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Best Places to Visit in Southern Vermont: Manchester, Hildene, Bennington
Vermont is a super choice for a fall getaway, since more than 75% of the state is covered in trees that turn glorious shades of red, orange, and gold in the autumn. One particularly nice stretch is the small southwestern part of the state between Manchester and Bennington. These are among the best cities to visit in southern Vermont. Here you’ll find covered bridges, farms, maple syrup and cheeses, nature trails, and the estate of Abraham Lincoln’s son.
As a rule of thumb, the best time to catch fall foliage views is from late September through early October. However, do check the tracker at Vermont Fall Foliage Reports for the most recent and authoritative information on when the leaves change their colors in Vermont.
The best way to enjoy these views and the sights along the way is by driving your own vehicle. This will make the most convenient and efficient use of your time.
Here’s a list of some of the must-see places in the area, roughly in the order you’ll see them if you’re driving from north to south.
List of Places to Visit in Southern Vermont
- Manchester Village Historic District
- Hildene, the Lincoln Family Estate
- Equinox Valley Nursery
- Mount Equinox Skyline Drive
- Route 313 to Kelley Stand Road Foliage Drive
- Arlington Dairy Bar
- Clear Brook Farm
- Robert Frost Stone House Museum
- Hogback Mountain Country Store and Overlook
Keep reading for a detailed itinerary and travel guide that lays out how to see some of the best cities and views in southern Vermont. You can see it all in a little more than a day!
Best Places to Visit in Southern Vermont In-Depth
Plan to start your day early in the morning. If it’s autumn, this drive will be filled with scenic vistas of red and gold hillsides and streams.
Manchester Village Historic District
Park your vehicle in one of the many spots at Manchester Village Historic District. Spend the next 30-45 minutes exploring the town’s historic buildings. Here you’ll find the stately white First Congregational Church, the Bennington County Courthouse (1822), Equinox Hotel (established in 1769), a historic house from 1811, and Revolutionary War Memorial. Walk up and down Main Street and admire the wooded hillside in the distance.
Hildene, the Lincoln Family Estate
Proceed to Hildene (in old English, hil meant “hill” and dene meant “valley with stream”), which belonged to President Abraham Lincoln’s son Robert Todd Lincoln and his wife Mary. Robert Todd Lincoln lived at this 412-acre estate until his death in 1926. The vast grounds include scenic land covered in forested hills and streams. It’s a great place to visit for both nature lovers and history buffs. I’d recommend spending the lion’s share of your time in southern Vermont exploring the remarkable home and surrounding countryside.
The estate doesn’t open until 1000 (and closes at 1630), so if you arrive earlier than that, spend some time enjoying the surrounding nature trails. You might spend an hour hiking these.
Then return to the Welcome Center and Museum Store to purchase your entry ticket (about $23 for each adult). The ticket covers Robert and Mary’s home, the 1903 Pullman car Sunbeam, the Hildene Farm and Goat Dairy, the Dene Farm, and nature trails.
The estate can get quite crowded, but you can avoid the giant tour groups and long lines if you arrive here just as it opens.
At the time of this writing, masks are optional in most indoor places but social distancing guidelines are in effect due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Make your way up to the house that belonged to Robert and Mary Lincoln. One or more of the house guides will provide introductory remarks about their lives. Robert Lincoln made his fortune working for the Pullman Carriage Company and inherited the presidency of the company when its founder George Pullman died. Lincoln used that fortune to acquire this land and build the Georgian Revival mansion here in 1905. It remained home to the Lincoln family for decades afterward until 1975.
Enter the ground floor and have a look around. The 8,000-square foot house has 12 bedrooms and 12 bathrooms. It also had a staff of 15 butlers and maids.
As you walk through the mansion, you’ll see the entrance hall, parlor, and a room where Robert Lincoln lived after 1908 when his health declined. The floor also has the dining room, butler’s bedroom, staff dining room, the kitchen (restored to how it looked in 1905), pantry (including an old school call box and 1920s refrigerator), guest bedroom, and library.
There’s an impressive center staircase made from Honduran mahogany and yellow birch.
Walk upstairs. You’ll find some fascinating historical items here. Take a look at the life mask of Abraham Lincoln and what is probably the last mirror he looked into before going to Ford’s Theater the night of his assassination.
You’ll also see one of his top hats, of only three that remain in the world today. There’s also an 1850 political map of the United States and a variety of other artifacts.
You’ll find Mrs. Lincoln’s room, a sitting room, linen closet, and maids’ quarters upstairs as well.
After you’ve had your fill of the mansion’s interior, exit to see the grounds and gardens. These are beautifully kept and you’ll enjoy some good views of the countryside from here and the observatory. The observatory has a mysterious stone with the letters “MW” inscribed upon it. When I visited, neither I nor the staff could figure out the story behind them. Perhaps you will!
