Arrival Day | Hotel Vermont
Many plan to arrive early to relax and perhaps enjoy the beautiful college town of Burlington, including the Church Street Marketplace and beautiful Waterfront Park, Echo Lake Aquarium and Science Center, Frog Hollow Craft Center … and treat yourself at Lake Champlain Chocolates.

Dinner is at 7 p.m. and is followed by an introductory meeting with your leaders.

Distance: 26 or 38 miles | Terrain: Easier to Intermediate | Hotel Vermont
Monday’s ride takes you south along quiet roads that give you great views of Lake Champlain and the Adirondack mountains. Arriving in the Village of Charlotte, you may stop at the 160-year-old Old Brick Store where you can buy snacks and a vast array of Vermont products, gift items, and great penny candy. Pick up lunch here to eat along the way … or after the ferry to New York. Board the Essex ferry with your bike (about 15 minutes across the lake) and enjoy cycling a 5-mile loop with views back across Lake Champlain.

After taking the return ferry to Vermont, you cycle through an old covered bridge to the lake shore and enjoy water views from the Charlotte Town Beach. Lake Champlain is the sixth largest lake in the U.S. French explorer Samuel de Champlain led the first European expedition here on July 4, 1609. And while it seems rather peaceful and quiet today, in earlier times it witnessed a great deal of tumultuous history including battles in the French and Indian Wars as well as the capture of Fort Ticonderoga in 1775 with the efforts of Ethan Allen, Benedict Arnold and the Green Mountain Boys. The British also had a large fleet here during the war of 1812 and were soundly defeated by American forces in the nearby battle of Plattsburgh in 1814.

Climbing away from the lake shore you pass through orchard and horse country and are rewarded with an included wine tasting at the Shelburne Vineyard where you can savor their excellent organic wines. There are 12 more miles of country roads and bike path to the day’s route, but for those hankering for time to explore and shop in Burlington, you can take our passenger van from the winery back to Hotel Vermont.

You are on your own for dinner this evening and can select from several local options in Burlington within walking distance of the inn.

Distance: 33 miles | Terrain: Easier | North Hero House or Shore Acres Inn*
Today you start cycling on the beautiful Burlington Waterfront Bike Path. The Bike Path follows the Lake Champlain shoreline, offering wonderful views of the lake and the Adirondack Mountains to the west and the city of Burlington to the right. The bike path links six major waterfront parks, crosses the Winooski River on a pedestrian/bike bridge and ends on a causeway that juts out into the lake. From here a seasonal bike ferry takes you and your bicycle just a few hundred feet across a gap in the causeway to Grand Isle and the Champlain Islands. In Grand Isle, guests often have lunch at a local farmstand. From here you wind your way along the western shore of the lake and then cross a drawbridge leading into North Hero, where you are welcomed at your inn. You might want to take the opportunity to explore Hero’s Welcome General Store. This iconic general store is located in a century-old building on the shore of the lake, and you will enjoy walking through its many aisles and outbuildings, including a bakery, cafe, as well as the general store itself.

Distance: 25 or 46 miles | Terrain: Easier | North Hero House or Shore Acres Inn*
Today you enjoy a pleasant ride north to Alburg and then head north for an optional ride into Canada (bring your passport!). One Canadian highlight is a visit to Fromagerie Kaiser, a boutique cheese and bread shop and a great place to have a picnic before cycling back on a loop to the United States. From here, West Shore Road leads down another beautiful side of the lake and to Alburg Dunes State Park. This 625-acre property is named for the sand dunes located along the long south-facing natural sand beach, and you cycle along a tree-shaded “beach road” before riding your last few miles back to North Hero.

Distance: 20 or 25 miles and kayaking | Terrain: Easier | North Hero House or Shore Acres Inn*
Today you explore historic Isle La Motte. Heading north, you soon come to a point in the road where Lake Champlain is very close on both sides. This is known as “The Carrying Place” a narrow isthmus that was used by Native Americans to traverse canoes between sections of Lake Champlain as well as by rum-running smugglers trying to avoid Jefferson’s 1808 embargo on trade with Canada. Crossing the bridge over Alburg Passage, you then ride the narrow neck and bridge leading onto Isle La Motte.

Here you visit the site of Fort Saint Anne and Saint Anne’s Shrine. The shrine includes a chapel, scenic walkways, historic site markers and seasonal snack bar. Fort Saint Anne was built by the French in 1666 as protection against Mohawk Indian raids, and was the first white settlement in Vermont. In addition, General Montgomery had his headquarters here before the 1775 expedition into Canada. Benedict Arnold also anchored his fleet near here before the Battle of Valcour Island (1776), and the British fleet stopped here before their defeat at the Battle of Plattsburgh (1814).

Leaving St. Anne, you continue to hug the island shore with great views west into the Adirondacks. You can opt for a visit to the Fiske Farm and Quarry Preserve where old quarries have exposed outcroppings of the Chazy reef formation. This is an example of the world’s oldest type of coral reef (450,000,000 years old and nearly a mile long).

After completing your ride, you return to the North Hero House to enjoy an included professionally instructed and guided afternoon of kayaking on the beautiful eastern bays of Lake Champlain, often including a stop on Butler Island, so you can hike the beautiful pathways and stretch your legs. (On some dates, kayaks are available for use on your own instead.) *(On the Sept. 14 & Oct. 5 departures you stay at Shore Acres Inn for nights 3, 4 and 5.)

Distance: 26 miles | Terrain: Easier
Today’s ride takes you back over the drawbridge and then along the eastern shore of the islands where you enjoy lovely views of the Green Mountains across the lake. You then ride the spectacular causeway across Lake Champlain and follow the paved bike path back to Burlington.