Things to Do

St. Albans is only about 10 minutes from rail trails, the lake, and the mountains, depending on which direction you drive. Northern Vermont has a lot of space and not that many people, so if you want to bike, hike, paddle, or ski, you're in a for a treat! The Missisquoi Valley Rail Trail runs through downtown, which means you can start from Main Street and disappear into the countryside for as long as your legs hold out. Lake Champlain is close enough that you can be swimming

The restaurant scene in St. Albans is better than it has any right to be for a city this size, and some of it has won actual awards to prove it's not just locals being proud of their hometown.

Something's happening with vintage shopping in St. Albans. Over the past couple years, three new shops have opened up on Main Street. Add them to the shops that were already in operation and you realize St. Albans is nothing short of a vintage thrift destination. St. Albans vintage and thrift shops are drawing people from Burlington and beyond, thanks to the combination of quality goods and great prices to accommodate any budget. The shops are all within a few blocks of each

For a small city, St. Albans has a surprising amount going on culturally. Between the historical museum, an active library, a restored theater, significant public art including New Deal era murals, and enough community events to keep the calendar interesting, there's more depth here than most people expect. A lot of it connects back to the town's history. The railroad built St. Albans in the 1800s, and the the city, like many other places in Vermont, played a role in the Civi

Before the railroad turned St. Albans into an industrial hub in the 1850s, this was agricultural land. Franklin County is Vermont's dairy capital, with the highest concentration of dairy farms in the state. This isn't a recent development, as dairy farming has defined this region for over 150 years. The railroad brought industry and commerce, but the farming never stopped. In the 1890s, the Franklin County Creamery Association in St. Albans was the world's largest butter fact

Traveling with kids means constantly calculating whether a place is going to work or turn into a stress test. St. Albans works. The downtown is walkable without being so big that little legs give out. There's a park right in the middle of everything with open space where kids can run. The library has programs that don't require advance registration and complex planning. And there are enough family-friendly activities within ten minutes that you can pivot when weather or moods