Vermont's foliage is a moving target. The colour starts in the Northeast Kingdom in the last week of September and works south and downhill over about three weeks, with any given spot holding peak for roughly a week. Higher elevations turn first; valley floors turn last.
The state publishes a tracker and updates it weekly through the season, which is the single most useful planning tool for a trip here and which almost nobody consults before booking. Picking a week in advance and hoping is how people end up looking at green trees or bare branches.
The chemistry is worth knowing too. The reds — which is what people come for — come from anthocyanin, which the tree manufactures in autumn rather than simply revealing, and the process needs warm sunny days followed by cool nights above freezing. A warm wet autumn produces a dull year. A hard early frost cuts it short.
No billboards
Vermont banned billboards in 1968, one of only four states to do so. The effect on the drive is immediate and it is the reason the roads feel the way they do — there is nothing between the eye and the hills, and businesses use standardised small wooden signs instead.
The state also has no city of any size. Burlington, the largest, has under 45,000 people.
The regions
Stowe, in the north, sits below Mount Mansfield, the state's highest point at 1,340 metres, and has the ski area, the Trapp family's lodge and the most developed valley.
Woodstock and the Upper Valley, in the east, have the covered bridges, the village green and the Rockefeller conservation estate.
Manchester and the south, in the Green Mountains, have the outlet shopping, the Equinox and the older resort tradition.
The Northeast Kingdom, in the far corner, is the emptiest part and where the colour starts.
The eight below are grouped that way.
Stowe and the north
Below Mount Mansfield.
The Lodge at Spruce Peak occupies a position at the base of the Stowe gondola with a spa, a pool, ski-in access and the most complete facilities in the state.
The Lodge at Spruce Peak
Stowe Mountain · 5★ · $$$$
Ski-in at the gondola with the state's fullest facilities
Check availabilityTrapp Family Lodge sits on a hillside above Stowe in a lodge built by the family whose story became The Sound of Music, with a Nordic centre, a brewery and meadows that were chosen because they reminded them of Austria.
Trapp Family Lodge
Above Stowe · 4★ · $$$
Built by the family whose story became The Sound of Music
Check availabilityTopnotch Resort occupies a 120-acre estate at Stowe with tennis, a spa and a Nordic trail network.
Edson Hill sits on a ridge above the valley in a converted 1940s farmhouse with a small room count, a fireplace and a good kitchen.
Edson Hill
Stowe ridge · 4★ · $$$
A converted 1940s farmhouse with a fireplace and a good kitchen
Woodstock and the east
Covered bridges and the green.
Twin Farms occupies a 300-acre estate near Barnard with twenty individually designed cottages, an all-inclusive rate covering everything including the bar, and an art collection that includes work by Hockney and Motherwell. It is the best hotel in New England.
Twin Farms
Barnard · 5★ · $$$$
Twenty cottages, all-inclusive, with Hockney on the walls
Woodstock Inn & Resort sits on the Woodstock village green in a building run by the Rockefeller family for decades, with a spa, a golf course and the covered bridge nearby.
Woodstock Inn & Resort
Woodstock village green · 4★ · $$$$
Run by the Rockefellers for decades, with a spa and golf
Check availabilityManchester and the south
The Green Mountains.
The Equinox Golf Resort & Spa occupies a resort at Manchester operating since 1769, with a golf course, a spa and falconry and off-roading schools on the property.
The Equinox Golf Resort & Spa
Manchester · 4★ · $$$
Operating since 1769, with falconry and off-roading schools
Check availabilityKimpton Taconic Hotel sits on the Manchester main street in a restored building with a design-led interior and rates below the resorts.
Kimpton Taconic Hotel
Manchester main street · 4★ · $$$
Design-led at rates below the resorts
Check availabilityWhat we have left off
The inns and bed and breakfasts across Vermont are excluded, and in a state of villages they are the traditional and most numerous option. They are guest houses rather than hotels.
What to do
Check the foliage tracker before booking and be prepared to move a week either way.
Drive Route 100, which runs the length of the state through the mountain villages and is the road the foliage drive is built around. Go midweek.
Walk or drive up Mount Mansfield on the toll road, and take the Stowe recreation path along the valley floor if the road is busy.
Eat and drink the state's output: cheddar, maple, and a brewing industry that has produced some of the most sought-after beer in America from very small operations.
See a covered bridge properly. Vermont has over a hundred and the ones at Woodstock, Waitsfield and the Cornish-Windsor crossing to New Hampshire are the notable ones.
Practical notes
Burlington has a small airport; Boston is three and a half hours and Montreal two. A car is essential.
Foliage runs late September to mid October and books far ahead at double the normal rate. The ski season runs December to early April. Late spring is mud season and much of the state closes.
There are no billboards, which also means fewer visual cues that you are nearly there.
Every hotel bookable in Vermont
When does the colour peak?
Late September in the Northeast Kingdom, moving south and downhill over about three weeks. Check the state tracker before booking.
Why did Vermont ban billboards?
A 1968 law, one of only four states to do it. Businesses use standardised small wooden signs instead.
Stowe or Woodstock?
Stowe for the mountain and the skiing, Woodstock for the village green and the covered bridges. Two hours apart.
How many nights?
Four. Two in each half, with Route 100 between them.