Newport lies at the southern tip of Lake Memphremagog, a long, narrow lake that stretches north into Quebec, and it is the largest town in what Vermonters call the Northeast Kingdom. That name was coined in 1949 by Senator George Aiken, who said that the region was so beautiful it deserved to be called a kingdom, and it stuck. The area is the wildest and least developed part of Vermont, with few people, lots of forest and a sense of being at the edge of things.
The town itself is a working place, with a small downtown on the lakeshore, a few brick buildings and a long pier. Memphremagog, an Abenaki name often translated as large body of water, is about thirty miles long, and most of it lies in Canada, so the border runs through the lake. A short ride north, Derby Line is famous for the Haskell Free Library and Opera House, a handsome building built exactly on the line, with its reading room in the United States and its stage in Canada. Magog, on the Quebec side, is a lively resort town, but the border crossing requires a passport and, these days, patience.
As an endpoint, Newport is a good place for riders arriving from the south along Route 100 or from the east along Route 105. The roads of the Northeast Kingdom are quiet and gently rolling, with long views of farms and forest, and few cars. Lake Willoughby, about twenty miles southeast, is a deep glacial lake between two sheer cliffs, with a fjord-like quality that is remarkable in the east. The surface is a mix of excellent and patchy, with frost damage in spring.
Newport has fuel, supermarkets and several restaurants, and it is the last full-service town before the border, so it is wise to fill up here. The best time is late September to mid-October, when the hills go red and gold and the lake mirrors them, but midsummer is warm and bright. Winter is hard, with deep snow and cold that stop all riding. Moose and deer are common on the back roads, so keep a watchful eye on the verges at dusk, particularly where forest meets pasture.