Burlington, VT is less than two hours outside of Montreal’s city center (provided your co-pilot is using Google Maps).

It’s a small city (or big town) loaded with hoppy breweries, tasteful eateries, and neat shops. After a quick trip to Montreal’s hipster-woodsy American cousin, here’s a short travel guide, for the short-on-time reader looking for a spring time escape.

★★★★★
An incredible experience.

★★★★☆
Great and recommended.

★★★☆☆
Good but not necessary.

★★☆☆☆
Mediocre.

★☆☆☆☆
Avoid.

Speeder and Earl’s

★★☆☆☆

It’s a nothing special coffee shop, sort of reminds me of Philz coffee. I liked it, spent some time here in the morning reading a bit after a late night out.

Dedalus Wine Shop

★★★★★

Great wine choices and lots of different types of cheese and cold cuts to pair. The shop has a small restaurant that’s inside where they do wine pairings and dinners on the weekends. This is a place where I’d love to eat, guess there’s always a next time!

Dedalus boasts a knowledgeable and kind staff. It’s definitely worth a visit, especially if you get full off all the beer.

Maglianero Cafe

★★★☆☆

Neat cafe, large open space with a surprising lack of seating. Cool spot to work, pull a solid espresso, combine it with a sparkling water (always a +1 from me). They sold CBD edibles and joints (weird, no?) that gave it a unique twist.

Monarch & the Milkweed

★★★★☆

Heard about this place through Meliangero Cafe. On top of selling lots of CBD edibles, they have a great little brunch spot. The grilled cheese and tomato soup is a must have.

Tomgirl Juice

★★★★☆

Juices looked great, though we both had their green juice (which was healthy). The staff were really nice though, gave us a homemade muffin to try. Really nice decor with a marble/white primary and mint secondary color palette.

Oakledge Park

★★★★☆

Pleasantly surprised by this park in the winter. It’s right on the waterfront. The lake (as far as I could see) was frozen over. So long as you’re not too afraid of falling through, it’s a fun spot to explore between eats.

Hen of the Wood

★★★★★

I highly recommend this spot: incredible service, funky wine list, lots of food to try and share. It’s on the pricier side, but ordered a bottle of wine and 5 different dishes to share. Make reservations at least a week in advance. This place would do well in Montreal, which is saying something.

Radio Bean

★★★★☆

Hip bar that serves food. We didn’t eat but grabbed drinks, solid selection on tap and in can for such a small place (this is just the situation in Burlington). Oh, open mic night on Saturdays (if not more often). The two musicians were surprisingly decent, would go back.

Burlington did not disappoint. Tips for your trip: if you can stay at Hotel Vermont, do it; lots of good beer, I didn’t document those parts of the trip; spring/summer/early-fall are probably ideal times.

As always, all shot on Pixel 2 XL and edited with Snapseed.