Travel Like a Local: Vermont

Travel Like a Local: Vermont Insider's tips and recommendations for experiencing Vermont like a local: restaurants, inns, breweri Also a Vermont Realtor® with Keller Williams Vermont.

Insider's tips and recommendations for experiencing Vermont like a local: restaurants, inns, breweries, cideries, hikes, farmers' markets and more.

09/05/2026

If there’s one Vermont fall food experience worth planning an orchard trip (or full Vermont road trip!) around, this is it. 🍎🍦🍑

At Yates Family Orchard in Monkton, Vermont, apple picking, mountain views, hot c***r donuts and Vermont-made creamees all come together in one pretty perfect fall afternoon…

And the perfect fall sweet treat you’re driving for? Their signature Dreamee®.

Picture this: you’ve just spent the afternoon picking apples with mountain views in the distance, and you finish it off with a warm c***r donut topped with Vermont-made creamee, apple pie filling and a caramel drizzle. It’s everything you want to be eating at a Vermont orchard this time of year combined in one perfect bite. The apple pie filling is the best part IMO! 🍎

And for a limited time, you can still get the Peaches & Creamee Dreamee, bringing together the very end of peach season with the beginning of apple season in one seriously good fall bite. 🍑

Right now, they’re picking Gala, McIntosh, Sweet William (William’s Pride) and the first Honeycrisp of the season, with limited peach picking still available. You’ll also find orchard-picked peaches and jam peaches in the stand, along with other local Vermont products to bring home.

What better Vermont fall afternoon is there than picking your own apples, taking in the mountain views and rewarding yourself with the most perfect fall bite afterward?

📍 Yates Family Orchard | Monkton, Vermont
🍎 Open daily 9:30-5:30pm 
🌅 Fridays until 7pm

⭐ Have you tried this perfect Vermont fall sweet treat? ⭐ And tell me: what Vermont fall dish should we feature next? 🍁

09/04/2026

🌿⛰️ Enter to Win a Two-Night Mad River Valley, Vermont Getaway! 🏡✨

Win a two-night stay at 1824 House Inn + Barn, a cozy eight-room Vermont inn tucked onto 15 acres along the Mad River in Waitsfield, where your stay comes with a lot more than just a room.

Start every morning with a made-to-order breakfast included with your stay, then head out to explore the Mad River Valley. With eight ski mountains nearby, 1824 House makes an ideal home base for winter adventures, while warmer months bring plenty to explore right on the property.

Follow the paths across the inn’s 15 acres and you’ll find one of its best-kept secrets: a private swimming hole on the Mad River, with a rocky and sandy beach and shallow water for wading. 💦🌿

With just eight guest rooms, including two dog-friendly rooms, the inn offers an intimate Vermont stay. Keep an eye out for resident inn pups Benedict (Bene) and Alligator (Alli), who may just be the best welcoming committee in the Mad River Valley. 🐾

The best part? During many nights of the week, the Inn hosts dinner in their barn on site. Delicious meals without the need to get in your car!

Ski, hike, swim, explore Waitsfield and Warren, or simply linger over breakfast and enjoy a slower Vermont morning… One lucky winner will receive a TWO-NIGHT STAY at the 1824 House! ✨

‼️ HERE’S HOW TO ENTER: ‼️

1️⃣ FOLLOW 1824 House Inn + Barn, Colleen Blair | New England + Travel + Travel Like a Local: Vermont

2️⃣ LIKE + SAVE this post

3️⃣ TAG someone who’d love a Mad River Valley escape! Unlimited entries, one tag per comment.

⭐️ 5 BONUS ENTRIES: Share to your stories + tag all three accounts in the story. Private account? DM a screenshot to Travel Like a Local: Vermont.

Giveaway ends September 7, 2026 at 11:59pm EST. Winner notified via DM from Travel Like a Local: Vermont only. Stay subject to availability. Additional restrictions and blackout dates may apply.

09/03/2026

There are some Vermont restaurants that don’t need to do much advertising because the locals keep them plenty busy. And in tiny Newfane, Vermont, FatCrowRestaurant is one of them. And one of my favorite restaurants I’ve stumbled upon in recent years.🍕🍺🐦‍⬛

Fat Crow has been feeding Newfane since 2008, earning the kind of loyal local following that keeps its small dining room bustling and tables booked. And somehow, one of the smallest restaurants has one of the most extensive menus I’ve come across in Southern Vermont.

