Overview
The route runs north-south along I-89, with short detours onto VT-100, US-4, and US-7. You will stay in three bases: two nights in Burlington, two nights in Stowe, and one night in Woodstock, covering four of Vermont's six distinct regions without backtracking badly. All told, you will drive around 200 miles over the five days, most of it on two-lane roads where 45 miles can take an hour. Budget extra time if you are traveling in late September or early October, when Route 100 through Stowe village slows to a crawl on weekends.
If foliage is your main reason for coming, the Vermont Fall Foliage Road Trip lays out a more specifically leaf-focused version of a similar loop, with timing guidance by elevation and region. If you have two extra days to give the trip more breathing room, the 7 Days in Vermont itinerary adds the Northeast Kingdom in the north and the southern Green Mountains down toward Brattleboro.
Day 1: Arrive in Burlington
Fly into Burlington International (BTV), or drive in on I-89 from Boston (about 3.5 hours) or New York City (about 5.5 to 6 hours, longer in summer Friday traffic). Burlington is Vermont's largest city and sits on the eastern shore of Lake Champlain, with the Adirondacks across the water in New York. Drop your bags and head to the Church Street Marketplace, a four-block pedestrian promenade lined with local shops, independent restaurants, and a rotation of street performers in summer. From the bottom of Church Street, Battery Park and the Lake Champlain waterfront are three blocks west. A 7.5-mile paved bike path runs along the shore, and ferries depart from King Street Dock to Port Kent, New York, for a 60-minute crossing.
For dinner, Farmhouse Tap & Grill on Bank Street sources much of its beef from Laplatte River Angus Farm in Shelburne and pairs its burgers and seasonal plates with a full lineup of Vermont craft beers on tap (budget around $20-35 per person, estimate). If you want brick-oven pizza and house-brewed beer in the same stop, American Flatbread Burlington and Mothership Brewery on St. Paul Street is two blocks away and stays busy on weeknights. Both are within walking distance of Hotel Vermont on Cherry Street, which is the most specific lodging option in downtown Burlington: independently owned, rates typically $180-350 per night in summer (estimate), and close to everything.
Day 2: Burlington and Shelburne
Keep Day 2 close to Burlington. Drive 8 miles south on US-7 (about 20 minutes) to Shelburne, where two very different places share the same stretch of road. Shelburne Farms occupies a 1,400-acre Gilded Age estate on a bluff above Lake Champlain, open mid-May through mid-October. The working farm produces a sharp, cloth-wrapped farmhouse cheddar aged on-site; pick up a wedge at the farm store (around $12-18 per pound, estimate) and walk the grounds for views back across the water toward the Adirondacks. A mile further south, the Shelburne Museum spreads across 45 acres and 39 historic buildings, ranging from a covered bridge brought here in pieces to a steamboat pulled ashore on dry land. Admission runs around $25-30 for adults (estimate). Plan three to four hours between the two.
Back in Burlington for the afternoon, the ECHO Leahy Center for Lake Champlain on the waterfront is a good stop if you are traveling with children. The lakefront bike path, rentable from local shops near Waterfront Park, covers 7.5 miles of flat, paved ground with views west toward the Champlain Islands. For dinner you can revisit Church Street or try another block of downtown Burlington, which has a strong independent food scene for a city of 45,000 people.
Day 3: North to Stowe
Leave Burlington on I-89 north and pick up VT-100 south through Waterbury into Stowe. The drive is 45 minutes on a clear day. Stowe sits at the base of Mount Mansfield, Vermont's highest peak at 4,395 feet, and Route 100 through the village is the main commercial artery, lined with restaurants, gear shops, and lodges. The Stowe Mountain Resort gondola (open in summer and ski season) carries you to the top of Spruce Peak for views that reach into the Adirondacks to the west and the Presidential Range in New Hampshire to the east. The gondola operates roughly late June through mid-October for sightseeing, and lift tickets for sightseeing run around $30-40 for adults (estimate).
The paved Stowe Recreation Path is one of the better reasons to spend an afternoon here in summer: 5.3 miles from the village south along the West Branch River, flat enough for families, and lined with meadows and cold swimming holes. Rent bikes in the village for around $35-55 per day (estimate). For dinner, Idletyme Brewing on Mountain Road sits right along the path with a large patio, hand-formed burgers, creative appetizers, and a solid rotation of house and guest taps. It fills up fast on summer weekends, so arrive before 6 p.m. or expect a wait. Check in to the Green Mountain Inn at 18 Main Street in Stowe village, a hotel built in 1789 with well-maintained rooms and a pool. Summer rates run roughly $200-340 per night (estimate), and winter rates climb higher during ski season. If you are planning this trip in winter, skiing and snowboarding options around Stowe, Smugglers' Notch, and Jay Peak are covered in depth on the activity page.
