Stowe

Stowe is a mountain town far from the sea, so swimming here means fresh water in high summer. Rocky swimming holes along the mountain streams draw locals on hot afternoons, and the state-park beaches on Waterbury Reservoir and Lake Elmore, each within about half an hour by car, have small sandy shores and designated swimming areas, unguarded, with lake water that reaches about 22°C in July and August.

The season is short, from late June to early September, and most visitors treat a swim as a break in a day of hiking rather than a reason to come. Anyone who wants real beach time should look elsewhere.

For a resort of a few thousand people Stowe eats and drinks well, mostly because of what Vermont produces. The region is famous among beer lovers for hazy IPAs, and some of the most sought-after breweries in the country are in town or a short drive away. Farm cheddar, maple syrup, cider doughnuts and apple cider from the orchards along the valley road fill out the local flavour.

The restaurants run along Mountain Road and in the village: farm-to-table dining rooms, taverns, pizza and pub food for après-ski, and hotel restaurants at the upscale end. Range is limited, the choice thins out in the quiet weeks of spring and late autumn, and there is no street food or market culture to speak of beyond summer farmers' markets.

Stowe's sights are small and pleasant rather than significant. The village itself is a classic New England picture, with a white church steeple against the mountain, clapboard buildings and covered bridges along the valley. The Vermont Ski and Snowboard Museum tells the story of the sport in the state, a small arts centre shows contemporary work, and the hillside estate built by the von Trapp family of Sound of Music fame adds a curious footnote.

That is about the whole list. Visitors come for the mountain and the landscape, and an afternoon covers the cultural side.

Evenings in Stowe centre on après-ski: crowded base-lodge bars after the lifts close, brewery taprooms and a handful of taverns along Mountain Road with the odd band or DJ on winter weekends. It is sociable in peak ski weeks and quiet the rest of the year.

There are no clubs and very little after about midnight. Most people here go to bed early to be on the first lift or the trail in the morning, and anyone wanting a real night out drives to Burlington.

This is the reason to come. Mount Mansfield, the highest peak in Vermont at 1,339m, rises straight above the valley, with a major ski area on its flanks and the neighbouring Spruce Peak. In winter there are long groomed runs, glades, backcountry routes and a large cross-country and snowshoe network in the surrounding forest. Conditions are typical of the northern east: cold, sometimes icy, with good snow in deep winter.

Summer and autumn bring hiking on the Long Trail and up to the Mansfield ridge, the narrow, boulder-filled pass of Smugglers' Notch, waterfalls, well-built mountain-bike trails and a paved recreation path along the river for easy cycling and walking. Early October foliage turns the whole valley red and gold, the season most visitors remember. Mud season in April and November is the dull exception.

Stowe offers a modest set of outings, all by car. Burlington, about 45 minutes away, is Vermont's largest town, a relaxed college city on Lake Champlain with a pedestrian main street and a lakefront. Just south of it, the Shelburne Museum is the standout: a village of historic buildings, folk art, quilts and a lake steamboat. Montpelier, the smallest state capital in the country with a gold-domed statehouse, is half an hour away, and Waterbury on the way has an ice-cream factory tour, cider mills and craft breweries.

Further afield, the postcard village of Woodstock is about an hour and a half south. It is a pleasant list of small towns rather than a reason to base yourself here.

Stowe works well for active families. The ski area has a large ski and snowboard school and gentle beginner terrain on both Mount Mansfield and Spruce Peak. On the far side of Smugglers' Notch is a separate resort built almost entirely around children, with kids' programmes, pools and family lodging. The pass road over the Notch closes in winter, though, so in ski season reaching it means a drive of about an hour round the mountain. In summer there are easy trails, the flat recreation path for bikes and pushchairs, farm animals and sugarhouses where children can watch maple syrup being made.

The town is safe, relaxed and uncrowded outside peak weeks. What it lacks are dedicated attractions such as zoos, aquariums or museums for children, and every outing involves the car, so it suits families who like being outdoors more than those wanting entertainment laid on.

Stowe is spread along a single valley road that runs about 11km from the village to the ski area, with inns and restaurants scattered along it. The village centre is walkable, and the paved recreation path running beside the river links much of the valley for walkers and cyclists in the warmer months. In ski season a free shuttle bus runs up and down the Mountain Road.

Beyond that, a car is effectively essential, both for reaching trailheads, swimming holes and neighbouring towns and for getting here at all, since the nearest airport is in Burlington, about 45 minutes away. Winter driving means snow tyres and some patience on steep, icy roads.

Shopping in Stowe is small-scale and local. The village and Mountain Road have outdoor and ski shops, a few clothing boutiques, galleries and craft shops selling pottery, woodwork and wool, and plenty of maple syrup, cheddar and cider to take home. Farm stands and a summer farmers' market add seasonal produce.

There is no fashion or luxury shopping to speak of, and it is not a place people visit to shop.

Stowe is an expensive place to stay. It is one of the best-known ski resorts in the eastern United States, and lodging around the mountain is priced to match, with the luxury resort at the base of Spruce Peak at the top end. Lift tickets, ski rental and resort dining add up quickly, and rooms are hardest to find and costliest over the Christmas and New Year weeks, the winter school vacations and the October foliage season.

Costs ease in summer and fall sharply in the shoulder months of spring and November, and motels along the valley road, brewery food and the free trails and recreation path keep a careful budget workable.

Stowe has a small but real arts calendar for a resort town. A performing arts centre at the base of Spruce Peak hosts touring musicians, comedy and family shows, a community theatre company stages summer productions in the village, and outdoor concerts on the hillside lawns are a summer tradition linked to the von Trapp family's musical legacy.

Outside summer and the ski season the programme is thin, and anyone wanting orchestras or a wider theatre scene has to go to Burlington.

Slowing down is part of Stowe's appeal. Several of its larger resorts have full spas, with treatment rooms, saunas, steam rooms and heated outdoor pools where you can sit in hot water while the snow falls on the mountain. Spa weekends are a common reason couples from the cities of the northeast come here, especially in the quiet seasons.

There is no public bathing tradition and no thermal springs, so wellness means resort spas and their prices. The rest is the pace: quiet country inns, wood fires, long evenings and a valley that goes very still once the day's skiing or hiking is over.