Burlington is Vermont's biggest city, which is to say a lively town of about forty thousand on the shore of Lake Champlain, with a big view and a bit of swagger. The lake is long and wide enough to feel like a small sea, and at sunset the Adirondacks across the water turn violet. The waterfront has a bike path, a boathouse and a pleasant park, and the whole city slopes up from the lake to the University of Vermont on the hill.
The center of life is Church Street, a long pedestrian marketplace of cafes, shops and street performers, with benches and outdoor tables whenever the weather allows. It is hard to talk about Burlington without mentioning ice cream: Ben and Jerry started their business here in 1978 in a converted gas station, and the story is one of Vermont's favorite legends. Ethan Allen, leader of the Green Mountain Boys, is buried in Green Mount Cemetery, and the city's politics, once led by Bernie Sanders as mayor in the 1980s, retain a distinctive independent streak. The lake has its own monster, Champ, said to lurk in the deep.
For riders, Burlington is a doorway. East, Route 108 over Smugglers Notch is one of the most spectacular roads in New England: a narrow, twisting pass between huge boulders and cliffs, with hairpin turns that are closed to trucks and trailers and shut in winter, usually from late autumn to spring. West and north, US 2 and Route 7 lead out over causeways to the Champlain Islands, flat and green, with orchards and farm stands. A ferry crosses the lake to New York, a pleasant way to see the water.
The city has everything: fuel at multiple stations, food of every type and hotels, though parking downtown is tight and rush-hour traffic is slow. The best seasons are early autumn, with clear light and a hint of color, and June, when the long evenings and the lake breeze are perfect. In July and August the lake is warm and busy. Winter brings snow and wind off the water, and the roads can ice up early. Fog on the lake sometimes drifts into town on cold mornings.