Day 4: Waterbury's Food Corridor, Then Woodstock
Backtrack south on I-89 to Exit 10 for Waterbury, about 15 minutes from Stowe. The Ben and Jerry's Factory sits half a mile north of the exit on VT-100 and runs guided 30-minute tours through the production floor daily, starting at 9 a.m. in summer (shorter hours off-season). Tickets cost around $4-6 per person (estimate). The Flavor Graveyard behind the building, where discontinued flavors get small headstone markers, is free and takes about 10 minutes to walk. Arrive by 9 a.m. on summer weekends if you want to beat the midmorning lines, or book tickets online in advance.
Walk five minutes into Waterbury village for lunch at Prohibition Pig on South Main Street, a serious smokehouse that does brisket, ribs, smoked chicken, and duck fat fries alongside a house craft beer program. It draws a consistent crowd; expect a short wait on busy days. After lunch, load the car and head south and east toward Woodstock: I-89 south to Exit 1 in Sharon, then US-4 east (about 1.5 hours from Waterbury). Pull over at Quechee Gorge, a 165-foot-deep cut in the Ottauquechee River spanning beneath the Route 4 bridge, about 5 miles east of Quechee village. The bridge overlook takes two minutes; the trail to the river bottom is about 20 to 30 minutes round trip and stays slick in wet weather. Check in to the Woodstock Inn and Resort at 14 The Green in Woodstock village, a property directly on the town green with rooms that book up weeks in advance during foliage season. Rates run roughly $230-440 per night (estimate), with the high end applying to October weekends.
Day 5: Woodstock, Quechee, and Departure
Walk Woodstock village in the morning before the tour buses arrive. The green is ringed by Federal-period buildings, and the Ottauquechee River runs just north of it with two covered bridges within easy walking distance. Billings Farm and Museum, a short walk north of the green on VT-12, is a working Jersey dairy farm with a living-history program focused on 19th-century Vermont farm life. Budget two hours here; admission runs around $18-20 for adults (estimate). Next door, Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park protects 550 acres of managed forest and offers 20 miles of carriage roads and short hiking trails up to Pogue Pond, a quiet glacial kettle lake on the ridge above the farm.
Drive 5 miles east on US-4 to Quechee village and stop for lunch at Simon Pearce, a restaurant inside a 19th-century grist mill on the Ottauquechee River. The dining room looks out over the river and a covered bridge while glassblowers work in the studio one floor below. The menu leans into New England sourcing, and the Vermont cheese course is a reliable order. Budget around $50-80 per person for lunch with a drink (estimate). Reservations are strongly recommended; walk-ins at lunch are possible on weekdays but uncertain on weekends.
From Quechee, your departure routes split depending on where you are heading. I-91 south is 20 minutes from Quechee and reaches Brattleboro in about 35 minutes and connects to I-90 for Boston (roughly 2.5 hours total from Woodstock). To return to Burlington, take US-4 west back to I-89 north, about 1.5 hours. If you have even one flexible day to add on, heading northeast from Woodstock on I-89 and VT-2 puts you in the Northeast Kingdom in about two hours. That far northeast corner of Vermont runs on dirt roads, glacial lakes, and a foliage season that starts two weeks earlier than the villages you just visited.
Where to Stay
Split your nights across three bases: two nights in Burlington, two nights in Stowe, and one night in Woodstock. In Burlington, Hotel Vermont on Cherry Street is the most Vermont-specific downtown option, smaller and more locally grounded than chain alternatives. In Stowe, the Green Mountain Inn at 18 Main Street puts you in the village within walking distance of the Recreation Path and restaurants. In Woodstock, the Woodstock Inn and Resort at 14 The Green is the obvious choice for its village green location and amenities, but it books up fast in September and October.
If you want to trim the lodging budget without sacrificing location, the Best Western Plus Waterbury-Stowe on Blush Hill Road in Waterbury is 15 minutes south of Stowe on I-89 and offers free breakfast, a pool, and rates typically in the $130-220 range (estimate), making it a solid off-mountain base for the Stowe days. More options across all price points and all six Vermont regions are mapped out in the Vermont Travel Guide.
Book These Ahead
Several things sell out or fill up faster than you might expect, particularly in July, August, and the foliage window of late September through mid-October. The Ben and Jerry's factory tour rarely sells out entirely on weekdays, but summer weekend mornings see lines that stretch out the door by 10 a.m.; buy tickets online or arrive when the doors open at 9 a.m. The Woodstock Inn and Resort fills October weekends six to eight weeks in advance, sometimes more. Book Stowe Mountain Resort gondola tickets online before your trip if visiting in summer, and book ski lift passes well ahead for any peak winter weekend. Simon Pearce in Quechee takes reservations and fills dinner service most weekends, so call or book online at least a week ahead. Hotel Vermont in Burlington fills during fall weekends and University of Vermont events, particularly graduation weekend in mid-May.
One timing note worth repeating: the fall foliage peak in the northern parts of this itinerary (Stowe, Burlington) typically lands in the first and second weeks of October, while Woodstock and the Upper Valley peak roughly a week later. The foliage window moves from high elevation and north to south and downhill over two to three weeks. Planning around that window takes some attention to elevation, and the Vermont Fall Foliage Road Trip covers the timing in specific detail.