While you are in Brattleboro a scenic cruise on the Connecticut River aboard the Belle of Brattleboro affords an experience of river beauty and serenity. Brattleboro has a lively main street renowned for its abundant bookstores, art galleries and coffee shops. The Outlet Center (vermontoutlet.com) at Exit 1 is a shoppers' paradise. Chocolate lovers will appreciate Tom & Sally's factory outlet serving gourmet chocolate. On the rural side, the Farmer's Market (bafm.net) is where you can meet local farmers and craftspeople. The Robb Family Farm (robbfamilyfarm.com) offers a sugar house, gift shop, sleigh and hay rides at their working dairy farm. The Retreat Petting Farm (theretreatfarm.com) is fun for kids. Adults might enjoy the local Greyhound Race Park (hinsdalegreyhound.com), or enjoy a round of golf at the Brattleboro Golf Club (brattleborogolf.com) .
To the West lie the spectacular Green Mountains. Route 9 takes you over Hogback Mountain (8 miles) for a hundred mile view. Mt. Snow (30 miles -- mountsnow.com), a premier mountain ski resort, has a fine golf course and nature areas, and along with Okemo (okemo.com), Haystack (mountsnow.com/haystack.html), and Stratton (stratton.com) Mountains give you a variety of slopes from which to choose. On the way, stop at Adam's Farm (24 miles -- adamsfamilyfarm.com) a working farm that artfully presents the agricultural side of Vermont life. Continue to Bennington, Vermont for a revolutionary history tour at the Bennington Museum (40 miles --benningtonmuseum.com), including the folk art of Grandma Moses.
The first stop north of Brattleboro is Putney, which boasts Basketville (9 miles -- basketville.com) for the home shopper, and Walker's Farm (6 miles -- walkerfarm.org) for horticultural enthusiasts. In the next town of Bellows Falls you can board the Green Mountain Railroad (17 miles -- rails-vt.com). For more Vermont shopping you can go the Vermont Country Store (50 miles -- vermontcountrystore.com) in Weston and on to the renowned upscale designer outlets in Manchester, Vermont (69 miles --manchesterdesigneroutlets.com).
And there is more just south in Massachusetts. Historic Deerfield (17 miles --- historic-deerfield.org) is a museum of history and art in Old New England Village. Yankee Candle Company ( yankeecandle.com) is a favorite tourist destination nearby in South Deerfield.
If you are arriving from the South you could take in Historic Deerfield and Yankee Candle in the morning, spend the afternoon and evening enjoying Brattleboro and the river tour. The next day you can you loop Southern Vermont with possible stops in Putney, Bellows Falls, Weston, Manchester, Bennington and the Mt. Snow Valley, and then return to the Red Roof Inn, Brattleboro for a second night.
Enjoy our hospitality!
