If a state has a free shuttle bus painted like a cow called the MOOver, you know dairy is a prominent part of the culture. In Vermont, dairy farms, creameries, cheese makers, and producers are woven into any visitor’s experience, from farm tours to roadside cheese stops.
While the state’s cheese reputation has been well established for more than two centuries, there’s much more than Vermont cheddar. Today, there are around 440–480 dairy farms and more than 45 cheese makers producing over 150 varieties of cheese. Look for ones that have been aged in caves, covered in ash, made from rich Jersey milk, and infused with flavors like cumin or, of course, smoked maple.
This four-day itinerary is designed to visit as many cheese stops as possible, beginning in southern Vermont, traveling through the central Route 100 corridor, weaving through the Champlain Valley, and into the northwest toward Canada. It’s the perfect excuse to drive through the state, take in the foliage, and fuel your road trip with award-winning bites.
Day 1: Taste 100-year-old recipes from Grafton to Woodstock
Grafton Village Cheese Co. has been stacking up awards for over 20 years, including six from last year.
Photo by Michael Vi/Shutterstock
Probably the cheesiest day of the trip, day one involves classic traditions, innovative farmsteads, and cheese-making history from the 1800s. Start your adventure in Grafton, a picturesque historic village that feels like stepping into old Vermont, with white clapboard buildings, village green, small shops, and historic Grafton Inn. Spend some time wandering the streets before heading to Grafton Village Cheese Co., where you can find cave-aged Bear Hill, velvety sheep’s milk Storyteller, and multi-winner cheddars. Don’t forget to browse the local products and buy snacks for the following 55-minute drive.
Next up, Plymouth Artisan Cheese’s factory feels less like a traditional tasting room and more like a living museum with historic cheese-making equipment and displays. The cheese today is still made using the original recipe from 1890, which you can sample during your visit, while considering newer flavors like garlic peppercorn or spicy sambal.
After two cheese stops, break up the tastings with a stroll through Woodstock, one of Vermont’s quintessential small towns. The first time I visited, it felt like stepping into Stars Hollow from the Gilmore Girls TV show, thanks to cozy cafés, antique shops, and welcoming locals. Walk across the covered bridge, browse Main Street, or hike up Mount Tom for sweeping views of the state’s famous foliage.
Continue onward to pick up farmstead havarti or gouda infused with cumin at Cobb Hill Cheese, about 25 minutes away. Just around the corner, Billings Farm & Museum is less about eating and more about exploring a working dairy farm, meeting the farm animals, and visiting historic barns and exhibits.
For one more tasting before the day ends, serious cheese lovers will appreciate learning about European methods at Spring Brook Farm, including the alpine-style Tarentaise and raclette-style Reading. The owners have also introduced a semisoft morbier-style cheese from the Jura Mountain area of France; it has a nutty and creamy profile, as well as a thin, dark layer of edible vegetable ash running through the center.
Woodstock Inn & Resort is one of the more well-known hotels in the area, but I’d suggest staying at the Village Inn of Woodstock for a cozy Victorian option with four-poster beds.
Day 2: Take a scenic drive up Route 100 to The Sound of Music farm in Mad River Valley
Cabot Creamery is known nationwide for its Vermont cheddar.
Photo by DM U (L), photo by PJ McDonnell/Shutterstock (R)
Venturing through the Central Route 100 corridor is all about alpine traditions and varieties made with goat or sheep milk. Widely considered one of Vermont’s most scenic drives, Route 100 winds through a postcard-perfect valley framed by the Green Mountains, with rolling farmland, forested slopes, covered bridges, and small mountain towns unfolding along the way.
Situated in the Mad River Valley about an hour from Woodstock, the famous Von Trapp farmstead is a working family farm with a direct connection to The Sound of Music. Werner and Erika von Trapp, two of the real-life von Trapp children who fled Austria during the rise of the Nazi regime, established the farm in Waitsfield in 1959. Today, their grandchildren run the third-generation business, producing award-winning artisan cheeses, organic yogurt, and pasture-raised meats while drawing on the family’s Austrian roots.