There are wood-fired pizzas coming out of the oven, burgers and sandwiches, ribs, seafood, salads, comfort food, plenty of appetizers and rotating specials. It’s one of those menus you need a few extra minutes with because narrowing it down is half the battle.

The space has just as much personality as the menu, with an eclectic collection of decor, motorcycles, a lively little bar and the wood-fired oven right in the middle of the action. There’s also a great selection of Vermont b**r, c***r and spirits behind the bar.

And speaking of the bar, that’s where I’d sit if you can snag a seat. The bar service is fantastic, you can watch the pizzas coming and going from the oven and it’s the perfect spot to take in the whole place. 🍻

There’s a new chapter happening here, too. Fat Crow changed ownership in 2026, but the story behind it feels fitting for a restaurant so loved by its regulars. The new owners were regulars themselves, coming to Southern Vermont for years and eating at Fat Crow often enough to eventually become friends with longtime owner Kenny and his wife Denise. When Kenny started thinking about retirement, they spent about a year planning the transition, with the goal of holding onto what people already loved about Fat Crow rather than reinventing it.

A small town, small dining room, enormous menu, welcoming service and a loyal following you can’t manufacture, but rather only attract with great food and a warm welcome.

Just one piece of advice: make the reservation. The locals already have. 🍻

⭐ Save this one for your next Southern Vermont road trip. Have you dined at the Fat Crow?

08/30/2026

The end of August in Vermont. 🌿🐞

Open windows. Misty mornings. Ripe garden tomatoes. Back road rambling. Golden hour walks. Farm stands overflowing. Fields of sunflowers. Warm river sits. Sweet corn for dinner. Fog settling into the valleys. The very first leaves starting to turn. That unmistakable hint of fall creeping in.

If the end of August in Vermont - that beautiful turning point between summer and fall - had a sound, it would be this. 🤍

08/29/2026

If you’ve ever tried to snag a box of Glazed Donuts esteemed, artisan maple brioche donuts from her cottage bakery in Essex, Vermont before they sold out, you know the struggle. 🍩

What started as a weekend family hobby for Rachel and Jordan quickly became a food drop you had to be READY for. Her sampler dozens would go live on the website and sell out almost immediately, leaving plenty of us waiting for the next chance to get our hands on them.

And now, there’s finally a place to find them more often. 🙌 In fact, you can now grab them Thursday and Friday from 7am to sell out and weekends starting at 8am.

Glazed Donuts has a brand-new home inside Leo & Company at the Essex Experience, serving her signature maple brioche-based donuts from an actual storefront.

And these aren’t your average donuts.

The dough is made with local Vermont maple syrup and brioche, creating a donut that’s soft, rich and just a little different from the classic yeast donut. Then come the glazes, fillings and toppings, with flavors that change and give you a very good reason to keep coming back. Now you can get a single donut to go with your cold brew too!

Going from baking out of her Essex home to selling out sampler boxes online to opening a brick-and-mortar location right here in Essex feels like a pretty sweet Vermont small-business story.

And for the rest of us? It means you no longer have to set an alarm and race everyone else online just to score a dozen. 😂

⭐️What flavor are you grabbing first? 🍩⭐️

08/28/2026

Step aside, fried Oreos and corn dogs. 🎡 There are way more original, and wholly Vermont, bites to hunt down at the Champlain Valley Fair in 2026!

The fair is the last 10 days of Vermont’s summer celebration, and the food goes way beyond typical fair fare. Think kebabs and gyros, A Single Pebble Restaurant, Maharaja Spice, Korean wings, street corn in a chip bag and Vermont maple worked into just about everything.

Here are the bites I’d make a beeline for:

🍓 Tanghulu, new to the fair this year! Strawberries, grapes or mandarin oranges on a skewer coated in a crisp, crackly sugar shell. THE BEST BITE!

🍎 Hot-out-of-the-fryer apple fritters from Apple Fritters of Vermont with an ice-cold c***r slushie.

🔥 Brisket mac + cheese from Smokin’ Joes .

🥔 A loaded baked potato topped with freshly sliced steak from Beef’s.

🌽 Hot buttered sweet corn from the Rotary for just $4. Simple and one of my favorite bites this year.

🍁 A maple creemee, cotton candy, sugar on snow, maple cookie or donut from the Maple Sugar House.