See the restored 1903 Pullman car Sunbeam. In the words of one of the guides, this was the Learjet of its day. It would have cost around $500 per hour to lease in today’s dollars, which is indeed comparable to a Learjet. It also provided a relatively good job—but certainly not a good job in an objective sense—for African-Americans at the time; conditions were grueling, as the porters were on call for 20 hours a day.
Make your way over to the Hildene Farm and Goat Dairy. You may see the goats being milked. The goats are quite friendly and curious. Inside the Rowland Agricultural Center, information displays and an observation hallway show cheese is made, from the milking parlor to the processing room and pasteurizer tank. Restrooms are here too if you need them.
Then walk down the tree-lined Maple Trail. You may see some remarkable wildlife in this area. During my visit, a red-tailed brown hawk swept down, caught a small squirrel or chipmunk, and carried it up to a tree branch, where it devoured the small animal piece by piece in front of me.
The trail will take you down to the lower Dene Farm. A herd of friendly alpacas may gallop toward you to say hello. They can be quite long-lived. During my visit, I learned that one of them was nearly 22 years old. Here you’ll see pigs, cows, chickens, and sheep as well.
Keep walking around Dene Farm and you’ll come upon a delightful trail through marshland. Part of it takes you over a 600-foot boardwalk across the Battenkill wetlands. On the boardwalk you may find some non-aggressive nesting paper wasps. Here’s a tip: they probably won’t bother you as long as you walk slowly and predictably there.
Equinox Valley Nursery
After you’ve finished exploring Hildene, drive out to Equinox Valley Nursery. Here you can enjoy a warm apple cider donut, cold glass of apple cider, and perhaps a loaf of homemade pumpkin bread for the road.
Mount Equinox Skyline Drive
Drive down Mount Equinox Skyline Drive. This is a roughly 5-mile paved road that will culminate in the Saint Bruno Scenic Viewing Center, which provides information about the mountain and Carthusian Monks who reside here. At the top, you’ll have sweeping, panoramic views of the surrounding countryside.
If you choose to hike the trail at the top, be careful. The terrain is rough in places and it’s not advisable to try it during inclement weather.
Arlington Dairy Bar
Stop by Arlington Dairy Bar for a treat called a creemee. This is a New England version of ice cream with a higher fat content. The menu revolves around ice cream, but you can also get chicken, seafood, hot dogs, and fries here.
Robert Frost Stone House Museum
Proceed to the Robert Frost Stone House Museum. This is the house where he lived in the 1920s when he won his first Pulitzer Prize. You can park in a small lot in the back. An entrance ticket for an adult costs $10. The house museum contains a few rooms with his belongings and a record player playing his voice reading some of his poetry. You may find a room or two with modern art as well.
Clear Brook Farm
Make your way over to Clear Brook Farm, where you can browse and purchase some additional Vermont treats at reasonable prices. It’s usually open from 1000-1730, with slightly shorter hours on Sundays.
Route 313 – Kelley Band Road Scenic Foliage Drive
If you’re making this trip during the fall, here’s another good opportunity for foliage viewing. Drive across a rough but scenic road from 313 east alongside a river by Kelley Band Road. From time to time, you’ll be able to stop at pullovers and short bridges for a better view.
Then drive out to 313 West almost to the border with New York, pulling over when appropriate to admire the forested hillsides and covered bridges.
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Hogback Mountain Country Store
Wrap up your long day of sightseeing with a stop at Hogback Mountain Country Store in nearby Wilmington, Vermont. Alternatively, visit the next morning on your way out of the area. Established in 1936, this place offers not only a store with Vermont treats but also an overlook that is especially splendid in the fall. There are plenty of parking spaces along the street here.
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Inside the store, you can buy Vermont specialty foods like artisan cheeses, homemade fudge, maple cookies and candies, and maple syrup as well as souvenirs like apparel, postcards, and pins. If you missed out on maple creamees at the Arlington Dairy Bar, here’s another chance to try one.
And there you have it—an itinerary laying out how to see the highlights of southern Vermont in a single day.
More Great Places If You Have More Time
Of course, these aren’t the only great sights to see in southern Vermont. If you have more than a day in the area, check out these other noteworthy attractions and activities.
- Lye Brook Falls (Manchester)
- North Meadow Farm (Manchester)
- Southern Vermont Arts Center (Manchester)
- Apple picking at an apple farm (Manchester)
- Bennington Battle Monument (Bennington)
- Bennington Museum (Bennington)
- Park-McCullough Historic House (Bennington)
As long as you’re in the area, consider venturing further afield by combining a trip to southern Vermont with some other New England sightseeing. There are two East Coast national parks in the area.
With another day, you might drive up to central Vermont to see Woodstock’s Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park (which, by the way, is the only national park in Vermont) and Quechee. These are other great places to visit in the fall.
With a few more days, you could also add on a visit to Acadia National Park in Maine.