Visitors can take a farm tour to learn more about Von Tapp’s cheese-making traditions, shop at the store for maple syrup and local beer, or take in views of the rolling hills. Don’t miss a tasting of two of the farmstead’s signature cheeses: Mt. Alice (which has a gooey, buttery profile) and Savage (with toasty, meaty flavors).
Make your way toward Stowe, but first head to Cabot Creamery to see how Vermont’s dairy tradition grew from individual family farms into a farmer-owned cooperative with a national following. Founded in 1919 by 94 Vermont farmers, Cabot is still run by dairy farm families today who produce award-winning cheeses. At the creamery store, visitors can shop for and sample options like extra sharp cheddar, Colby Jack, and alpine cheddar.
For luxury accommodations with mountain views, I’d recommend staying at the Lodge at Spruce Peak, with its easy access to hiking and skiing, or the wellness-focused Topnotch Resort with multiple pools, spa treatments, and tennis and fitness facilities.
Day 3: Stop for famous ice cream and Lake Champlain views from Stowe to Burlington
Cheese isn’t the only dairy you’ll find in this cow-loving state—Ben and Jerry’s ice cream is another beloved staple from Vermont.
Photo by Allard One/Shutterstock
Only 15 minutes driving from Stowe, Waterbury is worth a stop for its historic downtown, where brick storefronts, old churches, and tree-lined streets give the village a distinctly New England feel. For lunch, head to Salt & Rind, a local favorite with dishes like smoked trout dip and yellow fin sashimi, and then consider making a quick detour to the Ben & Jerry’s Factory for its famous ice cream.
During the next hour of scenic driving, the route then winds through the forested Green Mountains before opening up to rolling farmland and sparkling Lake Champlain, signaling your arrival in one of Vermont’s richest agricultural and picturesque regions.
Get picnic supplies and sample award-winning French-inspired goat cheeses at Blue Ledge Farm, a family-run dairy perched high on a hillside.
About 20 minutes away, the small-batch producer Champlain Valley Creamery handcrafts certified-organic cheeses in a net-zero, solar-powered facility. Visits are available by appointment for those who want to purchase cheese directly from the maker. Look for award-winning varieties like buttery triple creams Champlain triple and Pyramid Scheme, or the more pungent Bleu de Champlain.
Save plenty of time for Shelburne Farms, a 1,400-acre working farm and National Historic Landmark on the shores of Lake Champlain. Spend a few hours tasting its award-winning cheddar, walking scenic trails, meeting the animals, and exploring the remarkable late-19th-century barns, including the 1890 Farm Barn and the 1889–1891 Breeding Barn. Or simply soak in panoramic lake views. There are also seasonal tours and events, as well as a store selling maple syrup, fruit butters, and goat milk caramel sauces.
There’s only one spot I’d choose in Burlington for a chic getaway, and that’s Blind Tiger. A 14-room boutique hotel inside a restored 1881 mansion, the property blends historic New England architecture with eclectic contemporary design.
Day 4: Collect aged, goat, and blue cheese from Northern Vermont to the Québec border
Northern Vermont offers a chance to discover smaller producers that keep Vermont’s artisan cheese tradition alive. A rustic, off-the-beaten-path stop, Stony Pond Farm has a self-serve farm store selling cheeses like the cave-aged Swallow Tail tomme, the Camembert-style Tom-Tom, and the slightly funky Black Capped Cache made especially during fall, along with grass-fed beef raised on the farm.
About 20 minutes away, the family-run Boston Post Dairy focuses on goat products. Visitors can peer through viewing windows to watch the cheese-making process, then stop by the farm store to sample and purchase handcrafted cheeses, goat-milk soaps, maple products, and other goods made on the farm.
Your final cheese stop highlights the small-farm ingenuity behind Vermont’s artisan cheese movement. At Green Mountain Blue Cheese, a 14-generation Vermont dairy farm, the Boucher family turns fresh raw milk from its own herd into award-winning blues, including Boucher Blue and Gore-Dawn-Zola. Visitors can learn about the farm’s hands-on cheese-making methods, sample the cheeses, and grab one last Vermont-made souvenir before the end of the trip.