🍟 Maple bacon poutine from 802 Poutine. Fries + cheese curds + gravy + bacon + maple. Very Vermont.

🥩 A fried steak + cheese from Jay’s.

🌮 A fried beef taco from the Dizzy Dozen.

🍋 A Dirty Maple Lemonade at whoanelliekettlecorn made with Brigham’s maple from Essex, fruit flavor + fresh vanilla whipped cream. Or try their straight-up maple lemonade.

🥒 A deep-fried pickle grilled cheese from the Melted Cheeserie for the ultimate crunch. And try the deep-fried cheesecake bites, too.

And yes, eventually you might want to do something besides eat. 😂 Hit the rides, see the animals and don’t miss the baby alpaca, piglets or my personal favorite, the just-born Highland cow. 🐮

⭐ What’s the ONE thing you’re looking forward to eating at the fair? ⭐

08/28/2026

GIVEAWAY! 🌿⛰️ Enter to Win a Two-Night Stay at One of Southern Vermont’s Newest Hotels: Meet Otherland, a New Way to Stay! ✨The best part? It’s dog-friendly!

There’s a brand-new place to stay in Southern Vermont, where the Green Mountains are out back and some of the region’s best adventures are right at your door.

One lucky winner will receive a TWO-NIGHT STAY at , a new nature boutique hotel in Newfane, Vermont, just outside of Brattleboro, complete with river access and two on-site saunas.

Designed to make the surrounding landscape part of your stay, every guest room features large windows framing the mountain views outside. Wake up to the Green Mountains, then head downstairs and settle into one of the hotel’s cozy common lounges, complete with a fireplace, books and games for slower Vermont mornings and evenings. 🔥📚

Looking to unwind? Otherland also has a Mirror and A-Frame sauna for private sweat sessions, giving you another reason to stay put and enjoy the property.

And when Vermont warms up, your stay comes with something even better: private access to the West River.

💦 Pack a book, head down to the water and spend an afternoon enjoying your own little slice of Southern Vermont.

When you’re ready to explore, Newfane, Brattleboro and the surrounding Green Mountains are right outside your door, making Otherland an easy home base for a Southern Vermont getaway in any season.

Newly reimagined. Mountains out back. Southern Vermont at your door.

And one lucky winner gets TWO NIGHTS to experience it all! ✨

‼️ HERE’S HOW TO ENTER: ‼️

1️⃣ FOLLOW Otherland Hotel | Vermont and Travel Like a Local: Vermont

2️⃣ LIKE + SAVE this post

3️⃣ TAG someone you’d bring on a Southern Vermont getaway in any season! Unlimited entries, one tag per comment.

⭐️ 5 BONUS ENTRIES: Share this post to your stories + tag Otherland Hotel | Vermont.Otherland Hotel | Vermontreenshot to Travel Like a Local: Vermont.

⭐️ Who would you bring? ⭐️

Giveaway ends August 31, 2026 at 11:59pm EST. One winner will be notified via DM from Travel Like a Local: Vermont only. Stay subject to availability for mid-week stays solely. Additional restricti

08/27/2026

If you’re looking for a Vermont weekend that feels a little removed from everything but is still convenient to the Mass border, put Newfane on your list. 🌲

This tiny Southern Vermont town sits just north of Brattleboro, where cell service is spotty at best and Route 30 winds alongside the West River. Think good food, swimming holes, covered bridges, old general stores and a few stops you might not find unless someone told you about them.

Here’s how I’d spend a weekend in and around Newfane:

☕ Start just down the road in Dummerston at Bigfoot Coffee, a quirky roadside coffee stand at a former ski area, for a maple latte to fuel your adventures.

🌉 Detour to the historic West Dummerston Covered Bridge, stretching more than 270 feet across the West River.

🥪 Head to The Newfane Store for a sandwich and browse the local products and b**rs, candy and some seriously unexpected finds.

🌊 Spend the afternoon along the West River. Find a swimming spot, hit a nearby trail or explore the backroads around Newfane, Williamsville and South Newfane.

🍕 Make a reservation at FatCrowRestaurant for dinner, and whatever else you order, get a pizza. This little restaurant has become one of my favorite reasons to send people to Newfane.

🍁 Stop at Bensch Mtn Maple for maple samples and stock up on provisions. I’m talking nuts, popcorn and jugs of robust dark!

