Junction

View the broader travel overview: Chittenden.