Sitting on Lake Champlain and framed by the Green Mountains and New York’s Adirondacks, Burlington — Vermont’s most populous city, at just under 45,000 residents — draws visitors for its natural beauty, farm-to-table food scene and progressive sensibility. Among the long-time producers and makers (many of whom appear at the city’s Saturday farmers’ market, which relocated in recent years), Burlington has a crop of new bars, cafes and wellness experiences, including a lakefront sauna. The city is also a jumping-off point to discover gems in neighboring Addison County, and to explore the Lake Champlain region, which is an almost sacred experience in fall, when the landscape unfurls into a spectacular temple.
Ben & Jerry’s may be synonymous with Vermont, but it isn’t the only place to grab a cone. Down the street from City Hall Park, look for the Italian flag that marks Shy Guy Gelato. Paul Sansone, an owner and native Vermonter, has churned gelato here since 2016, after learning the craft in Italy. Six flavors change daily, and autumnal favorites may include cider doughnut or sweet potato crunch. Take your cone ($6) and follow Maple Street, dotted with historic homes, to Perkins Pier, where a sweeping view of Lake Champlain and New York’s Adirondack Mountains, about 12 miles across the lake, greets you. From there, walk 10 minutes north on the beloved eight-mile Burlington Greenway — a bicycle and walking path initiated in 1985 by then-mayor Bernie Sanders — to Waterfront Park, where visitors stroll the boardwalk and enjoy lakefront views.
Since Vermont is regularly ranked as the state with the most breweries per capita, a trip to its largest city requires a brewery visit. Just behind Waterfront Park, Foam Brewers has more than 10 of its own beers on draft (from $5.50), which typically have tropical tasting notes like overripe mango or salted melon. Sit at the terrazzo-like stone bar top, which contains beach rocks from the Champlain shorelines collected by Foam’s brewmaster and his two daughters, and was constructed by a Vermont flooring company. At nights, the industrial-like space comes alive with touring and local live bands. When the sun starts to set, venture to the front garden and watch the Adirondacks slowly transform into a dark blue silhouette framed by streaks of pinks and oranges for a transcendent fall sunset.
Paradiso, which opened in Burlington’s South End arts district last fall, is inspired by Japan’s jazz kissas, the cafes and bars intended for listening to jazz records. The modern dining room has a high-fidelity sound system that cycles through a collection of roughly 2,400 vinyl records, which lean heavily toward international music, jazz, funk and hip-hop. Check online for the weekly lineup of guest selectors; themed past sets have included “Beyoncé & Beyond” and “Afro Futurism.” The restaurant specializes in small plates that nod to Nordic and New England cuisines and preservation techniques: the barely cooked lamb ($20) is a play on tartare and uses preserved tomatillos from the summer, while the grilled baby gem lettuce ($16) has squash saved from the previous winter.
Migrate next door to the candle-lit Dedalus Wine Bar, which pours exceptional bottles from small producers, mostly from France, Italy and the United States (glasses start from around $9). If you taste something you like, you can take it home (the bar has a retail shop that closes at 8 p.m., but staff can procure a to-go bottle for you after that). In downtown, 15 minutes away on foot, is the whimsical cocktail bar, Devil Takes a Holiday. Take a seat at the white marble bar to experience cocktails unique in both flavor and name, like the We Can’t Elope ($13) that blends cantaloupe with gin, lemon, mint and agave. Or sample the Agassi’s Mullet ($17), a Ramos gin fizz with egg white and cream that takes 10 minutes to craft with the bar’s shaker machine known as Sergio……