🛏️ Stay at Otherland Hotel | Vermont, a reimagined boutique hotel on 40 acres along the West River. Explore the trails and river access and book time in both private saunas.

Staying a couple of days? Make the 20-minute drive into Brattleboro for antiquing, shops and galleries downtown.

Newfane isn’t a place you come for a packed itinerary. It’s a place to disappear for a weekend, lose your cell service, swim in a river, eat really well and explore a part of Vermont that still feels wonderfully small-town. 🍁🌲

⭐️ Have you spent time in Newfane? What would you add to the itinerary? ⭐️

08/26/2026

Right beside Vermont’s oldest log cabin in Grand Isle in the Champlain Islands sits another hidden piece of early Vermont history that most people drive right past. 🍎📚🌿

The Hyde Schoolhouse, also known as the “Block Schoolhouse,” was built in 1814 and is one of the oldest surviving one-room schoolhouses in Vermont.

Constructed from foot-thick, squared-off logs covered by wood planks and clapboards, the building originally stood along what is now East Shore Road North. It was moved to the Grand Isle Elementary School grounds in 1954 before eventually being relocated to its current home beside the Hyde Log Cabin.

Today, you can still see the original log construction through a small exterior vent in the wall. 🪵

For decades, local children attended classes here before the building later served as part of the Grand Isle Elementary School campus. In the early 2000s, the schoolhouse was moved once again to its current home beside the Hyde Log Cabin historic site along Route 2.

During the summer months, the schoolhouse is typically open to the public through the Grand Isle Historical Society, and stepping inside feels like walking straight into a 19th century classroom. The site occasionally hosts reenactments and educational programs where retired teachers recreate what school days were like in the 1800s. 🕰️

A visit to the Schoolhouse makes the perfect addition to a day exploring the Champlain Islands, where quiet backroads, cottage bakeries, roadside farm stands, historic sites, and sweeping lake views feel like a completely different side of Vermont. 🌾🌊 And equally fun to visit as back-to-school season begins across Vermont.

⭐ Have you spotted this historic one-room schoolhouse or another in Vermont? ⭐

08/25/2026

GIVEAWAY! 🌿🍷 Enter to Win Two Tickets to a Farm-to-Table Garden Dinner at von Trapp Resort! ⛰️✨

Imagine spending an early September evening strolling through the Von Trapp gardens with a cocktail in hand, live jazz playing nearby and the Green Mountains stretching out in the distance… before sitting down at a long communal table for a multi-course dinner featuring ingredients grown and raised right on the property.

On September 5, von Trapp Family Lodge & Resort is hosting a special farm-to-table garden dinner, and one lucky winner will receive TWO COMPLIMENTARY TICKETS, a $550 value, to experience it!

The evening begins with a cocktail reception in the strolling gardens, where you can explore the property, take in the mountain views and say hello to the resort’s beloved Highland herd. 🐮🌿

Then, it’s time for dinner in the garden.

The von Trapp culinary team has created a multi-course menu highlighting some of the freshest ingredients from the resort’s own gardens and farm, alongside Vermont producers.

Think von Trapp Farmstead cheeses, garden vegetables and herbs, watermelon salad, roasted von Trapp beef tenderloin with garden herb chimichurri, creamy polenta with Grafton Clothbound Cheddar, grilled zucchini and squash, charred broccolini and a plum galette to finish. 🍽️

Each course is thoughtfully paired with Höpler wines and von Trapp Brewing la**rs, with the owner of Höpler joining the evening, too. 🍷🍺

And the setting? Dinner served outside among the gardens overlooking the Green Mountains as summer begins its turn toward fall in Vermont. ⛰️

‼️ Here’s how to enter: ‼️

1️⃣ FOLLOW von Trapp Family Lodge & Resort and Travel Like a Local: Vermont

2️⃣ LIKE + SAVE this post

3️⃣ TAG someone you’d bring to dinner! Unlimited entries, one tag per comment.

⭐️ 5 BONUS ENTRIES: Share this post to your stories and tag von Trapp Family Lodge & Rvon Trapp Family Lodge & Resortrmont so we can see it!
Giveaway closes Thursday, August 27, 2026 at 11:59PM. Winner will be contacted directly by Travel Like a Local: Vermont.

Must be able to attend the dinner on September 5 from 4-7 PM. 21+. Non-alcoholic beverage pairings are available. Transportation and lodging not included

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