Burlington, Vermont

Lakeside Burlington, Vermont's largest "city," with a population near forty thousand, is one of the most enjoyable towns in New England. A hip, relaxed fusion of Montréal, eighty miles to the north, and Boston, over two hundred miles southeast, it's always looked as much to Canada as to the south. Burlington faces 150-mile-long Lake Champlain, which forms the boundary between Vermont and New York State; shipping connections with the St Lawrence River were far easier than the land routes across the mountains, and the harbour became a major supply center. The city's founders included Ethan Allen and family, but far from being some impoverished Robin Hood figure, Ethan was in fact a wealthy landowner, and his brother Ira founded the University of Vermont. As the home of the university, Burlington is the definitive youthful, outward-looking college town. Downtown is easily strolled by foot, notably around the Church Street Marketplace.